Handbook of Argumentation Theory

by Frans H. van Eemeren, Bart Garssen, Ton Van Haaften

The Handbook Argumentation Theory provides an up to date survey of the various theoretical contributions to the development of argumentation theory for all scholars interested in argumentation, informal logic and rhetoric. It describes the historical roots of modern argumentation theory that are still an important theoretical background to contemporary approaches. Because of the complexity, diversity and rate of developments in argumentation theory, there is a real need for an overview of the state of the art, the main approaches that can be distinguished and the distinctive features of these approaches. The Handbook covers classical and modern backgrounds to the study of argumentation, the New Rhetoric developed by Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca, the Toulmin model, formal approaches, informal logic, communication and rhetoric, pragmatic approaches, linguistic approaches and pragma-dialectics. The Handbook is co-authored by Frans H. van Eemeren, Bart Garssen, Erik C.W. Krabbe, A. Francisca Snoeck Henkemans, Bart Verheij and Jean Wagemans, who are a coherent and prominent writing team whose expertise covers the whole field. The authors are assisted by an international Editorial Board consisting of outstanding argumentation scholars whose fields of interest are represented in the volume.

1000 pages, Hardcover

First published August 25, 2013

About the author

Frans Hendrik van Eemeren is a Dutch scholar, professor in the Department of Speech Communication, Argumentation Theory and Rhetoric at the University of Amsterdam. He is noted for his Pragma-dialectics theory, an argumentation theory which he developed with Rob Grootendorst from the early 1980s onwards. He has published numerous books and papers, including Strategic Maneuvering in Argumentative Discourse.

Frans H. van Eemeren together with Rob Grootendorst, developed pragma-dialectics, or pragma-dialectical theory, at the University of Amsterdam. It is an argumentation theory that is used to analyze and evaluate argumentation in actual practice. Unlike strictly logical approaches (which focus on the study of argument as product), or purely communication approaches (which emphasize argument as a process), pragma-dialectics was developed to study the entirety of an argumentation as a discourse activity. Thus, the pragma-dialectical theory views argumentation as a complex speech act that occurs as part of natural language activities and has specific communicative goals.

Reviews

[Rebecka Göransdotter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am impressed by the thoroughness of both rhetoric history and modern theory in this book. It is a very educational collection of perspectives and differences of rhetoric theory and method, and van Eemeren is definitely helping the reader to understand the complex historical journey rhetoric as a science had to take. He gives the reader a good understanding of classic and modern rhetoric, the importance of defining what part of the rhetorical spectre you are using and why. Van Eemeren pinpoints the importance of understanding different historical contexts when studying the history of rhetoric but he also gives modern rhetoric a good pat on the back - what is rhetoric today?