Trudy Govier

The Philosphy of Argument Vale Press, 1999 ISBN: 0-916475-28-x (cloth) 0-916475-27-1 (paper) Description Table of Contents Ordering Information

Description

From the Preface

by J. Anthony Blair, University of Windsor

    Argument is a social practice, arguably part of the core of any culture. It lies in the heart of Western culture.  Not quarrelsome disputation or overbearing browbeating, but the finding of reasons to justify beliefs and the response to disagreement by rational persuasion.  It is difficult to imagine any culture without its philosophies, or any philosophy without argument. Certainly argument is the very lifeblood of our philosophy and science, and of the galaxies of inquiry and discourse they have spun off. Moreover, the social, political and legal institutions of any democracy also rely essentially on argument. Yet, astonishingly, philosophy has never turned its reflective attention on argument in an extended systematic way.  … There has been no field of Western philosophy called 'the philosophy of argument.'  Until recently. Happily, with Trudy Govier’s The Philosophy of Argument and other collections and monographs newly appearing, that lament may soon be overtaken by events. . . .

     This book is philosophical writing at its best. It is lucid, plain-spoken, clearly organized, unpretentious, serious, engaging, and above all, sensible.  Govier takes the work of her colleagues seriously, scrutinizes it thoroughly, firmly exposes its weaknesses, and makes use of its solid insights.  She is no less scrupulous about testing the ideas she likes and wants to be true than those she dislikes and hopes are false. . . . Govier is not an ‘ivory tower’ philosopher concerned with theoretical matters unconnected with everyday life. Quite the contrary! There is throughout these pages an underlying practical concern for constructive interaction with those with whom we disagree, and for shaping and preserving a society of openness, trust, tolerance, and respect.  The philosophy of argument matters to Govier because she thinks arguments matter to individuals and societies in quite down-to-earth ways.

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Table of Contents

I. Politics:  Credibility in Argument and in Testimony

• Chapter One:  Philosophers are More than a Luxury! Politics and Argument under Uncertainty.
• Chapter Two:  Political Speech, Oliver Sachs, and the Credibility Concern
• Chapter Three:  When Logic Meets Politics:  Testimony, Distrust and Rhetorical Disadvantage

II. The Nature and Integrity of Argument

• Chapter Four:  Feminists, Adversaries, and the Integrity of Argument
• Chapter Five:  What’s Wrong with Slippery Slope Arguments?
• Chapter Six:  The Poverty of Formalism

III. Assessing Arguments:  Analogical and Conductive

• Chapter Seven. What is a Good Argument?
• Chapter Eight.  Rosebuds, Judgment, and Critical Thinking
• Chapter Nine.  Euclid’s Disease and Desperate Violinists:  Do Analogies have Missing Premises?
• Chapter Ten.  Reasoning with Pros and Cons:  Conductive Arguments Revisited

IV. Audience, Dialectics and Controversy

• Chapter Eleven.  When They Can’t Talk Back:  The Non-Interactive Audience and the Theory of Argument
• Chapter Twelve.  Becoming Dialectical:  Two Tiers of Argument Appraisal?
• Chapter Thirteen:  Progress and Regress on the Dialectical Tier
• Chapter Fourteen:  The Positive Theory of Controversy

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Ordering Information

Trudy Govier. The Philosophy of Argument.
$21.45 paper · ISBN 0916475-271 · 264 pages · 1999
$48.65 hard cover · ISBN 0916475-28X
Studies in Critical Thinking & Informal Logic No. 3

Vale Press, Newport News, Virginia, U.S.A., 1999.
Order from (valepres@erols.com)

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