Toulmin+and+Jonson.++Theory+and+Practice.

Toulmin and Jonson set up distinctions between theory and practice in order to examine arguments concerning ethical issues. First they look at the classical approach in which geometry was considered theory, and anything that could be derived from the real world was merely practice. Theory was: idealized, atemporal, and necessary, while practical statements were concrete, temporal, and presumptive. The reason to invoke this is to consider the distinctions, which become especially important when attempting to apply principles (theory) to cases (practice). In cases such as science, there is a universal starting point that yields a firm conclusion. In practical cases, the outcomes are more provisional, and may have to be revised more often, because the goal is not to find a universal truth, but to do what is best within the given circumstances. T&J use clinical medicine as their example because, while it relies on theoretical scientific knowledges while still being tied to the specific practicalities of their current patient. They explain how the taxonomy of illness requires doctors to reason from //analogy// (125). They argue that a similar procedure of establishing a taxonomy and then reasoning from analogy (rather than something firm like a syllogism) is the method often used to decide ethical issues.
 * Toulmin and Jonson. “Theory and Practice.”**