The History of Schemes

Abstract

Topics ( topoi ), in a long tradition stemming from Aristotle's rhetoric and early writings on argumentation and logic, are the places where arguments can be found to make a case, and the warrants that can back a logical inference leading from premises to a conclusion. Argumentation schemes are tools of modern argumentation theory that have been developed to fulfil the latter function, but may also be useful to fulfill the former one as well. In this chapter we will outline the varied developments of the topoi in both the logical and rhetorical traditions, starting with Aristotle, the first to describe them. We will examine some leading accounts of them given in the Middle Ages, when they were studied in relation to logical consequences. Aristotle's Topics contains accounts of many commonly used types of arguments he calls topics ( topoi , or places). There are some 300–400 of these topics, depending on how you count them, according to Kienpointner (1997, p. 227). Many topics can also be found in Aristotle's Rhetoric . What these topics supposedly represent has been subject to many different interpretations over the centuries. Many have interpreted the topic as a device to help an arguer search around to find a useful argument she can use, for example, in a debate or in a court of law. Other have taken the topic to have a guaranteeing or warranting function that enables rational inferences to be drawn from a set of premises to a conclusion.