RAIL

With only one week left in 2009 it’s time to look back on the year’s events.  No look back for argumentation scholars would be complete without some rememberence of Stephen Toulmin, whose recent death was a great loss to the community of argumentation scholars.  Readers who wish to do so can read Prof. Toulmin’s obituary in the New York Times by clicking here.  Condolences are due to those who were students of Stephen Toulmin, or who knew him or his family personally.

But good things happened too. Though we all stay pretty busy, it’s also true that we can’t follow everything that happens and as a result we miss things.  This is especially true in an international and interdisciplinary study like argumentation theory.  Bearing that in mind, I’m wondering what, in your view, were the year’s high points for argumentation theory?  Were there any books or articles that marked the year for you as a particularly important one?  What developments happened this year that you think were significant, but expect that others might have missed?

For my part, I’d say that the combination of the CRRAR Summer Institute and OSSA 2009 would have to be at the top of my list for the year.   I’m also excited about the launch of the new journal Cogency, which I think will bring great things in the near  future.  (Not that I imagine that many people didn’t know about either of those those things. 🙂 )

What do you think? What were the year’s high points for you?