Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Incommensurability Of Values Problem, Julder Gómez

OSSA Conference Archive

How to make a reasonable decision in a pluralistic community when two of their highest values (CP and CN) are incommensurable, one of them (CP) is used as a premise in favor of a proposal (C), and the other one (CN) is used as a premise against the very same proposal? After considering previous answers to similar questions, I suggest establishing new hierarchies of values from the point of view of their conditions of possibility.

Reply To Commentary On “Deliberation Ad Collective Identity Formation”, Hubert Marraud

OSSA Conference Archive

No abstract provided.

Commentary On Castro, “Negotiation As A Disagreement Management Tool”, Fabrizio Macagno

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No abstract provided.

Commentary On Michael Yong-Set, “Getting Down In The Muds: A Ludological Perspective On Arguers”, John Licato

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No abstract provided.

Comment On Hubert Marraud’S “Deliberation And Collective Identity Formation”, Jeff Noonan

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No abstract provided.

Deliberation And Collective Identity Formation, Hubert Marraud

OSSA Conference Archive

Deliberation is an argumentative practice in which several parties reason in order to decide the best available course of action. I argue that deliberation, unlike negotiation, requires a collective agency, defined by shared commitments, and not merely a plural agency defined by aggregation of individual commitments. Since the “we” presupposed by this argumentative genre is built up in the course of the deliberation exchange itself, shaping collective identity is a basic function of public deliberation.

Getting Down In The Muds: A Ludological Perspective On Arguers, Michael A. Yong-Set

OSSA Conference Archive

Dan Cohen (2018) and Michael Gilbert (1997) have variously emphasized the need for argumentation theorists to pay attention to ‘arguers’ and not just ‘arguments.’ Following Yong-Set (2016), this paper will suggest that ‘games’ can be leveraged to enrich an understanding of the ‘person’ aspect of argumentation.

Ludology is the academic and critical study of games qua games, especially in terms of system design, player experience and the socio-cultural dynamics of gaming. By drawing upon and extending the lessons learned from ludologist Bartle’s (1996, 2012) analysis of the relation between player-types and games that successfully implement Multi-User-Dungeons (MUDs), I argue that …

Negotiation As A Disagreement Management Tool, Diego Castro

OSSA Conference Archive

Can we negotiate our way out of disagreements? When the chances of persuading the counterpart are low, it might be possible to shift a persuasion to a negotiation dialogue. But what are the conditions for that shift? I will argue that, at least, the following conditions must hold: the disagreement must be practical rather than theoretical; and the parties must be willing to make a sacrifice. When that happens, disagreements can be negotiated, and such negotiation will be a type of practical argumentation.

In Search For A Balance Between Experimental Research And The Theory Of Reasoning: Commentary On José Ángel Gascón’S “Why Did You Really Do It? Examining The Distinction Between Kinds Of Reasons”, Marcin Koszowy

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No abstract provided.

Canadian Infrastructure For A “Canadian School” Of Informal Logic And Argumentation, Takuzo Konishi

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This article comments on Federico Puppo's position that a 'Canadian' school of argumentation exists. Based upon archival research, oral history interviews and published documents on the informal logic movement in the 1970s and 1980s, it is argued that Canadian infrastructure for informal logic and argumentation existed, in which a Canadian school of argumentation could exist.

Commentary On Guillermo Sierra Catalán’S “Fictional Claims”, Stephen Pender

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No abstract provided.

Acquisition Of Knowledge Through Narrative In Argumentative Processes, Guillermo Sierra-Catalán

OSSA Conference Archive

The objective of this investigation is to study the role that the narrative speech act plays in relation to the acquisition of certain types of knowledge within the frame of argumentative processes. An inferential scheme that regulates the acquisition of knowledge is exposed, as well as an analysis of the reasons adduced. This is used to develop an evaluative method for the argumentative “goodness” of narrative texts. Finally, the particular case of literary narratives is analysed.

Harmony In Diversity. On The (Possible) Existence Of ‘The Canadian School Of Argumentation’, Federico Puppo

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By looking at the birth and evolution of the informal logic movement, and by clarifying which kind of relations in a diversity we need in order to understand what “school” means, we would like to consider the hypothesis that there is something which could be called ‘the Canadian school of argumentation’ or, at least, of a Canadian tradition amongst those that make up the greater field of the study of argumentation.

Why Did You Really Do It? Examining The Distinction Between Kinds Of Reasons, José Ángel Gascón

OSSA Conference Archive

Studies in cognitive psychology have shown that many of our actions seem to be often influenced by irrelevant features of the environment, of which we are not aware. But exactly what reasons has the psychological research uncovered? In philosophy, a distinction has been made between normative, motivating, and explanatory reasons. Hence it is necessary to determine which of them have been revealed as the real reasons for our actions by the psychological research.

Answer To Commentators, Harald R. Wohlrapp

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No abstract provided.

Wohlrapp’S The Concept Of Argument: A Philosophical Foundation, Ralph Johnson

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No abstract provided.

Commentary On The Concept Of Argument By Harald Wohlrapp, Katharina Stevens

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No abstract provided.

The Concept Of Argument: A Philosophical Foundation - Issues Of Logicism And Objectivity, Trudy Govier

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I would first like to congratulate Harald Wohlrapp on the substantial success of his book on the philosophy of argument. The learning, originality, and energetic dedication shown in this work are impressive indeed. Concerning Harald Wohlrapp’s theories, many fascinating issues arise, as we will be hearing today and in further conversations. In this presentation I shall concentrate on two aspects especially relevant to the treatment of pro and con argumentation; as will be apparent, even on this single topic more could be said. What I will discuss today are the themes of logicism and objectivity.

Commentary On Harald R. Wohlrapp, The Concept Of Argument: A Philosophical Foundation, Derek Allen

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No abstract provided.

The Concept Of Argument: Introductory Statement, Harald R. Wohlrapp

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How to provide, in only 10 minutes, a kind of insight into the conception of argument that I have displayed in my book? This book has 500 pages and is the result of more than 25 years of work with my research group in Hamburg. Therefore it is a delicate task to give a substantive information about it in just some minutes. Despite this, I will start with something outside that task: I will deeply thank my commentators to have studied my book and have made up their minds about it. In particular I thank David Hitchcock who has initiated …

Imagine The Audience – On Audience Research In Rhetoric, Argumentation, And Christopher Tindale’S The Philosophy Of Argumentation And Audience Reception, Jens E. Kjeldsen

OSSA Conference Archive

Without audiences there would be no rhetorical argumentation. Without audiences there would be no rhetoric. Without audiences there would be no argumentation. The importance of audiences for rhetoric and argumentation cannot be overstated. Thus, considering the constitutive necessity of audiences in our fields, it is strange, if not down right worrying, that we spend so few pages on researching audiences. Fortunately, Professor Christopher Tindale has addressed this lacuna in many publications, and now he has done it in a book length work on the Philosophy of Argumentation and Audience Reception (Tindale 2015) The thrust of the argument in his book …

Comments On Christopher W. Tindale’S The Philosophy Of Argument And Audience Reception, Manfred E. Kraus, Manfred Kraus

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No abstract provided.

