Table of Contents

Preface Introduction One. The disputational background of dialectic: the structure of formal disputation 1. Formal Disputation 2. The Structure of a Disputation 3. The Formal Analysis of Dialectical Moves and Countermoves in Disputation 4. Probative Asymmetries 5. The Microstructure of the Dialectic of Disputation 6. The Determination (Adjudication) of a Disputation Two. Some dialectical tools: burden of proof, presumption, and plausibility 1. The Legal Origins of the Idea of Burden of Proof 2. Presumption and the Concept of a Provisionally Adequate Case 3. Presumption and Burden of Proof 4. The Locus of Presumption 5. Plausibility and Presumption 6. More on Presumptions 7. The Need for a Termination Process in Rational Controversy Three. Unilateral dialectics: a disputational model of inquiry 1. The Shift from Disputation to a Cognitive Methodology of Inquiry 2. The Platonic Aspect of Dialectic 3. Dialectic as Evidential Cost-Benefit Analysis 4. A Digression on Written Exposition 5. The Isomorphism of the Disputational and Probative Versions of Dialectic 6. The Issue of Evaluation and Assessment 7. The Probative Isomorphism of Controversy and Inquiry Four. Facets of "dialectical logic" 1. Introduction Subject Index

About the Author

Nicholas Rescher is University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of The Coherence Theory of Truth, Methodological Pragmatism, Conceptual Idealism, and other publications.