Een systematische catalogus van argumenten

Abstract

In this article I develop a systematic catalogue of arguments that is based on a formal ordering principle and can be used as a point of departure for research in artificial intelligence and various kinds of empirical research such as research into argument quality. The catalogue is constructed by combining a formal-linguistic typology of arguments, developed and presented in earlier articles, with a formalized account of the pragma-dialectical classification of standpoints. First, I provide an account of the nature of arguments that avoids infinite regress problems in argument reconstruction. Then, I summarize the formal-linguistic typology of arguments, which consists of two main types – 'predicate arguments' and 'subject arguments' – and combine the typology with a formalized account of the pragma-dialectical classification of standpoints, which consists of three types – 'prescriptive standpoints', 'evaluative standpoints', and 'descriptive standpoints'. Finally, for each of the types of standpoints, I discuss what types of arguments are suitable to support them, describe the relations between the predicates and subjects of the argument and the standpoint involved, and give some examples of argument types distinguished in the literature that match the description.