Microsoft Word - 5001-13297-1-CE.docx


This	
  issue	
  of	
  Volume	
  37	
  warrants	
  an	
  explanatory	
  note	
  from	
  
the	
  editors.	
  	
  
	
   The	
  last	
  number	
  of	
  Informal	
  Logic,	
  Vol.	
  37,	
  No.	
  3,	
  was	
  de-­‐
voted	
  to	
  a	
  discussion	
  by	
  five	
  scholars	
  of	
  various	
  aspects	
  of	
  
Harald	
  Wohlrapp’s	
  book,	
  The	
  Concept	
  of	
  Argument,	
  detailing	
  
its	
  innovative	
  features	
  and	
  exploring	
  some	
  of	
  the	
  questions	
  
raised	
  by	
  his	
  account.	
  In	
  this	
  issue,	
  we	
  are	
  pleased	
  to	
  provide	
  
Professor	
  Wohlrapp’s	
  extensive	
  responses	
  to	
  those	
  papers.	
  
He	
  here	
  elaborates	
  further	
  on	
  the	
  approach	
  he	
  takes	
  to	
  the	
  
study	
  of	
  argument,	
  clarifying	
  a	
  number	
  of	
  points	
  that	
  were	
  
raised	
  and	
  replying	
  to	
  objections.	
  	
  

	
   In	
  September	
  of	
  2017	
  the	
  University	
  of	
  Windsor	
  launched	
  
its	
   new	
   interdisciplinary	
   PhD	
   program	
   in	
   Argumentation	
  
Studies.	
  	
  It	
  marked	
  the	
  occasion	
  with	
  an	
  inaugural	
  lecture	
  by	
  
Frans	
  H.	
  van	
  Eemeren,	
  the	
  founding	
  professor	
  of	
  the	
  famed	
  
doctoral	
  program	
  in	
  argumentation	
  at	
  the	
  University	
  of	
  Am-­‐
sterdam	
  and	
  co-­‐originator	
  of	
  the	
  pragma-­‐dialectical	
  theory	
  
of	
  argumentation.	
  We	
  are	
  delighted	
  to	
  be	
  able	
  to	
  publish	
  a	
  
slightly	
  revised	
  version	
  of	
  that	
  lecture,	
  “Argumentation	
  The-­‐
ory	
  and	
  Argumentative	
  Practices:	
  A	
  Vital	
  but	
  Complex	
  Rela-­‐
tionship.”	
  In	
  this	
  article,	
  Professor	
  van	
  Eemeren	
  details	
  the	
  
development	
   of	
   pragma-­‐dialectics	
   from	
   the	
   early	
   years	
  
through	
  to	
  its	
  current	
  theoretical	
  robustness,	
  which	
  allows	
  
its	
  practical	
  application	
  in	
  identifying	
  prototypical	
  argumen-­‐
tative	
  patterns.	
  	
  

	
   With	
  the	
  third	
  article	
  in	
  this	
  issue	
  we	
  return	
  to	
  our	
  regu-­‐
lar	
  refereed	
  fare.	
  Adam	
  Dalgleish,	
  Patrick	
  Girard,	
  and	
  Maree	
  
J.	
  Davies	
  of	
  the	
  University	
  of	
  Auckland	
  review	
  feminist	
  cri-­‐
tiques	
   of	
   the	
   “Critical	
   Thinking”	
   initiative	
   and	
   in	
   “Critical	
  
Thinking,	
  Bias,	
  and	
  Feminist	
  Philosophy:	
  Building	
  a	
  Better	
  
Framework	
   through	
   Collaboration.”	
   offer	
   advice	
   aimed	
   at	
  
improving	
   critical	
   thinking	
   methods	
   in	
   light	
   of	
   those	
   cri-­‐
tiques.