Читать книгу The theory and practice of argumentation and debate - Victor Alvin Ketcham - Страница 49

All the reliable evidence obtainable should be collected before the selection of the exact evidence which is to go into the argument is begun. If the student has confined his collecting to the sources of evidence suggested in the first section of this chapter, the presumption will be in favor of its reliability. This presumption may be strengthened and in some instances turned into certainty by a selection made in accordance with the rules which it is the object of this section to present.

It is of the utmost importance that a large amount of evidence from which to construct the brief and argument be available. It is only in this way that the strongest evidence obtainable can be brought to the support of the argument. All the evidence used must be relevant but not all the evidence that is relevant need be used. The following rules should be observed in the selection of evidence: