Is there such a thing as visual argumentation, or the case of the hydrated tulip

Abstract

When studying the apparatus of argumentative technique, one can ask if methods of analyzing verbal communication can be extended to the analysis of visual content, too. One can argue that pictures contain statements just like sentences do, and if these statements are identified, their content can also be reconstructed. These visual contents can be analysed from two perspectives: argmentation-theory and rhetorics. The first part of the paper argues that the analysis of verbal content can be performed like the reconstruction of verbal texts: on the basis of informal logic. Also, I argue that visual contents not only complement the verbal but can also be the precondition of its understanding. The second part of the paper analyses a case study for visual argumentation: advertising. In many advertisements arguments rely of visual content that is often sanctioned by the Bureau of Economic Competition, as their analysis by the usual methods of argumentation-theory show. In sum, the paper identifies argumentative schemes of advertisements and highlights the role of visual contents in the process of persuasion.