A model of a critical discussion

Abstract

In the pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation an ideal model is developed of a critical discussion aimed at resolving a difference of opinion on the merits. It is explained that a critical discussion encompasses four stages: the confrontation stage, the opening stage, the argumentation stage, and the concluding stage. Next the argumentative moves that are instrumental in each of these stages are described in terms of speech acts. After the notion of profiles of dialectically relevant argumentative moves has been introduced as a way of portraying the various dialectical routes that can be chosen in a critical discussion, dialectical profiles are sketched of the main types of argumentation: symptomatic argumentation, comparison argumentation, and causal argumentation.