Arguments from Ignorance by Douglas Walton

Arguments from Ignorance by Douglas Walton

Arguments from Ignorance explores the situations in which the argument from ignorance (also known as the lack-of-knowledge inference, negative evidence, or default reasoning) functions as a respectable form of reasoning and those in which it is indeed fallacious. Douglas Walton draws on everyday conversations on all kinds of practical matters in which the argumentum and ignorantiam is used quite appropriately to infer conclusions. He also discusses the inappropriate use of this kind of argument, referring to various major case studies, including the Salem witchcraft trials, the McCarthy hearings, and the Alger Hiss case. This book makes an original contribution in the areas of argumentation theory and informal logic, contending that, despite its traditional classification as a fallacy, the argument from ignorance is a genuine, very common, and legitimate type of argumentation with an identifiable structure. But the book is also interdisciplinary in scope, explaining many widely interesting and controversial subjects in artificial intelligence, medical education, philosophy of science, and philosophy of law in a clear way that makes it accessible to a broad range of readers.

Douglas Walton is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Winnipeg. He is the author of many books, including The Place of Emotion in Argument (Penn State, 1992), Plausible Argument in Everyday Conversation (1992), and Slippery Slope Arguments (1992).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780271014753
ISBN 10	027101475X
Title	Arguments from Ignorance
Author	Douglas Walton
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Pennsylvania State University Press
Year published	1995-09-15
Number of pages	326
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.