Analysis as resolution-oriented reconstruction

Abstract

In order to create an adequate point of departure for a fair evaluation of an argumentative discourse an analytic reconstruction is required that results in an analytic overview of the crucial components of the discourse. As is demonstrated with the help of an argumentative text, in a theoretically-motivated reconstruction in accordance with the pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation four kinds of analytic operations need to be carried out, which are known as reconstruction transformations: deletion, addition, substitution, and permutation. Next it is explained how the reconstruction of a text like this can lead to an adequate analytic overview. The chapter is concluded by an exemplary analysis of a specific case and an exposition of the resources that are brought to bear in accounting for the analytic overview resulting from the analysis.