Pondering on Problems of Argumentation: Twenty Essays on Theoretical Issues (Argumentation Library)

311 Pages·2009·1.9 MB·English

by  Frans H. van Eemeren

PONDERING ON PROBLEMS OF ARGUMENTATION
Argumentation Library
VOLUME 14
Series Editors
Frans H. van Eemeren, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Scott Jacobs, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Erik C.W. Krabbe, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
John Woods, University of British Columbia, Canada
PONDERING ON PROBLEMS
OF ARGUMENTATION
Twenty Essays on Theoretical Issues
Frans H. van Eemeren • Bart Garssen
Editors
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1 3
Editors
Frans H. van Eemeren Bart Garssen
University of Amsterdam University of Amsterdam
Dept. of Speech Communication, Dept. of Speech Communication,
Argumentation Theory and Rhetoric Argumentation Theory and Rhetoric
Spuistraat 134 Spuistraat 134
1012 VB Amsterdam 1012 VB Amsterdam
The Netherlands The Netherlands
[email protected] [email protected]
ISBN: 978-1-4020-9164-3 e-ISBN: 978-1-4020-9165-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008944076
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009
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Preface
When preparing this collection of twenty essays we gratefully used as our source
the Proceedings of the Sixth Conference of the International Society for the Study
of Argumentation (ISSA) published by SIC SAT in 2007. These ISSA Proceedings
provide a rich overview of what is currently going on in the study of argumentation
and they offered us an abundance of interesting contributions to choose from. We
thank SIC SAT (Scholarly International Centre for the Stimulation of Argumenta-
tion Theory) for its generosity in making this source available to us.
In making a selection for Pondering on Problems of Argumentation we were led
in the first place by our wish to present a collection of papers that would give our
readers an insightful and more or less balanced view of the kind of theoretical issues
argumentation theorists are currently concerned with. It goes without saying that a
balanced view can never be a complete overview. Fortunately the ISSA Proceedings
are still available electronically and, in addition, another volume has been published
based on the ISSA Proceedings that contains a selection of ISSA papers dealing
with Controversy and Confrontation (John Benjamins, 2008).
We thank all contributors to Pondering on Problems of Argumentation for being
prepared to amend and expand their papers in agreement with the comments made
by the reviewers and for acting as reviewers when invited to do so. It goes with-
out saying that we also want to thank all reviewers for their valuable comments.
Our assistants Halvor Berggrav and Renske Wierda deserve our gratitude for their
invaluable technical assistance.
Frans H. van Eemeren
Bart Garssen
v
Contents
Problems of Argumentation: An Introduction
F.H. van Eemeren and B. Garssen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Part I: Argumentative Strategies
1. Seizing the Occasion: Parameters for Analysing Ways
of Strategic Manoeuvring
F.H. van Eemeren and P. Houtlosser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Manoeuvring Strategically with Rhetorical Questions
A.F. Snoeck Henkemans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3. Dissociation: Between Rhetorical Success and Dialectical
Soundness
M.A. van Rees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4. Strategies of Refutation by Definition: A Pragma-Rhetorical
Approach to Refutations in a Public Speech
C. Ilie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Part II: Norms of Reasonableness and Fallaciousness
5. Nonfallacious Rhetorical Design in Argumentation
S. Jacobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6. Normatively Responsible Advocacy: Some Provocations
from Persuasion Effects Research
D.J. O’Keefe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
7. Duets, Cartoons, and Tragedies: Struggles with the Fallacy
of Composition
T. Govier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
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8. Deductivism and the Informal Fallacies
D. Jacquette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Part III: Types of Argument and Argument Schemes
9. From Figure to Argument: Contrarium in Roman Rhetoric
M. Kraus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
10. Comparing the Incomparable: Figurative Analogies
in a Dialectical Testing Procedure
B. Garssen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
11. Argument Schemes Typologies in Practice: The Case
of Comparative Arguments
M. Doury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
12. Whether and How Classical Topics can be Revived Within
Contemporary Argumentation Theory
E. Rigotti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Part IV: Structure of Argumentation
13. Against Making the Linked-Convergent Distinction
G.C. Goddu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
14. Argument Strength, the Toulmin Model, and Ampliative
Probability
J.B. Freeman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
15. Modalities as Indicators in Argumentative Reconstruction
A. Rocci . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
16. Five Theses on Toulmin and Visual Argument
L. Groarke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Part V: Rules for Advocacy and Discussion
17. On How to Get Beyond the Opening Stage
E.C.W. Krabbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
18. Testing for Acceptable Premises Within Systems of Belief
J. Gough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Contents ix
19. The Duties of Advocacy: Argumentation Under Conditions
of Disparity, Asymmetry, and Difference
G.T. Goodnight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
20. Actually Existing Rules for Closing Arguments
J. Goodwin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
List of Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Problems of Argumentation: An Introduction
Frans H. van Eemeren and Bart Garssen
In Pondering on Problems of Argumentation twenty essays are collected that deal
with theoretical issues in the study of argumentation. Although the list of theoreti-
cal issues discussed in these essays is by no means comprehensive, the issues that
are treated are certainly representative of the kind of problems the international
community of argumentation scholars is pondering on at the moment. Character-
istically, this international community includes scholars from different academic
backgrounds, varying from classicists, philosophers, and linguists to logicians, and
social scientists. These scholars favour different approaches to argumentation, vary-
ing from formal and dialectical approaches to informal and rhetorical pragmatic
approaches. Because most of the perspectives on argumentation that are en vogue
are represented, this volume provides a multidisciplinary – and as far as different
approaches are combined even interdisciplinary – outlook on the current state of
affairs in argumentation theory.
In all contributions to Pondering on Problems of Argumentation the emphasis
is on sharing theoretical reflections on argumentation rather than presenting the
results of empirical experiments, qualitative analysis, case studies, or applications
of theoretical instruments. Some of the contributions deal with problems of argu-
mentation that have been recognized as theoretical issues for a considerable time,
like the problems of fallaciousness and identifying argumentation structures. Other
contributions discuss issues that have become a focus of attention only recently or
regained their prominence, such as the relationship between dialectic and rhetoric,
and the strategic use of the argumentative technique of dissociation. In line with
new developments that have taken place, a new input to the theoretical study of
argumentation is offered by researchers coming from disciplines that have matured
during the past decades, such as pragmatics and discourse analysis. All the same,
scholars stemming from long-established disciplines, such as the classics, also play
a part in the renewal by shedding a new light on the problems of argumentation. For
all contributions goes that their authors really ponder on problems of argumentation
without claiming to have found the final theoretical solution to these problems. As it
should be in the study of argumentation, all essays that are presented here are fully
open to criticism.
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