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© Informal Logic Editors. Informal Logic, Vol. 33, No. 2 (2013), pp. 81-82.  

 

Special Issue in Honour of Trudy Govier 

 

Preface 

 

On the occasion of Trudy Govier’s retirement from the University 

of Lethbridge after a 42-year career of scholarship and teaching 

there and elsewhere, the Editors of Informal Logic take great 

pleasure in presenting this Special Issue of the journal assembled in 

her honour. These papers are written out of respect for her signal 

contributions to the theory of argument, and of informal logic, over 

more than three decades.  

 Trudy Govier received her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the 

University of Waterloo in 1971, following a B.A. (History) from 

the University of Alberta and an M.A. (Philosophy) from the Uni-

versity of Calgary. She was a member of the Philosophy Depart-

ment at Trent University 1971-1982, an independent scholar 1982-

2005, and a member of the Philosophy Department at the Universi-

ty of Lethbridge 2005-2012, retiring as a full professor.  

 During her 23-year hiatus between full-time university posi-

tions, Govier taught part time at the Universities of Calgary, Simon 

Fraser, Lethbridge, Amsterdam and Winnipeg. A life-long public 

advocate for peace and reconciliation, she organized two confer-

ences on issues of ethics and peace in Dubrovnic, and a conference 

on dilemmas of reconciliation in Calgary; several workshops and 

conferences for Project Ploughshares (a peace research, education 

and action NGO on whose executive board she sat); and numerous 

public lecture series. She also contributed to several Canadian gov-

ernment commissions. During this period she wrote nine books and 

edited two others, and published over 40 scholarly articles.  

 Trudy Govier was honoured by the argumentation scholarly 

community as an invited keynote speaker at the 1999 Ontario Soci-

ety for the Study of Argumentation and as an International Society 

for the Study of Argumentation Award winner in 2005. 

 Govier attended the First International Symposium on Infor-

mal Logic held at University of Windsor, 26-28 June 1978. There-

after she became one of the principal contributors to the develop-



Special Issue in Honour of Trudy Govier                  Preface   

© Informal Logic Editors. Informal Logic, Vol. 33, No. 2 (2013), pp. 81-82.  

 

82 

ment of the fledgling movement, publishing several papers in the 

Informal Logic Newsletter and later in this journal, and serving on 

its editorial board from the beginning. Govier presented papers at 

the Second International Symposium on Informal Logic (1983) and 

at the Third International Symposium on Informal Logic (1989). 

Her highly-regarded textbook, A Practical Study of Argument, in 

print for 28 years and currently in its seventh edition, illustrates 

how developments at the level of theory can be integrated into un-

dergraduate instruction. 

 The articles in this issue discuss Govier’s influence in the 

development of the theory and practice of informal logic and of 

argument theory more broadly, and also attest to the influence of 

her views on topics of current theoretical interest in these fields. 

 We focus here on Govier’s work in areas covered by the 

mandate of Informal Logic. A broader collection of papers that will 

make reference also to her extensive scholarly work on the topics 

of peace, reconciliation and trust, is being prepared under the edi-

torship of Catherine Hundleby, and will be available within the 

year. 

 The list of Govier’s scholarly publications included at the 

back of this issue has been developed from her most recent Curric-

ulum Vitae, with some additional information and corrections by 

the editors.  

 

 

J. Anthony Blair & Ralph H. Johnson 

Special Issue Editors