Charles Arthur Willard
Encyclopedia
Charles Arthur Willard is an American argumentation and rhetoric
al theorist.
He received his doctorate at the University of Illinois, Urbana
, USA, in 1972. From 1974 to 1982 he was the Director of Forensics at Dartmouth College
, Hanover, New Hampshire
(USA). He has lectured in Austria, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. He is Professor and University Scholar at the University of Louisville
in Louisville, Kentucky
, USA.
His published works include Argumentation and the Social Grounds of Knowledge (1982) and A Theory of Argumentation (1988). He has published monographs in and served on editorial boards for Communication Monographs, Informal Logic, Journal of the American Forensics Association, Argumentation, Social Epistemology and the Quarterly Journal of Speech. He has published more than 50 articles and book chapters on topics in rhetoric and argumentation. He was a co-director of the International Association for the Study of Argumentation based at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He has received distinguished scholarship awards from the National Communication Association, the American Forensics Association, and the Universities of Illinois and Louisville.
His Liberalism and the Problem of Knowledge: A New Rhetoric for Modern Democracy (1996) debunks the discourse of liberalism
, arguing that its exaggerated ideals of authenticity, unity, and community have deflected attention from the pervasive incompetence of the rule by experts. He proposes a ground of communication
that emphasizes common interests rather than narrow disputes.
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
al theorist.
He received his doctorate at the University of Illinois, Urbana
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
, USA, in 1972. From 1974 to 1982 he was the Director of Forensics at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....
(USA). He has lectured in Austria, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. He is Professor and University Scholar at the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, USA.
His published works include Argumentation and the Social Grounds of Knowledge (1982) and A Theory of Argumentation (1988). He has published monographs in and served on editorial boards for Communication Monographs, Informal Logic, Journal of the American Forensics Association, Argumentation, Social Epistemology and the Quarterly Journal of Speech. He has published more than 50 articles and book chapters on topics in rhetoric and argumentation. He was a co-director of the International Association for the Study of Argumentation based at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He has received distinguished scholarship awards from the National Communication Association, the American Forensics Association, and the Universities of Illinois and Louisville.
His Liberalism and the Problem of Knowledge: A New Rhetoric for Modern Democracy (1996) debunks the discourse of liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, arguing that its exaggerated ideals of authenticity, unity, and community have deflected attention from the pervasive incompetence of the rule by experts. He proposes a ground of communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
that emphasizes common interests rather than narrow disputes.
Selected works
- 1982 — Argumentation and the Social Grounds of Knowledge, University of Alabama Press
- 1982 — Advances in Argumentation Theory and Research (with J. Robert Cox)
- 1988 — A Theory of Argumentation, University of Alabama Press
- 1996 — Liberalism and the Problem of Knowledge: A New Rhetoric for Modern Democracy, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 10-ISBN 0226898458/13-ISBN 9780226898452; OCLC 260223405
- 2004 — Critical problems in Argumentation: Proceedings of the Thirteenth NCA/AFA Conference on Argumentation, Washington, DC: National Communication Association
- “Argument,” in Theresa Enos, Ed., Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition. New York: Garland, 1996, pp. 16–26.
- "L'Argumentation et les Fondements Sociaux de la Connaissance," in Alain Lempereur, ed. L'Argumentation. Liege: Pierre Mardaga, 1992.
- "The Problem of the Public Sphere: Three Diagnoses," in David Cratis Williams and Michael David Hazen, eds., Argumentation Theory and the Rhetoric of Assent. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1990.
- "Argumentation and Postmodern Critique," in J. Schuetz and R. Trapp, eds., Perspectives on Argument. Waveland, 1990.
- "Argument Fields: A Cartesian Meditation," in George Ziegelmueller and Jack Rhodes, eds., Dimensions of Argument: Proceedings of the Second S.C.A./A.F.A. Summer Conference on Argumentation (Annadale: Speech Communication Association, 1981.
- "On the Utility of Descriptive Diagrams for the Analysis and Criticism of Argument," Communication Monographs, 64 (1976), 308-319.
See also
- Argumentation TheoryArgumentation theoryArgumentation theory, or argumentation, is the interdisciplinary study of how humans should, can, and do reach conclusions through logical reasoning, that is, claims based, soundly or not, on premises. It includes the arts and sciences of civil debate, dialogue, conversation, and persuasion...
- Informal logicInformal logicInformal logic, intuitively, refers to the principles of logic and logical thought outside of a formal setting. However, perhaps because of the informal in the title, the precise definition of informal logic is matters of some dispute. Ralph H. Johnson and J...
- Social epistemologySocial epistemologySocial epistemology is a broad set of approaches to the study of knowledge, all of which construe human knowledge as a collective achievement. Another way of positioning social epistemology is as the study of the social dimensions of knowledge. One of the enduring difficulties with defining social...
- Sociology of knowledgeSociology of knowledgeThe Sociology of knowledge is the study of the relationship between human thought and the social context within which it arises, and of the effects prevailing ideas have on societies...
- * http://www.jacweb.org/Archived_volumes/Text_articles/V13_I2_Olson_Toulmin.htm Interview with Stephen Toulmin in JAC]