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On the Art of Finding Arguments: What Ancient and Modern Masters of Invention Have to Tell Us About the "Ars Inveniendi"

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This paper deals with what has been called "ars inveniendi" (’art of finding‘) in antiquity, medieval and early modern times. A survey of different techniques of finding tenable and relevant arguments is presented (among them, the Topical tradition, Status theory, Debate theory, Encyclopedic systems, Creativity techniques). Their advantages and disadvantages are critically compared. It is suggested that a mixture of strategies of finding arguments should be used. Finally, a few remarks showing the relationship beween the strategies of finding arguments and creativity in general are given.

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  1. Institut für Sprachwissenschaft, Philogie, Universität Innsbruck, Innrain 52, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Manfred Kienpointner

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  1. Manfred Kienpointner
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Kienpointner, M. On the Art of Finding Arguments: What Ancient and Modern Masters of Invention Have to Tell Us About the "Ars Inveniendi". Argumentation 11, 225–236 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007738732374

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