Arguing Conductively Or Arguing Strategically?, Yun Xie

OSSA Conference Archive

The topic of conductive argument has attracted much attention in recent argumentation studies, but most of the existing discussions are centered on a logical or epistemological perspective. This paper is to argue that conductive arguments could also be understood from a rhetorical perspective, and to offer a Pragma-dialectical point of view regarding to the likelihood and importance of conductive arguments. In particular, it is contended that the mentioning of counter-considerations in a conductive argument is mainly for some rhetorical concerns in order to achieve better persuasiveness in audience. On that basis, it is argued that conductive arguments can be theorized …

Outstanding Questions About Analogies, Trudy Govier

OSSA Conference Archive

I consider several outstanding questions about analogies. These include the following: (a) issues of interpretation especially with regard to whether an analogy should be considered argumentative, as distinct from serving as an illustration, explanation, or matter of rhetorical interest; (b) whether and how to draw a distinction between inductive analogies and a priori analogies; and (c) whether a priori analogies should be reconstructed as deductively valid arguments. The discussion will explore broader themes such as the distinction between the a priori and the deductive, and whether a priori analogies offer reasons for a choice, as distinct from a basis for …

Eliminating Gender-, Racial- And Age-Biases In Medical Diagnostic Reasoning (Paper), Brian Macpherson Dr.

OSSA Conference Archive

Much attention has been paid in the literature to the deleterious effects of errors in diagnostic reasoning due to underlying cognitive biases. This is an important topic since people’s lives and well-being are at stake. Empirical studies cited by Chapman et al. (2013) corroborate the view that gender, racial, or age biases exist in a significant number of clinicians, thereby limiting objective diagnosis. Croskerry (2003, 2013) endorses a so-called metacognitive (or cognitive ‘forcing’) approach to achieve de-biasing in clinicians, a key component of which is critical self-reflection on one’s own diagnostic reasoning (Croskerry, 2003). However, the first empirical study of …

Two-Wise And Three-Wise Similarity, And Non-Deductive Analogical Arguments, Marcello Guarini

OSSA Conference Archive

This paper will add to the discourse on analogical arguments by showing that they need not be deductively reconstructed in common contexts of persuasion. Analogical arguments have varying degrees of similarity, which helps us to understand their varying degrees of strength. Pace Shecaira (2013) it will be argued that this is a common and useful way of examining analogical arguments. It will be shown that deductive reconstruction does not adequately capture the needed degrees of strength.

Let us start with two-wise similarity claims. Subject S₁ says that the disputed case C₁ is (relevantly) similar to C₂ and …

Open Mindedness, Tracy A. Bowell Dr, Justine Kingsbury Dr

OSSA Conference Archive

Dewey defines open-mindedness as “freedom from prejudice, partisanship, and other such habits as close the mind and make it unwilling to consider new problems and entertain new ideas" (1910, p. 30). It is commonly included in lists of epistemic and argumentative virtues. We begin this paper with brief discussion of various accounts of open-mindedness. Our principle interest is in what it is to behave as an open-minded enquirer. Drawing on two cases, we consider whether open-minded behaviour varies between the contexts of solitary and community enquiry and whether inquirers face different challenges to behaving open-mindedly in each of these contexts. …

Commentary On 'Acts Of Ostension', Paul L. Simard Smith

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No abstract provided.

Thinking Critically About Beliefs It's Hard To Think Critically About, Justine M. Kingsbury, Tracy A. Bowell

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There are some beliefs that are difficult to think critically about, even for those who have critical thinking skills and are committed to applying them to their own beliefs. These resistant beliefs are not all of a kind, and so a range of different strategies may be needed to get ourselves and others (in particular our students) to think critically about them. In this paper we suggest some such strategies.

Revising Toulmin’S Model: Argumentative Cell And The Bias Of Objectivity, Thierry Herman

OSSA Conference Archive

This paper presents what we call with Plantin (1900, 2005) an argumentative cell as an unit which is inspired by Toulmin’s layout of arguments (and refined with linguistic insights), in order to analyse two major effects of pseudo-objectivity in argumentation. Four problems of Toulmin's layout will be tackled: (1) Data are only described as facts, (2) the definition of Backing is blurred, but it may be linked with sources of information (linguistic evidentiality) and extended to Data, (3) the dialectical component of the Rebuttal needs to be extended to concessions, and (4) dealing with complex argumentation (linked and convergent argument) …