1.4, Analysis: Unexpressed Standpoints and Unexpressed Premises

Notes taken from ‘Argumentation: Analysis, Evaluation, Presentation’, by Frans van Eemeren et al.

1, Implicit Elements in Argumentative Discourse
Unexpressed: Elements (premises or standpoints) that are intentionally omitted but implicitly present in the argumentation.

2, Indirectness and the Rules for Communication
“Ordinary” Implicit Language Use: No attempt to convey something additional in a roundabout way. For example, a salesperson says “It’s 170” instead of “I inform you that the price of that suit is 170 dollars”.
Indirect Language: A special kind of implicit language use, where the speaker says what he means in a roundabout way. Examples of this are unexpressed premises and unexpressed standpoints. For example, someone may say “Would it be too much trouble to take this package to the post office?” while also meaning to request that the listener do the job.
Communication Principle: Followed when people want to communicate with each other. According to this principle, people who are communicating with each other generally try to make their contributions to the communication match, as much as possible, the purpose of their communication.
Rules for Communication: Observed to fulfil the Communication Principle. The most important rules, for whatever is said or written, are:
i, Clarity: It should be as easy to understand as possible.
ii, Sincerity: It must not be insincere.
iii, Efficiency: It should not be redundant or pointless.
iv, Relevancy: It must appropriately connect with what has gone before.

3, Correctness Conditions For Speech Acts
Speech Acts: Examples of this are announcements, promises, explanations or defending a standpoint. The communications rules must always be observed.
Observing the Rules: Meaning of this varies according to which speech act is performed. For a promise, the rule “Be sincere” requires that speakers must really intend to do what they promise. For a request, they must sincerely wish the listener to comply with the request.
Correctness Conditions: A precise description of what it means for each speech act to follow the Communication Principle, in the form of specific conditions that each kind of speech act must meet.
Preparatory Conditions: What the speaker must do in order to follow the efficiency rule. For argumentation, the speaker must believe that the listener
i, does not already fully accept the standpoint.
ii, will accept the statements used in the argumentation.
iii, will view the argumentation as an acceptable defence (or refutation) of the proposition to which the standpoint refers.
Responsibility Conditions: Describe what the speaker must believe in order to follow the sincerity rule. For argumentation, the speaker must believe that
i, the standpoint is acceptable.
ii, the argumentation used in the argumentation are acceptable.
iii, the argumentation is an acceptable defence (or refutation) of the proposition to which the standpoint refers.

4, Violations of the Communication Rules
“Rationalising” Tendency: When one of the communication rules have been violated without it being the case that the speaker has abandoned the Communication Principle, then the listener tries to interpret the speaker’s words in such a way that the apparent violation acquires a plausible meaning. This is exactly what happens in indirectness.

5, Different Forms of Indirectness
Clarity Rule: Listeners can assume that it is possible for them to figure out the speaker’s meaning. A promise expressed vaguely or unclearly can be interpreted as an indirect expression of reluctance or even refusal: “I’ll fix that coffee grinder soon, God-willing.”
Sincerity Rule: Listeners can assume that the speaker means what he says. By saying something obviously insincere, the speaker can ironically (and indirectly) convey the opposite of what he or she actually says: “So you didn’t recognise him? He must have been flattered.”
Efficiency Rule: Listeners can assume that whatever a speaker says is not flawed in respect of redundancy or pointlessness. A pointless question – because it has no answer – can be used to indirectly express a complaint: “When will I ever find happiness?”
Relevance Rule: A response that obviously does not connect up with what has just been said can be used to convey that the speaker refuses to discuss the topic.

6, Making Unexpressed Standpoints Explicit
Even if speakers do not explicitly express their standpoint, as a rule, they expect the listener to be able to infer (by means of valid reasoning and logic) this standpoint from the arguments put forward. If there is more than one possibility, one should choose the standpoint that in the light of the context and background information is most in accordance with all the communication rules.

7, Making Unexpressed Premises Explicit
Unexpressed premises are made explicit with the aid of the Communication Principle, the communication rules and logic.
Modus Ponens: A logically valid form of reasoning. Given a rule “If p, then q” and given “p”, then “q” logically follows. In a constructive critical analysis of argumentation, the reasoning underlying the argumentation can sometimes be made valid by supplementing it with an “if… then…” statement.

8, Unexpressed Premises in a Well-defined Context
The context may be so well defined that it demands a specific phrasing of the unexpressed premise. If a non-specific interpretation entails attributing to the speaker a violation of the communication rules, then one should check whether the context also allows another, more specific interpretation that does not entail a violation.