Academic Argument
An academic argument must do each of the following things:
(1) Identify a problem
(2) Propose a solution
Academic arguments make problems; they show readers they have problems that need to be solved.
What keeps them from being annoying is that they give solutions to the problems they identify,
solutions that will benefit their readers. They solve problems that their readers didn’t know they had.
There are two types of academic problems:
Tangible Problems have practical consequences for the reader that are measured quantitatively. An
argument based on a tangible problem will attempt to persuade its readers that they should do
something in a different way from how they had been doing it. For example, such an argument might
identify some problem with the kinds of mouse-traps its readers are using. It might then point out how
many fewer mice those traps are catching than they could be if they were constructed in a more
efficient way. It might then propose a way to build the better mouse-trap that its readers now know that
they need.
Conceptual Problems have theoretical consequences for the reader that are judged qualitatively. An
argument based on a conceptual problem will attempt to persuade its readers that they should think
about something in a different way from how they had been thinking about it before. For example,
such an argument might identify some problem with the theories that have been put forward about what
caused the American Revolution. It might then point out how much less well some aspect of the
American Revolution will be understood unless these theories about its origins are revised. It might
then propose a new theory about what caused the American Revolution that would allow those events
to be understood more fully.
A Problem is a situation that has the potential to cause difficulty, whether practical or theoretical, for a
certain kind of reader. The kind of difficulty that calls for the identification of a tangible problem is an
unresolved predicament, such as “What to do to make a mouse-trap efficient enough to protect enough
of our grain from hungry rats that it is possible for us to turn a profit.” The kind of destabilizing
condition that calls for the identification of a conceptual problem is an unanswered question, such as
“What effect did the presence of the Amish in Pennsylvania have on the events leading up to the
American Revolution?”
A problem counts as such only in relation to the Significance it has for a particular group of readers.
For an academic argument to be of benefit to its readers, the cost of not solving their problem must be
greater than the cost of solving it. Which is to say that the cost of a problem for the reader must be
worth the effort that the reader will have to expend in solving it. It must cost less to buy a better mousetrap than to let the rats keep eating so much of your grain. It must cost less to read a new book on the
Amish than not to know enough about what caused the revolution.
An academic argument must be addressed to Readers for whom a solution to the problem it identifies
has benefits. If you what you do is manage a granary, then the element of instability in your life is the
number of rats who are out to eat your grain. As a result, you will be interested in arguments about
how to solve the problem of excess rats. If what you do is study early American history, then the
instability in your life is the number of ways of thinking about colonial America that haven’t occurred to
you yet. As a result, you will be interested in arguments about how to solve the problem of your
insufficient understanding of colonial times.
Academic arguments propose solutions to problems of significance to their readers.