Historical Foundations of Informal Logic (Avebury Series in Philosophy)

In just the last twenty years there has arisen a strong interest, especially among teachers of logic at the universities, in teaching techniques of applied logical reasoning and critical thinking. Many universities are now stressing these skills at an introductory level, and to meet the need, informal logic has begun to form and grow as a discipline in its own right. Like all subjects, it helps us to understand it if we can situate it in a context of historical development. This collection of essays provides the readings required to understand the development of a subject whose historical origins have been so far little studied. Many of the chapters are written by scholars in philosophy and speech communication who are themselves leading contributors to the subject, and their contemporary views throw light on how these earlier writers have influenced their thinking. This dimension gives an added interest to the essays, and indicates the way informal logic is currently evolving and seeking out its ancient historical origins. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Contributors 8 Acknowledgements 11 1 Introduction 12 2 The logic of Greek sophistry 23 3 The roots of informal logic in Plato 36 4 Aristotle and informal logic 47 5 Forms of argumentation in medieval dialectic 62 6 The Port Royal Logic 78 7 The Logick of Isaac Watts 95 8 Whately and the study of fallacious reasoning 110 9 Jeremy Bentham's Handbook of Political Fallacies 125 10 Mill on inference and fallacies 136 11 Kant and informal logic 155 12 Informal logic in the twentieth century 169 Index of names 189 In response to the growing recognition of informal logic as a discipline in its own right, this collection of essays from leading contributors in the field provides the formative knowledge and historical context required to understand the development of a so far little studied subject area. Edited By Douglas Walton, Alan Brinton. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.