Effectiveness Through Reasonableness: A Pragma-Dialectical Perspective: Preliminary Steps to Pragma-Dialectical Effectiveness Research

Abstract

According to van Eemeren (Strategic maneuvering in argumentative discourse. Extending the pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 2010), the participants in argumentative discourse are in the predicament of having to reach the results that are the most advantageous from their points of view while remaining within the boundaries of reasonableness. This is why they have to maneuver strategically to reconcile their pursuit of effectiveness with the maintenance of reasonableness (p. 40). In pragma-dialectical terms, this means that in their strategic maneuvering they try to be convincing by combining artful rhetorical operating systematically with complying fully with the dialectical rules for critical discussion.