Documents found
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111.More information
Theories of disagreement object to attempts to found normative primary principles of democracy, on the model of the famous Rawlsian principles of justice, that they misconceive the depth of moral disagreement. Along that line of reasoning, democracy is precisely the adequate procedure to decide on dispute, so that it cannot be constrained by a set of rights once and for all stated. However, a full-fledged procedural conception of democracy is impossible: the choice of democracy, rather than that of another procedure, entails a minimal core of moral values. This study aims at specifying their nature. It is argued that individuals who commit themselves to democracy while disagreeing about justice share a minimal practical rationality, the concept of which, in spite of appearances, can be found in Rawlsian public reason. Indeed, public reason can be understood as a procedure carrying out the principle of equitable reciprocity, rather than a determined conception of justice. Since it constitutes a procedural concept of practical rationality, it makes it possible to outline a theory of democracy that takes into account disagreement about justice — and not only about the good.
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If Customs of the American Indians Compared with the Customs of Primitive Times (1724) has been extensively studied, the same cannot be said about the last chapter entitled “About Language”, which has been neglected by most of Lafitau's commentators who deem it disappointing. If, on the face of it, the author is reflecting on the relationship between language and history, according to me his real purpose is to use language as a means to express his thoughts about religion and its origins. If the Jesuit's comparative methodology leads to a form of relativism in diachrony, it paradoxically reinforces the dichotomies he is trying to reconcile.
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The paper deals with the interpretation of the strategic and political function of the paradigm or "example" in Aristotle's Rhetoric. It is indeed possible to see, in the technical typology and even in the given "examples of examples", the rhetorical and political effects of paradigms which operate in the realm of the connection between argumentation and fiction. The paradigm, as Aristotle defines and illustrates it, shows how the topic of the fable is the locus of both fiction and argumentation.
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The development of dialectic and argumentation theory in post-classical Islamic intellectual history
More informationCette dissertation est une analyse de l'évolution de la théorie dialectique et d'argumentation dans l'histoire intellectuelle islamique post-classique. Les préoccupations centrales de la thèse sont les suivantes: les traités sur la compréhension théorique de la notion de la théorie dialectique (de logique) et d'argumentation, et comment, en pratique, la notion dialectique, tel qu'elle est exprimée dans la tradition grecque classique, a été reçue et utilisée par les cinq collectivités du camp intellectuel islamique. Cette étude démontre comment la notion dialectique en tant que discours argumentatif a été diffusée dans cinq collectivités (théologiens, poètes, grammairiens, philosophes et juristes) et comment ces notions logiques locales, développées dans les différentes communautés, se sont fusionnées en un seul système pour former une théorie d'argumentation générale (adab al-bahth) applicable à …
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At a recent rally, Donald Trump resumed a habit he had developed during his election-rallies and read out the lyrics to a song. It tells the Aesopian fable of The Farmer and the Snake: A half frozen snake is taken in by a kind-hearted person but bites them the moment it is revived. Trump tells the fable to make a point about Islamic immigrants and undocumented immigrants from Southern and Central America: He claims the immigrants will cause problems and much stricter immigration-policies are needed. I assume that Trump treats the fable as an argumentative device for supporting his stance on immigration. He uses it as a source-analogue both for the conclusion that immigrants will cause problems and for changing the frame in which immigrants and those willing to let them enter are seen. This gives me opportunity to examine the effect fables have as argumentative devices. Fables are a popular and effective choice for political argumentation. They are slimmed down, semi-abstract narratives, well suited for directing the audience's attention to a few properties of an otherwise complex situation. However, this also makes it easy to use them for manipulating an audience into oversimplifying complex contexts and stereotyping human beings.
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