The system model of argumentation in a comparative study of texts by Kant and Solovyov

Abstract

There is a noteworthy methodological approach which is based on the system model of argumentation (SMA) proposed by V.N. Bryushinkin. Argumentation theory is used to reconstruct the implicit presuppositions of philosophical systems or their fragments. The results of a comparative analysis of philosophical and legal texts by Immanuel Kant and Vladimir Solovyov are presented as well as the reconstruction of their world models performed by Bryushinkin using the SMA. A summary is given of Bryushinkin’s reconstruction of Kant’s and Solovyov’s arguments concerning the law of retribution (the death penalty). The SMA methodology is shown to highlight differences between the views of the two philosophers on the death penalty, rooted in variations between their world models. Bryushinkin’s reconstruction of the world models of Kant and Solovyov, based on fragments of their texts on specific problems of the philosophy of law (punishment and retribution, the death penalty), provides insights into their fundamental ideas on relations between society and the individual and the values underlying these relations. The SMA seems an elegant and rational methodological tool for philosophical text interpretation. We introduce the concepts of world model and philosophical thinking style to describe unique ways to express meanings in a text.