Quantity Questions Asked by Topic: How much of the thing is there, and how much is good?

1. Quantity Questions Asked by Topic: How much of the thing is there, and how much is good? General Structure of Claim: X is better than Y because of quantitative reasons (X has more of an accepted good/useful quality than Y). Fun Fact about Topics: Certain beliefs in the superiority of democracy and of “common sense” rest on the quantity topic. X’s government is better because more people participate. X is more true because more people believe it.

2. Quality Questions Asked by Topic: What is uniquely good about the thing, regardless of amount? General Structure of Claim: X is better than Y because of a particular quality that X has, and Y lacks. Fun Fact about Topics: The locus of quality is often used to counter the locus of quality. More isn’t necessarily better if you lack an important quality.

3. Order Questions Asked by Topic: What is superior because it comes earlier or later than the rest? General Structure of Claim: X is better than Y because X came before/after Y. Fun Fact about Topics: Many philosophic arguments occur in the topic of order, trying to establish the causal or existential primacy of certain things over others.

4. Existence Questions Asked by Topic: What exists, and is that existence proof of superiority over that which doesn’t exist? General Structure of Claim: X is superior to Y because Y doesn’t exist, and X does. Fun Fact about Topics: Often, when the topic of existence is raised, the opponent will counter with a different definition of “existence.”

5. Essence Questions Asked by Topic: What is the essence of an object? Does that essence give the object a higher value than something else? General Structure of Claim: X is superior to Y because X embodies Z, and Y does not. Fun Fact about Topics: Leaders will often justify ruthless decisions by referring to their essence, rather than to the effects of their actions.

6. Person Questions Asked by Topic: Do the dignity, worth, autonomy, or value of a person contribute to the value of her actions and involvements? General Structure of Claim: X is superior to Y because X was done by J who is a dignified/unique/autonomous person. Fun Fact about Topics: L. Olbrechts-Tyteca is one of the few women popularly accepted into the canon of western rhetorical theory, so one could argue by the topic of person, that her theory is particularly valuable.

7. Interesting and Closing Historical Note: Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca argue that classicists liked topics of the eternal, the rational, the universal, the valid, and the stable. They also argued that romantics liked topics of the unique, the new, the outstanding, the precarious, and the irremediable. Both Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca were neo-Aristotelians, which means they identified most strongly with classicists, not romantics.