Trudy Govier (editor)

Problems in Argument   Analysis and Evaluation Mouton de Gruyter/Foris, 1987 ISBN 3-11-013063-7 Description Comments Table of Contents Ordering information

Description

This book was one of the first theoretical explorations of basic issues arising from the nonformal approach to the interpretation and evaluation of a wide range of arguments in natural language. The author’s motivation was to follow through comments by informal logicians to the effect that the techniques and strategies of formal logic were not helpful for the task of understanding and appraising real arguments in daily life or non-mathematical academic disciplines. Her determination to explore whether these comments were correct, and if so, why, was enhanced by provocative discussions in early issues of the Informal Logic Newsletter, later to become the journal Informal Logic, to which she was a frequent contributor.

This book is still frequently cited by theorists of argument and informal logic for its foundational discussions of such matters as typologies of argument; the inductive/deductive distinction; the unreceived views of John Wisdom and Carl Wellman about reasoning; the problematic nature of deductivist assumptions about reasoning and argument; the problem of missing premises; and the principle of charity.

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Comments and Reviews

Derek Allen, in Informal Logic, 1990.

“Govier’s concerns in this work are both critical and constructive. Her chief critical concern is to demonstrate that certain current theories of argument are inadequate, while her chief constructive concern is to contribute to the development of a better theory. The book is written with the lucidity for which Govier is renowned. It displays intimate familiarity with the informal logic literature. And it covers a wide range of topics. On each, Govier has interesting things to say..”

Ralph Johnson and J. Anthony Blair, in Johnson’s The Rise of Informal Logic

“Of particular importance is Govier’s Problems in Argument Analysis and Evaluation, which appeared in 1987 and which deals with a variety of topics important to the informal logician. Not only does she argue there that current theories of argument (Deductivism and Positivism) are deficient; she also makes a case for the importance of informal logic.”

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Table of Contents

1. 1. Rigor and Reality
2. Is a Theory of Argument Possible?
3. The Great Divide
4. Two Unreceived Views about Reasoning and Argument
5. The Problem of Missing Premises
6. A Dialogic Exercise
7. A New Approach to Charity
8. Reasons Why Arguments and Explanations are Different
9. Four Reasons There are No Fallacies?
10. Formalism and Informalism in Theories of Reasoning and Argument
11. Critical Thinking in the Armchair, the Classroom, and the Lab
12. Critical Thinking about Critical Thinking Tests
13. The Social Epistemology of Argument Appendix on Further Aspects of Critical Thinking Tests

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Ordering Information

Trudy Govier. Problems in Argument Analysis and Evaluation.
--Studies of Argumentation in Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis, 5.

Mouton de Gruyter/Foris 1987.
DM 143,- / öS 1044,- / sFr 123,- / approx. US$ 72.00.
ISBN 3-11-013063-7 (3110130637) (paper).

This book is now handled by Walter de Gruyter <http://www.degruyter.de>.