Out of the many types of arguments available I’d like to focus on proposal arguments which are discussed on chapter 14 of our book. Just like all of the other arguments we’ve looked at proposal arguments aren’t any more complex or difficult than any of the other types of arguments. The general idea of a proposal argument is that you are proposing an idea in the hopes of causing some type of change or effect to solve a problem. Proposal arguments must also be convincing and able to make its claim seem desirable. This can be done by outlining the problem, explaining your proposal as specifically as possible and justifying that these changes would be beneficial in solving the problem you outlined earlier.
Explaining your argument can be difficult but you can choose from many different types of strategies to make your argument more robust and appeal to the audience you’re trying to convince. Some examples of these strategies would be an “argument from principle or category”, which focuses on trying to convince someone by arguing that your proposal would fall in line with some of their principles or ideals. This is only one strategy; another could be arguing that if your proposal isn’t adopted then some sort of consequence will occur. This is not however a threat. A good example of this is climate change, a long-term proposal would outline what needs to be done to specifically avoid some type of consequence.
The last strategy is proposed by our book is called the “argument from resemblance”, this strategy is somewhat differently in that it doesn’t focus on making an emotional appeal as it does an appeal to logic. Which is done by comparing one group or person who has implemented your proposal or a similar proposal and the benefits they are receiving for having done so. One example of this strategy could be used when proposing a national base wage. This is a recurring idea that has been tried before. Such as an implementation from France in 1988, in citizen was guaranteed a basic incomes. This has also been done in Canada and many other countries. A proposal would use these examples and highlight the benefits that they have caused in an attempt to make the proposal more appealing and convince the audience to adopt the proposal.