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

Excerpt

As one of the main approaches to argumentation, Pragma-Dialectics has always been adopted by scholars from various research domains for its solid, fully-fledged and—more important—consistent theoretical foundation. During the process of perfecting Pragma-Dialectics in the past four decades, pragma-dialecticians have developed a welcome routine of publishing monographs that systematically summarize the latest theoretical and methodological developments of their theory. To name a few: for a thorough knowledge of the whole research program of Pragma-Dialectics, Speech acts in argumentative discussions: A theoretical model for the analysis of discussions directed towards solving conflicts of opinion (van Eemeren and Grootendorst 1984) is indispensable; for a grip on the pragma-dialectical approach to fallacies, Argumentation, communication, and fallacies: A pragma-dialectical perspective (van Eemeren and Grootendorst 1992) can be helpful; for a full picture of the standard theory of Pragma-Dialectics, A systematic theory of argumentation: The pragma-dialectical approach (van Eemeren and Grootendorst 2004) can be consulted; for an in-depth understanding of the extended theory of Pragma-Dialectics, Strategic maneuvering in argumentative discourse: Extending the pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation (van Eemeren 2010) is the best reference. However, until now there has not been a monograph that presents the general thrust of the development of Pragma-Dialectics since it was enunciated in the late 1970s to now, covering both its standard theory and its extended theory. It can easily be imagined that such a monograph would satisfy those readers who are eager to know what Pragma-Dialectics is and in what sense it is different from other approaches to argumentation. Fortunately, Argumentation Theory: A pragma-dialectical perspective, a monograph that takes on this mission, has timely come out in 2018. In the following I will first briefly introduce the content of each chapter of this monograph and then discuss its merits. …