In Memoriam 
 

Douglas Neal Walton 

1942-2020 

 

We deeply mourn the sudden and completely unexpected death of our 

friend and colleague on 3 January 2020, a gentle and unassuming giant in 

the fields of informal logic and argument theory.  

 At the University of Windsor, Doug had been University Chair of Ar-

gumentation Studies at affiliated Assumption University (2008-2013), an 

Adjunct Professor in the Philosophy Department and the Distinguished 

Senior Research Fellow of the Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argu-

mentation and Rhetoric (CRRAR, 2008-2020).  He received his B.A. 

Hons. from the University of Waterloo (1964) and his Ph.D. from the Uni-

versity of Toronto (1972) under the supervision of John Woods. Prior to 

going to Windsor, he spent most of his academic life at the University of 

Winnipeg, where he became a full professor in 1982. He was also an ad-

junct professor in the Ph.D. program at the University of Manitoba and 

held various visiting appointments at the Universities of Arizona, Oregon 

and Lugano, at Northwestern University, the European University Insti-

tute of Florence and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the 

Humanities and Social Science.  

 Over his illustrious 48-year career Doug wrote or co-authored an 

astounding total of 60 books and had nearly 400 articles published in 

learned journals. He served on the editorial boards of 11 academic jour-

nals and on the organizing committees of countless international confer-

ences.  He received numerous prizes and awards and was the very first 

recipient of the prestigious International Society for the Study of Argu-

ment (ISSA) Award in recognition of a lifetime of scholarly achievement 

in the study of argumentation. 

 An obviously disciplined scholar, Doug was tenacious in his theorizing 

and defensive of his points of view, while at the same time being open to 

new connections and new directions for his research projects. He had a 

wide interest in the variety of applications of argument and argumentation. 

He often hurried to get his ideas disseminated to the wider community, 

but he cheerfully accepted corrections and incorporated the advice of sym-

pathetic reviewers. In bearing he was quiet and reserved, and the fact that 

he had a sharp wit and a wicked sense of humour will surprise those who 

did not know him well. His numerous co-authorships are witness to his 

admirable collegiality. 

 In many ways, it is too early to offer a retrospective on his work. Sev-

eral journals have already led with a paper of his that was “in press” at the 



2 
 
time of his death, and we do the same with this issue. It is also apparent 

that several other venues will publish fresh work in the near future. 

 Still, we can appreciate the main areas into which his voluminous pub-

lications on informal logic and argumentation collect: along with John 

Woods and then in his own right, he produced definitive writings on each 

of the informal fallacies; his work on argumentation schemes has set the 

standard for all such research on this subject that is to come; and his focus 

on and development of dialogue types is one of the more distinctive 

achievements of his career. And none of this fully addresses the books and 

papers on artificial intelligence and legal reasoning.  

 In spite of his quiet demeanour, Doug Walton was also capable of some 

quite contentious claims. In the last classes he conducted with PhD stu-

dents at the University of Windsor, he continued to insist that informal 

logic is a dialectical theory rather than a logical one. And he also explained 

that the most important standard of reasoning beyond the deductive and 

inductive is the plausible, and that it is plausible reasoning that best char-

acterized his theory of argumentation, insofar as he could be said to have 

one.  Also in the past year, he told all who would listen that the place to 

look for the most innovative work is in artificial intelligence and the multi-

agent modelling of arguments. It was not that he considered himself a 

prophet. Rather, he imagined a future for our field and then sat down to 

bring it about. Many of us now live and work in a place that Doug Walton 

imagined. On reflection, it is not at all a bad place to be. 

 He will be sorely missed by students and colleagues at The University 

of Windsor, and around the world, but most of all by his beloved wife, 

Karen Walton. 

Special Issue on Douglas Walton’s Work 

We are pleased to announce that Informal Logic will publish a Special 

Issue dedicated to papers engaging Doug Walton’s work. And we are fur-

ther pleased to announce that the issue will be guest edited by Fabrizio 

Macagno and Alice Toniolo, two established scholars who are well ac-

quainted with Walton’s work in all its dimensions. We thus issue a call 

for papers, inviting contributions fully devoted to the exploration, analy-

sis, and development of different aspects of Professor Walton’s work.  

Papers should be submitted to either of the guest editors 

(fabriziomacagno@hotmail.com; a.toniolo@st-andrews.ac.uk) or through 

the journal (specifying that they are intended for the Special Issue). The 

deadline for submissions is December 1, 2020. Queries should be directed 

to the guest editors. 
 

mailto:fabriziomacagno@hotmail.com
mailto:a.toniolo@st-andrews.ac.uk