Stephen Toulmin

Stephen Edelston Toulmin
Born25 March 1922
London, England
Died4 December 2009 (aged 87)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materKing's College, Cambridge
Era20th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAnalytic
Main interests
Meta-philosophy, argumentation, ethics, rhetoric, modernity
Notable ideas
Toulmin model (Toulmin method)
Good reasons approach
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Stephen Edelston Toulmin (/ˈtlmɪn/; 25 March 1922 – 4 December 2009) was a British philosopher, author, and educator. Influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein, Toulmin devoted his works to the analysis of moral reasoning. Throughout his writings, he sought to develop practical arguments which can be used effectively in evaluating the ethics behind moral issues. His works were later found useful in the field of rhetoric for analyzing rhetorical arguments. The Toulmin model of argumentation, a diagram containing six interrelated components used for analyzing arguments, and published in his 1958 book The Uses of Argument, was considered his most influential work, particularly in the field of rhetoric and communication, and in computer science.

  1. ^ Sonja K. Foss, Karen A. Foss, Robert Trapp, Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric: 30th Anniversary Edition, Waveland Press, 2014, p. 116.