Vorobej M. A Theory of Argument

New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. — 336 p.A Theory of Argument is an advanced textbook intended for students in philosophy, communication studies, and linguistics who have completed at least one course in argumentation theory, informal logic, critical thinking, or formal logic. The text contains 400 exercises. In this book, Mark Vorobej develops a novel approach to argument interpretation and evaluation that synthesizes subjective concerns about the personal points of view of individual arguers, with objective concerns about the structural properties of arguments. One of the key themes of the book is that we cannot succeed in distinguishing good arguments from bad ones until we learn to listen carefully to others.
Part One develops a relativistic account of argument cogency that allows for rational disagreement. An argument can be cogent for one person without being cogent for someone else, provided we grant that it can be rational for individuals to hold different beliefs about the objective properties of the argument in question. Part Two offers a comprehensive and rigorous account of argument diagraming. An argument diagram represents the evidential structure of an argument as conceived by its author. Hybrid arguments are contrasted with linked and convergent ones, and a novel technique is introduced for graphically recording disagreements with authorial claims.Mark Vorobej is associate professor of philosophy and director of the Centre for Peace Studies at McMaster University in Canada.