Visual Argumentation in Commercials: the Tulip Test1
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3311/ope.192Abstract
Argumentation theory used to be concerned exclusively with verbal arguments, but in recent years visual argumentation has become a new field of study. After explaining why the notion of visual argument makes sense, we will explore how visual arguments can be reconstructed and compare this with the reconstruction of verbal arguments. We will argue that the reconstruction of visual argumentation follows broadly the same method as that of verbal argumentation. Finally we are going to show how the steps of reconstruction look like in practice by analyzing the visual arguments presented in a commercial for a Dove cosmetic product.Author Biographies
Hédi Csordás
I am Hédi Virág Csordás, PhD student. I obtained my Master’s degree in 2014 as a Communication and Media Studies Expert specialized in Visual Communication at Budapest University of Technology and Economics. I am currently a student at the Doctoral School in Philosophy and History of Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics. With my background in business communication, mass media and visual communications, my current research focusses on problems of argumentation in visual advertising and issues in visual argumentation theory and rhetorics. E-mail:hedi.csordas@filozofia.bme.hu.
Gábor Forrai
I am Gábor Forrai, professor at the Philosophy and History of Science Department of Budapest University of Technology and Economics. I obtained my PhD in 1993 at the University of Notre Dame. I have published on a wide range of issues within analytic philosophy including Reference, Truth and Conceptual Schemes (Kluwer, 2001) and Intentionality: Past and Future (co-edited with George Kampis, Rodopi, 2005). Currently I work mainly on epistemology and argumentation theory. E-mail: forrai.gabor@filozofia.bme.hu. For more information see: https://www.filozofia.bme.hu/profile-profile_kutato/186.
