Groundwork in the Theory of Argumentation

J. Anthony Blair is a prominent international figure in argumentation studies. He is among the originators of informal logic, an author of textbooks on the informal logic approach to argument analysis and evaluation and on critical thinking, and a founder and editor of the journal Informal Logic. Blair is widely recognized among the leaders in the field for contributing formative ideas to the argumentation literature of the last few decades. This selection of key works provides insights into the history of the field of argumentation theory and various related disciplines. It illuminates the central debates and presents core ideas in four main areas: Critical Thinking, Informal Logic, Argument Theory and Logic, Dialectic and Rhetoric.

Preface and acknowledgements; J. Anthony Blair. - Introduction: Christopher W. Tindale. - Part 1: Critical Thinking. - Introduction. - 1. Is there an obligation to reason well? . - 2. The Keegstra affair: A test case for critical thinking. - 3. What is bias? . - Postscript. - Part 2: Informal Logic. - Introduction. - 4. Argument management, informal logic and critical thinking. - 5. What is the right amount of support for a conclusion. - 6. Premissary relevance. - 7. Premise adequacy. - 8. Relevance, acceptability and sufficiency today. - 9. The ' logic' of informal logic. - 10. Informal logic and logic. - Postscript. - Part 3: Argument Theory. - Introduction. - 11. Walton s argument schemes for presumptive reasoning. - 12. A theory of normative reasoning schemes. - 13. Towards a philosophy of argument. - 14. Argument and its uses. - 15. A time for argument theory integration. - 16. The possibility and actuality of visual arguments. - Postscript. - Part 4: Logic, Dialectic and Rhetoric. - Introduction. - 17. The limits of the dialogue model of argument. - 18. Relationships among logic, dialectic and rhetoric. - 19. The rhetoric of visual arguments. - 20. Pragma-Dialectics and pragma-dialectics. - 21. Investigations and the Critical Discussion model. - 22. Perelmantoday on justice and argumentation. - 23. Rhetoric and argumentation. - Postscript. - Publications of J. Anthony Blair to June 2011. - References. - Index of Names. - Subject Index.