Page 16 - Žagar, Igor Ž. 2021. Four Critical Essays on Argumentation. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 16
four critical essays on argumentation
7. Responsibility
8. Burdening, weighting
9. Finances
10. Reality
11. Numbers
12. Law and right
13. History
14. Culture
15. Abuse
In Richardson (2008, p. 4), we have exactly the same list of topoi, but
this time they are characterised as ‘the most common topoi which are used
when writing or talking about ‘others’, specifically about migrants.
In The Discourse of Politics in Action (Wodak 2009: 44), we get the fol-
lowing list of ‘the most common topoi which are used when negotiating spe-
cific agenda in meetings, or trying to convince an audience of one's interests,
visions or positions’. They include:
1. Topos of Burdening
2. Topos of Reality
3. Topos of Numbers
4. Topos of History
5. Topos of Authority
6. Topos of Threat
7. Topos of Definition
8. Topos of Justice
9. Topos of Urgency
In The Discourse of Politics in Action, we can also find additional topoi:
topos of challenge, topos of the actual costs of enlargement of the EU, topos
of belonging, and topos of ‘constructing a hero’. Here the analyses of typ-
ical content-related argument schemes as found in discourse are not just
carried out ‘against the background of the list of topoi’, but some parts of
discourse ‘gain the status of topoi’ (topos of the actual costs ...). Thus, as far
as the status of topoi is concerned, we seem to have got a bit further: there
is not just a list of topoi that can serve as the background for the analysis;
16
7. Responsibility
8. Burdening, weighting
9. Finances
10. Reality
11. Numbers
12. Law and right
13. History
14. Culture
15. Abuse
In Richardson (2008, p. 4), we have exactly the same list of topoi, but
this time they are characterised as ‘the most common topoi which are used
when writing or talking about ‘others’, specifically about migrants.
In The Discourse of Politics in Action (Wodak 2009: 44), we get the fol-
lowing list of ‘the most common topoi which are used when negotiating spe-
cific agenda in meetings, or trying to convince an audience of one's interests,
visions or positions’. They include:
1. Topos of Burdening
2. Topos of Reality
3. Topos of Numbers
4. Topos of History
5. Topos of Authority
6. Topos of Threat
7. Topos of Definition
8. Topos of Justice
9. Topos of Urgency
In The Discourse of Politics in Action, we can also find additional topoi:
topos of challenge, topos of the actual costs of enlargement of the EU, topos
of belonging, and topos of ‘constructing a hero’. Here the analyses of typ-
ical content-related argument schemes as found in discourse are not just
carried out ‘against the background of the list of topoi’, but some parts of
discourse ‘gain the status of topoi’ (topos of the actual costs ...). Thus, as far
as the status of topoi is concerned, we seem to have got a bit further: there
is not just a list of topoi that can serve as the background for the analysis;
16
