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. 37–55
The argumentation structure
Argumentation advanced by a doctor or a patient in medical
consultations consists in the simplest case of just one single argument, but
can also have a more complex structure. If the argumentation consists of
more than one alternative defense of the same standpoint, the argumentation
structure is called multiple. If the argumentation consists
of several arguments that need to be taken together, the argumentation
structure is coordinative. Another type of complex
argumentation occurs when one argument supports the other. In this case the
argumentation structure is called subordinative. Sometimes a doctor or
patient makes clear in the presentation of the argumentation what the
argumentation structure is by the use of verbal indicators of multiple,
coordinative, or subordinative argumentation, but more often than not in the
argumentative exchange taking place in a medical consultation no such
indicators are to be found. When in doubt about whether the argumentation
advanced by the doctor or the patient is multiple or coordinative, one is
advised to opt for a “maximally argumentative analysis” and regard the
argumentation as multiple, so that every component of the doctor’s or the
patient’s argumentation will be maximally given its due when the defense of
the standpoint is evaluated. In a well-defined context, such as a medical
consultation, the reconstruction of elements that have been left unexpressed
in the discourse can sometimes be helpful in providing a more adequate
analysis of subordinative argumentation.