Title

Adversariality and argumentation

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2020

Abstract

The concept of adversarial-ity, like that of argument, admits of significant variation. As a conse-quence, I argue, the question of adversarial argument has not been well understood. After defining adversariality, I argue that if we take argument to be about beliefs, rather than commitments, then two consid-erations show that adversariality is an essential part of it. First, beliefs are not under our direct voluntary control. Second, beliefs are costly both for the psychological states they provoke and for the fact that they are causally related to our actions. As a result, argument involving agreement can also be understood to be adversarial.

DOI

10.22329/il.v40i1.5969

Publication Title

Informal Logic

Volume Number

40

Issue Number

1

First Page

77

Last Page

108

ISSN

08242577

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