Rogerian argument

Rogerian argument (or Rogerian rhetoric) is a <a href="/facts/Rhetoric/mB9np26l">rhetorical</a> and <a href="/facts/Conflict_resolution/vovgnlwG">conflict resolution</a> strategy based on <a href="/facts/Empathy/Pak5Dvfh">empathizing</a> with others, seeking <a href="/facts/Common_ground_(communication_technique)/jLxUf5NU">common ground</a> and mutual <a href="/facts/Understanding/D8UXbWuJ">understanding</a> and <a href="/facts/Learning/lehEKRjC">learning</a>, while avoiding the negative effects of extreme <a href="/facts/Attitude_polarization/rSRm57x9">attitude polarization</a>. The term Rogerian refers to the psychologist <a href="/facts/Carl_Rogers/MPFQUpIw">Carl Rogers</a>, whose <a href="/facts/Client-centered_therapy/GULq0w4S">client-centered therapy</a> has also been called Rogerian therapy. Since 1970, rhetoricians have applied the ideas of Rogers—with contributions by <a href="/facts/Anatol_Rapoport/Ehto4zId">Anatol Rapoport</a>—to rhetoric and <a href="/facts/Argumentation/9oaSBJSo">argumentation</a>, producing Rogerian argument.
A key principle of Rogerian argument is that, instead of <a href="/facts/Advocacy/K0XM1Nnj">advocating</a> one's own position and trying to <a href="/facts/Objection_(argument)/ed96fa32">refute</a> the other's position, one tries to state the other's position with as much care as one would have stated one's own position, <a href="/facts/Principle_of_charity/UeYmayhV">emphasizing what is strong or valid</a> in the other's argument. To this principle, Rapoport added other principles that are sometimes called "Rapoport's rules". Rhetoricians have designed various methods for applying these Rogerian rhetorical principles in practice.
Several scholars have criticized how Rogerian argument is taught. Already in the 1960s Rapoport had noted some of the limitations of Rogerian argument, and other scholars identified other limitations in the following decades. For example, they concluded that Rogerian argument is less likely to be appropriate or effective when communicating with violent or <a href="/facts/Discrimination/B2M2HqxR">discriminatory</a> people or institutions, in situations of <a href="/facts/Social_exclusion/8or1ar6F">social exclusion</a> or extreme <a href="/facts/Power_(social_and_political)/Q4feTyU6">power</a> inequality, or in <a href="/facts/Judiciary/CvMkSB6T">judicial settings</a> that use formal adversarial procedures.
Some empirical research has tested role reversal and found that its effectiveness depends on the issue and situation.

Rogerian argument open-in-new

Rogerian argument