Abstract
Argumentation or reasoning is the act of rendering theses rationally justified or plausible, through appeal to specific premises and the use of logical inferences. The principal forms of logical inference are deductive, inductive, and abductive. The chapter outlines some common argumentative fallacies and discusses important modes of argumentation, such as the use of universalizing arguments, wedge arguments, arguments from authority, and arguments from analogy, arguing through thought experiments and allegories. In the light of the modern global turn, the focus of research in the theory of reasoning and argumentation has shifted to the examination of how fundamental theses can be justified, as well as questions about how to engage in argumentation with people whose worldviews differ markedly from our own. Yet reasoning as a method of rational conviction still plays a decisive role in the comprehension, clarification, and critical questioning of one’s own positions, as well as that of others.
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Notes
- 1.
Stephen Toulmin, The Uses of Argument, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1958.
- 2.
See, for example, Gottlob Frege, Basic Laws of Arithmetic, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 (German original: Idem., Grundgesetze der Arithmetik (Band I/II), Jena: Verlag Hermann Pohle, 1893/1903); Idem., Concept Script, a formal language of pure thought modelled upon that of arithmetic, in: Jean van Heijenoort (ed.), From Frege to Gödel: A Source Book in Mathematical Logic, 1879–1931, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1967 (German original: Idem., Begriffsschrift, eine der arithmetischen nachgebildete Formelsprache des reinen Denkens, Halle a. S.: Louis Nebert, 1879).
- 3.
See, for example, Richard Feldman, Reason and Argument, New Jersey: Pearson, 1998 (2nd edition); Alvin Goldman, Knowledge in a Social World, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999; Christoph Lumer, Praktische Argumentationstheorie, Braunschweig: Vieweg, 1990.
- 4.
Christoph Lumer, Praktische Argumentationstheorie, op. cit., p. 30.
- 5.
On the different kinds of inductive fallacies, see, for example, Douglas N. Walton, Informal Logic, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 246–282.
- 6.
On practical reasoning, see, for example, Christoph Lumer, Praktische Argumentationstheorie, op. cit., pp. 319–433.
- 7.
See Jay F. Rosenberg, The Practice of Philosophy. A Handbook for Beginners, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984, p. 25.
- 8.
Ibid., pp. 51–69 (Chapter 6).
- 9.
For an overview of common modes of argumentation, see among others Hubert Schleichert, Wie man mit Fundamentalisten diskutiert, ohne den Verstand zu verlieren (7th edition), Munich: Beck, 2011 (7th edition), pp. 24–50. On specific patterns of argumentation in philosophical discourses, see Holm Tetens, Philosophisches Argumentieren, Munich: Beck, 2004.
- 10.
For the epistemological status of ad hominem arguments, see, for example, Douglas N. Walton, Ad Hominem Arguments, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2009.
- 11.
For the watch analogy from Leibniz and for arguments from analogy in general, see Holm Tetens, Philosophisches Argumentieren, op. cit., pp. 171–175.
- 12.
Ibid., p. 181.
- 13.
See Hubert Schleichert, Wie man mit Fundamentalisten diskutiert, ohne den Verstand zu verlieren, op. cit., p. 38.
- 14.
See Klaus Beyer, Argument und Argumentation, Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1999, p. 65.
- 15.
Ibid.
- 16.
Ibid.
- 17.
See Hubert Schleichert, Wie man mit Fundamentalisten diskutiert, ohne den Verstand zu verlieren, op. cit., pp. 93–111.
- 18.
Ibid., pp. 112–117.
Literature
Beyer, Klaus, Argument und Argumentation, Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1999.
Feldman, Richard, Reason and Argument, New Jersey: Pearson, 1998 (2nd edition).
Frege, Gottlob, Basic Laws of Arithmetic, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 (German original: Idem., Grundgesetze der Arithmetik (Band I/II), Jena: Verlag Hermann Pohle, 1893/1903).
Frege, Gottlob, Concept Script, a formal language of pure thought modelled upon that of arithmetic, in: van Heijenoort, Jean (ed.), From Frege to Gödel: A Source Book in Mathematical Logic, 1879–1931, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1967 (German original: Idem., Begriffsschrift, eine der arithmetischen nachgebildete Formelsprache des reinen Denkens, Halle a. S.: Louis Nebert, 1879).
Goldman, Alvin, Knowledge in a Social World, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Lumer, Christoph, Praktische Argumentationstheorie, Braunschweig: Vieweg, 1990.
Rosenberg, Jay F., The Practice of Philosophy. A Handbook for Beginners, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984.
Schleichert, Hubert, Wie man mit Fundamentalisten diskutiert, ohne den Verstand zu verlieren, Munich: Beck, 2011 (7th edition).
Tetens, Holm, Philosophisches Argumentieren, Munich: Beck, 2004.
Toulmin, Stephen, The Uses of Argument, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1958.
Walton, Douglas N., Informal Logic, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008 (2nd edition).
Walton, Douglas N., Ad Hominem Arguments, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2009.
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Brendel, E. (2019). Argumentation. In: Kühnhardt, L., Mayer, T. (eds) The Bonn Handbook of Globality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90377-4_27
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