Formal scientists have attempted to combine logic and dialectic through
formalisation. These attempts include pre-formal and partially formal treatises on argument and
dialectic
Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...
, systems based on
defeasible reasoning, and systems based on
game semantics and
dialogical logic.
History
Since the late 20th century, European and American
logicians have attempted to provide mathematical foundations for dialectic through formalisation,
although logic has been related to dialectic since ancient times.
There have been pre-formal and partially-formal treatises on argument and dialectic, from authors such as
Stephen Toulmin
Stephen Edelston Toulmin (; 25 March 1922 – 4 December 2009) was a British philosopher, author, and educator. Influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein, Toulmin devoted his works to the analysis of moral reasoning. Throughout his writings, he sought t ...
(''The Uses of Argument'', 1958),
(''Dialectics: A Controversy-Oriented Approach to the Theory of Knowledge'', 1977),
and
Frans H. van Eemeren
Frans Hendrik van Eemeren (born 7 April 1946, Helmond) 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 argu ...
and
Rob Grootendorst
Rob Grootendorst (11 February 1944 in Schiedam – 23 February 2000 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch communication and argumentation theory scholar. He was professor for Dutch speech communication at the University of Amsterdam. His contributions to the a ...
(
pragma-dialectics
Pragma-dialectics, or pragma-dialectical theory, developed by Frans H. van Eemeren and Rob Grootendorst at the University of Amsterdam, is an argumentation theory that is used to analyze and evaluate argumentation in actual practice. Unlike stric ...
, 1980s).
One can include works of the communities of
informal logic
Informal logic encompasses the principles of logic and logical thought outside of a formal setting (characterized by the usage of particular statements). However, the precise definition of "informal logic" is a matter of some dispute. Ralph H. ...
and
paraconsistent logic
A paraconsistent logic is an attempt at a logical system to deal with contradictions in a discriminating way. Alternatively, paraconsistent logic is the subfield of logic that is concerned with studying and developing "inconsistency-tolerant" syste ...
.
Defeasibility
Building on theories of
defeasible reasoning (see
John L. Pollock), systems have been built that define well-formedness of arguments, rules governing the process of introducing arguments based on fixed assumptions, and rules for shifting burden.
Many of these logics appear in the special area of
artificial intelligence and law, though the computer scientists' interest in formalizing dialectic originates in a desire to build
decision support and computer-supported collaborative work systems.
[For surveys of work in this area see, for example: And: ]
Dialog games
Dialectic itself can be formalised as moves in a game, where an advocate for the truth of a proposition and an opponent argue.
Such games can provide a
semantics of logic, one that is very general in applicability.
See also
*
Argumentation framework
*
Argumentation theory
*
Logic of argumentation
References
Dialectic
Logic
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