Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

Jay Heinrichs opens Thank You for Arguing with a personal story: He is trying to brush his teeth when his teenage son George needs to use their only bathroom. Realizing the toothpaste tube is empty, Heinrichs yells, “Who used all the toothpaste” (3). George responds, “That’s not the point, is it Dad [...] The point is how we’re going to keep this from happening again” (3). Heinrichs concedes and asks George to grab another toothpaste tube. Happy he won the argument, George does so. This story illustrates that arguments, big or small, are an innate part of human nature. It also teaches readers their first rhetoric (or argument) tool: concession, which is when one appears to agree with their opponent, only to use the peace to their advantage. Heinrichs appears to concede to a clueless George, but ultimately gets what he wants: a new toothpaste tube.

Rhetorical argument is different “from the blame-shifting, he-said-she-said squabbling that defines conflict today” (15). A successful fight is when someone dominates their enemy; humans fight to win. In contrast, an argument, when done skillfully, persuades an audience to change their