Argumentation Schemes for Composition and Division Arguments: A Critique of Walton's Account

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1-2021

Publication Title

Journal of Applied Logics-IfCoLog Journal of Logics and Their Applications

Volume

8

Issue

1

First page number:

53

Last page number:

73

Abstract

This essay begins with a description of my acquaintance with Douglas Walton's scholarly work: this acquaintance goes back some five decades, but it is relatively meager given his enormous output, and yet I recently renewed and deepened it for the purpose of the present contribution. For this purpose, I decided to focus on a topic at the borderland of two things: the notion of argumentation schemes which seems to have earned Walton the greatest notoriety lately, and the fallacy of composition on which I have focused in the last several years. Thus, next I summarize Walton's account of argumentation schemes for the fallacy (and argument) of composition (and of division); unfortunately, it seems to be highly unsatisfactory. I also examine Chaim Perelman's account of the same topic since Walton refers to his work; Perelman's account is terminologically anomalous but seems to make some conceptual sense, and yet it magnifies further the inadequacy of Walton's account. Finally, I undertake a more constructive effort and sketch what I feel is a promising and more adequate account, elaborating several argumentation schemes and several evaluative principles, based on realistic examples.

Keywords

Douglas walton's scholarly work critique; Argumentation schemes; Fallacy of composition; Chaim perelman

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Philosophy

Language

English


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