Tools of Reason: Argumentation Theory’s Relevance for the Curriculum

We should begin by considering the meaning of “Argumentation” and why it is an important component for curricula. Argumentation can be described as the means of how people reason collaboratively or competitively on any topic where information, knowledge, or claims conflict or are inconsistent. Argumentation Studies itself is an interdisciplinary subject, with relevance to linguistics, computational linguistics, logic, computational semantics, rhetoric, and abstract argumentation, as well as application in artificial intelligence, law, and policy. And, of course, it has a particular relevance for education, because it provides the tools by which reason can come alive in the classroom and a particular kind of tolerant, reflective person can emerge. This last point can also be seen in the goals that argumentation is used to achieve. Beyond the goals of persuasion, uncovering truth, negotiation, consensus, understanding, inquiry and advocacy, there is the all-important goal of educational development by which the right kinds of dispositions are encouraged in the characters of students. But before we consider this further, I want to emphasize something about the history of the subject. 1958: A Tale of Two Books: