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55Parmenides' Timeless Universe, AgainDialogue 26 (3): 549. 1987.The paper defends my thesis that Parmenides' poem contains a critique of time, in answer to Mohan Matthen's criticisms of my views
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18In “Image, Evidence, Argument,” Ian Dove defends an intriguing ‘middle ground’ between those who argue that there are “visual arguments” and skeptics who argue that there are not. I discuss one of Dove’s key examples, proposing a different analysis of it, arguing that there are problems with the “verbal repackaging” of the argument he suggests.
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51When Two Wrongs Make A RightInformal Logic 5 (1). 1983.CONTEMPORARY TREATMENTS OF INFORMAL FALLACIES TAKE TWO WRONGS REASONING AS A FORM OF FALLACIOUS INFERENCE. I ARGUE THAT SUCH INFERENCES ARE OFTEN VALID AND THAT AN ADEQUATE TREATMENT OF TWO WRONGS ARGUMENTS MUST DISTINGUISH VALID AND INVALID ARGUMENTS, RATHER THAN REJECT THEM OUT OF HAND
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66Going Multimodal: What is a Mode of Arguing and Why Does it Matter?Argumentation 29 (2): 133-155. 2015.During the last decade, one source of debate in argumentation theory has been the notion that there are different modes of arguing that need to be distinguished when analyzing and evaluating arguments. Visual argument is often cited as a paradigm example. This paper discusses the ways in which it and modes of arguing that invoke non-verbal sounds, smells, tactile sensations, music and other non-verbal entities may be defined and conceptualized. Though some attempts to construct a ‘multimodal’ th…Read more
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12The Skeptical Tradition Myles Burnyeat, editor Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1983. Pp. 450. $38.50 cloth: $10.95 paper (review)Dialogue 24 (4): 746-. 1985.
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13Both 'persuasion' and 'rational convincing' play a major role in argumentative discourse but only the latter is said to constitute argument and be amenable to traditional logical analysis. I argue against this assumption by showing that there are many paradigmatic instances of persuasion which are best understood as implicit arguments. So understood, acts of persuasion can conform to well recognized argument schemata and are best assessed accordingly. I shall argue that the attempt to distinguis…Read more
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110Affirmative action as a form of restitutionJournal of Business Ethics 9 (3). 1990.Though the common sense defense of affirmative action (or employment equity) appeals to principles of restitution, philosophers have tried to defend it in other ways. In contrast, I defend it by appealing to the notion of restitution, arguing (1) that alternative attempts to justify affirmative action fail; and (2) that ordinary affirmative action programs need to be supplemented and amended in keeping with the principles this suggests.
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3Paul Kurtz, The New Skepticism: Inquiry and Reliable Knowledge Reviewed byPhilosophy in Review 13 (2): 101-103. 1993.
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31Johnson on the Metaphysics of ArgumentArgumentation 16 (3): 277-286. 2002.This paper responds to two aspects of Ralph Johnson's Manifest Rationality (2000). The first is his critique of deductivism. The second is his failure to make room for some species of argument (e.g., visual and kisceral arguments) proposed by recent commentators. In the first case, Johnson holds that argumentation theorists have adopted a notion of argument which is too narrow. In the second, that they have adopted one which is too broad. I discuss the case Johnson makes for both claims, and pos…Read more
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75Deductivism Within Pragma-DialecticsArgumentation 13 (1): 1-16. 1999.The present paper elaborates a deductivist account of natural language argu-ment in the context of pragma-dialectics. It reviews earlier debates, criticizes some standard misconceptions in the literature, and argues that the identification and analysis of deductive argument schemes can be the basis of a compelling theory of argumentative discourse
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17Is restructuring an underhanded way to make the rich richer and the poor poorer? Or is it necessary, although bitter, medicine for an ailing economy? In The Ethics of the New Economy: Restructuring and Beyond, professionals from the fields of philosophy, ethics, management, as well as those representing the groups affected by restructuring, tackle thorny ethical issues. Referring to concrete case studies, these timely essays discuss a variety of topics, including justified and unjustified restru…Read more
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56On Nicholas of Autrecourt and the Law of Non-ContradictionDialogue 23 (1): 129-134. 1984.According to the standard account of Nicholas' views,his scepticism is constrained by his commitment to the law of non-contradiction as a basis for certain truth. Such an account fails to distinguish the views found in the "Leters to Bernard" and the "Exigit Ordo" the latter clear rejects the law of non-contradiction and propounds a full fledged scepticism
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38Good reasoning matters!: a constructive approach to critical thinkingOxford University Press. 2004.Offering an innovative approach to critical thinking, Good Reasoning Matters! identifies the essential structure of good arguments in a variety of contexts and also provides guidelines to help students construct their own effective arguments. In addition to examining the most common features of faulty reasoning--slanting, bias, propaganda, vagueness, ambiguity, and a common failure to consider opposing points of view--the book introduces a variety of argument schemes and rhetorical techniques. T…Read more
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The Sophists: Towards a More Sophisticated ViewEidos: The Canadian Graduate Journal of Philosophy 4
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110Descartes' first meditation: Something old, something new, something borrowedJournal of the History of Philosophy 22 (3): 281-301. 1984.
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19Stewardship gone astray? Ethics and the SAAIn Chris Scarre & Geoffrey Scarre (eds.), The Ethics of Archaeology: Philosophical Perspectives on Archaeological Practice, Cambridge University Press. pp. 163--180. 2006.
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Paul Kurtz, The New Skepticism: Inquiry and Reliable Knowledge (review)Philosophy in Review 13 101-103. 1993.
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65Logic, Art and ArgumentInformal Logic 18 (2). 1996.Most infonnallogic texts and articles assume a verbal account of reasoning which defines "argument" as a set of sentences. The present paper broadens this definition in order to account for "visual arguments" which are communicated with nonverbal visual images. Standard approaches to verbal arguments are extended in a way that allows them to explain and evaluate visual argumentation
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14This paper is an in depth discussion of the work on fallacies collected in the "Selected Papers" of Woods and Walton. While it defends many of their claims, it argues that they have not shown that their formal approach should be an integral part of that discipline we now call "informal logic".
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17The prodigious development of argumentation theory over the last three decades has raised many issues that challenge some of the long held assumptions that characterize the traditional study of argument. One of these issues is the role of emotion in argument and argument analysis. While rhetoric has, with its emphasis on persuasion, always recognized that emotions play some role determining which arguments we accept and reject, a long tradition sees appeals to emotion as fallacies that violate t…Read more
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