The “Position, Argument, Objection, Reply” Format
- Introduction
A standard way of proceeding in philosophy, when responding to a question, is to:
- State your position (the thing you believe to be true, or should happen)
- Defend it with a reason (a full set of reasons, an argument, should lead us to the conclusion that your position is correct)
- Challenge the reason with an objection (what someone would say if they disagreed with you)
- Respond with a reply (defending your reason against the objection, or perhaps modifying your position to take the objection into account).
This process makes your original position stronger! Getting some practice in this can make discussion deeper and more rigorous and also improve the structure of your essays.
- Example of single “strand”
Question: Should animals be kept in zoos?[unique_solution]
Position: I think that… they should be kept in zoos
Reason: Because… the species might not survive if all of them are left in the wild
Objection: But… not all animals in zoos are endangered species
Reply: However… even if they are not endangered, individual animals are safer in zoos. (Defending your reason against the objection)
Or
Reply: However… only animals from endangered species should be kept in zoos. (Modifying the position to take the objection into account)
This example is of one “strand” or line of argument. But this structure can be used to create large argument maps!
- Argument mapping for depth and breadth of discussion
What an argument map looks like:
- Questions you can ask yourself
Elicit possible positions: What answers are possible?
What do you think?
What answer might someone else give?
Elicit reasons/arguments for positions:
What is your reason for holding this position?
What could be said to support this?
Are there other steps in this argument that you can identify?
(For whole argument maps, ask: Might someone else have a different reason?)
Elicit objections to reasons: What could you say to challenge that reason?
What would someone say if they disagreed?
What objections could be raised to that reason?
Elicit replies to objections: What could we say back to that?
Is there a response we could make to that challenge?
Do you think that challenge really works?
It is very important when argument mapping that you think about where your contribution fits in.
Where does what you say fit into the map?
Which reason are you challenging?
What objection are you replying to?
When giving that reply, are you defending the reason, or modifying the original position?
Are you disagreeing with a reason given, or with the positon (the initial answer to the question)?
- Some things to note
- Some objections will be aimed directly at the position, not at the reason given for the position. Often these are of the form “If we agree to that, it commits us to something unacceptable”.
- It is a good idea, once you have all of the reasons written down, to number them, so you can easily tell you which reason you are raising an objection to. Do the same with the objections…
- You can carry on further down a “strand” of argument – offerring a “reply to a reply”
- It can be helpful to use different colours to record the positon, reasons, objections and replies
- Uses of this structure
- Practice creating both single strands, and large maps, to strengthen skill in following a line of argument, and exploring all of the options for discussion
- In your Critical Thinking Task, present one “strand” of argument.
- For your 2000 word essay, use this format when planning to help you understand all of the possible things you could address, and to help you identify which objections and replies you will focus on. When writing the essay, use the format in some sections to ensure that you are considering objections to the views and reasons you are putting forward, and replying to them.