Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Camel's Nose Is In The Tent: Rules, Theories And Slippery Slopes, Mario Rizzo, Glen Whitman Dec 2003

The Camel's Nose Is In The Tent: Rules, Theories And Slippery Slopes, Mario Rizzo, Glen Whitman

Mario Rizzo

The authors provide a general theory for understanding and evaluating slippery slope arguments (SSAs) and their associated slippery slope events (SSEs). The central feature of the theory is a structure of discussion within which all arguments take place. The structure is multi-layered, consisting of decisions, rules, theories,and research programs. Each layer influences and shapes the layer beneath: rules influences decisions, theories influence the choice of rules, and research programs influence the choice of theories. In this structure, SSAs take the form of meta-arguments, as they purport to predict the future development of arguments in this structure. Evaluating such arguments requires …


Peirce's "Diagrammatic Reasoning" As A Solution Of The Learning Paradox, Michael H.G. Hoffmann Jan 2003

Peirce's "Diagrammatic Reasoning" As A Solution Of The Learning Paradox, Michael H.G. Hoffmann

Michael H.G. Hoffmann

How can we reach “new” levels of knowledge if “new” means that there is something “evolved” that cannot be generated simply by deduction or by induction from what has been given before. The paper’s first goal is to show that two paradigmatic attempts at solving this so-called “learning paradox,” Plato’s apriorism and Aristotle’s inductivism, form two horns of a dilemma: While the inductivist cannot justify any representation of data without assuming a priori given hypotheses, the apriorist cannot justify why a certain application of given ideas is correct without being caught in an infinite regress. The second goal is to …


Lernende Lernen Abduktiv: Eine Methodologie Kreativen Denkens, Michael H.G. Hoffmann Jan 2003

Lernende Lernen Abduktiv: Eine Methodologie Kreativen Denkens, Michael H.G. Hoffmann

Michael H.G. Hoffmann

No abstract provided.


Consensus, Legitimacy, And The Exercise Of Judgement In Political Deliberation, Cillian Mcbride Jan 2003

Consensus, Legitimacy, And The Exercise Of Judgement In Political Deliberation, Cillian Mcbride

Cillian McBride

Deliberative Democrats have been criticised for promoting an overly consensual style of politics. Agonistic democrats argue that this is because they allow justice to displace ‘the political’ while others make the opposite charge: deliberative democrats pay insufficient attention to justice and the confrontational style of politics which may be necessary to secure social justice. I argue that the deliberative model aims at strengthening democratic legitimacy, not at producing consensus and that it is centrally concerned with stimulating the exercise of citizens’ capacity for judgement. The duty of civility should be regarded as a duty to make impartial judgements, not as …