Argumentation

Dr Vivek Murthy’s main arguments in “Business To Benefit From Addressing ‘Loneliness Epidemic,’ Doctor Says” are that loneliness is a public health issue and that businesses can reduce loneliness among their workers. The speaker conveys his argument by using mainly direct (open) argumentation.

We notice the use of direct argumentation whenever Dr Murthy expresses his ideas in an explicit manner. For example, Dr Murthy is explicit about how he came to believe that loneliness is a public health issue: “I began practicing medicine and (…) quickly realized that the greatest pathology that I saw was not heart disease or diabetes. It was, in fact, loneliness” (ll. 18-20).

Dr Murthy observed the same problem during his time as Surgeon General: “as Surgeon General, (…) what I heard everywhere I went was that p...