Frans H. van Eemeren - Argumentation Theory: A Pragma-Dialectical Perspective

Editorial Board

Maurice A. Finocchiaro, University of Nevada, USA

Bart Garssen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

David Zarefsky, Northwestern University, USA

Since 1986 Springer, formerly Kluwer Academic Publishers, publishes the international interdisciplinary journal Argumentation . This journal is a medium for distributing contributions to the study of argumentation from all schools of thought. From a journal that published guest-edited issues devoted to specific themes, Argumentation has developed into a regular journal providing a platform for discussing all theoretical aspects of argumentative discourse. Since 1999 the journal has an accompanying book series consisting of volumes containing substantial contributions to the study of argumentation. The Argumentation Library aims to be a high quality book series consisting of monographs and edited volumes. It publishes texts offering important theoretical insights in certain major characteristics of argumentative discourse in order to inform the international community of argumentation theorists of recent developments in the field. The insights concerned may pertain to the process of argumentation but also to aspects of argumentative texts resulting from this process. This means that books will be published not only on various types of argumentative procedures, but also on the features of enthymematic argumentation, argumentation structures, argument schemes and fallacies. Contributions to the series can be made by scholars from a broad variety of disciplines, ranging from law to history, from linguistics to theology, and from science to sociology. In particular, contributions are invited from argumentation theorists with a background in informal or formal logic, modern or classical rhetoric, and discourse analysis or speech communication. A prerequisite in all cases is that the contribution involved is original and provides the forum of argumentation theorists with an exemplary specimen of advanced scholarship. The Argumentation Library should enrich the study of argumentation with insights that enhance its quality and constitute a fruitful starting point for further research and application. All proposals will be carefully taken into consideration by the editors. If the prospects for including a certain project in the series are realistic, the author(s) will be invited to send at least three representative chapters of their manuscript for review to the editors. In case the manuscript is then judged eligible for publication, the complete manuscript will be reviewed by outside expert referees. Only then a final decision can be taken concerning publication.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5642

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Argumentation theory is a prospering discipline, with book series, academic journals and worldwide big general conferences and more focused smaller conferences, symposiums and research colloquiums. There is also a comprehensive Handbook of Argumentation Theory that provides an up-to-date overview of the variety of theoretical approaches to argumentation that have contributed to the current state of the art. A short introduction to the theorizing that takes place in the discipline however is harder to find. This book is written with the intention to fill this gap.

An extra motive for me to write this book is that an introduction into the theory of pragma-dialectics, the theoretical approach to argumentation I have helped to create since the 1970s, is also lacking. The insights developed in the various components of the theoretical framework of this theory have been explained in a number of separate monographs but an overview of how they hang together is not so easy to be gained. This is why I decided to try to combine the fulfilment of the two demands by writing an introduction into argumentation theory in which the discipline is viewed from a pragma-dialectical perspective.

Argumentation Theory: A Pragma-Dialectical Perspective provides a general introduction into argumentation theory, but it explains the theorizing about argumentation in a pragma-dialectical way. This means that great emphasis is put both on the pragmatic dimension of argumentation as a goal-directed verbal activity and on its dialectical dimension as part of a critical exchange aimed at resolving a difference of opinion. An advantage of choosing this approach is that in this way a clear and coherent overview can be presented of what argumentation theory involves. Another advantage is that it gives me the opportunity to explain systematically in this theoretical complement of Argumentation: Analysis and Evaluation , the practical textbook I co-authored with Francisca Snoeck Henkemans, the connections between the various components of the pragma-dialectical theory.

The idea of writing this overview is in the first place based on the stimulating discussions I have had with Wu Peng. Further encouragement I received from the exchanges about my plan for the book with Bart Garssen, Ton van Haaften, Francisca Snoeck Henkemans and David Zarefsky. I am most grateful to these friends and colleagues for their useful advice. In addition, I want to thank those friends, colleagues and students who were willing to read drafts of various chapters of the book and to provide me with their constructive comments. Next to the argumentation scholars I just mentioned, they include Corina Andone, Ton van Haaften, Henrike Jansen, Alfonso Lomeli Hernandez, Vahid Niamadpour, Eric de Marez Oyens, Agns van Rees, Sandra Valencia, Yu Shiyang and Zhang Chuanrui.