Chapter published in:
Argumentation between Doctors and Patients: Understanding clinical argumentative discourseFrans H. van Eemeren, Bart Garssen and Nanon Labrie
[Not in series 235] 2021
► pp. 13–36
Argumentation and resolving differences of opinion
Argumentative discussions are part of everyday clinical
discourse. Doctors and patients may explicitly or implicitly have different
opinions about various issues, such as the causes of patients’ symptoms or
the best course of action. Through argumentative discussions, these
differences can be resolved. Medical standpoints, which can be advanced by
both doctors and patients, may concern a myriad of topics and different
types of standpoints can be distinguished (factual and predictive claims;
judgments; recommendations). When a standpoint is advanced, it may meet with
doubt (unmixed difference of opinion) or opposition (mixed difference of
opinion). Verbal indicators in the text, as well as clues from the
situational context, can be used to identify standpoints as well as their
supporting arguments. Analytically, an argumentative discussion consists of
four consecutive stages: confrontation, opening, argumentation, and
conclusion. Knowing about these stages is helpful when striving to
understand, analyze, and evaluate argumentation in clinical settings.