RAIL

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 11 JANUARY 2015

The Practice/s of Giving Reasons: a special issue of Topoi

Guest Edited by Chris Campolo and David Godden

The re-discovery, in the late 1970’s, of the perspectives on argument as process and practice (added to that of product) occasioned a dramatic re-visioning of the object of study in argumentation. Viewed as a practice of transacting reasons, argumentation became a situated activity, or doing, requiring know-how, rather than a collection of reasons – a thing containing a collection of knowledge-that.

This volume focuses on the normative and epistemic dimensions and consequences of viewing argumentation as the practice/s of transacting (giving and asking for) reasons. We mean to create momentum behind the perspectives focused primarily on the actions and doings which, alongside many related human practices, constitute argumentation. Here we open a space to explore and interrogate the idea that neither argumentation as a whole, nor the many elements into which it may be analyzed, can be adequately understood apart from an account of what it is to give reasons, with all the complexity and fluidity that attends our engagement in any kind of know-how. Rather, the practice/s of transacting reasons is central to the projects of explaining what a reason is, how reasons work, the normativity of reasons, as well as their prescriptivity (or our accountability to them).

Understanding reason-giving as a practice involves understanding its place in the network of other, interconnected practices in which we are engaged; our doings, argumentative and non-argumentative, are woven together inextricably. This leads to a broad array of questions that requires investigation. What is the relationship between the practice of giving reasons and these other practices? How does the network of practices in which we are always engaged reinforce or erode the effectiveness with which we give and receive reasons? How do the many goals and pitfalls of the practice/s of giving reasons relate to those of our other significant activities? How does our engagement in these other practices and pursuits influence our decisions about whether, and when to give reasons? This volume explores questions like these, focused on what we are doing in arguing, and on the doings in which our acts of arguing are naturally situated.

Topoi invites submissions to The Practice/s of Giving Reasons, a special issue edited by Chris Campolo (Hendrix College) and David Godden (Old Dominion University).

Confirmed Invited Contributors: Brett Bricker (Comm Studies, Univ. of Kansas), Daniel Cohen (Philosophy, Colby College), Jean Goodwin (English & Speech Comm, Iowa State), Lilian Bermejo Luque (Philosophy, Univ. of Granada), Larry Wright (Philosophy, UCal Riverside).

Possible topics include:

• What is a reason?
• What is the relationship between the practice of giving reasons and the other doings in which it is situated?
• How should the goal of reason-giving as a practice be conceived?
• How is the normativity of reasons properly explained?
• How are reasons prescriptive over us? What do we do to make reasons binding or to give them interpersonal traction?
• How does the transaction of reasons, understood as a practice, affect our perspectives on the norms, normativity, prescriptivity of reasons and argument?
• Investigations of where reason-transacting practices diverge or even break down
• The relationship of reason-transacting practices to fields, spheres and worlds of argument
• The basis, purpose or limits of reason-giving
• Engaging in argumentation: strategic or practical considerations

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Papers must be in English, should not exceed 8,000 words, and should follow Topoi’s formatting guidelines which can be found at http://www.springer.com/philosophy/journal/11245.

All manuscripts should be prepared for double-blind peer-review and be submitted exclusively through the Online Manuscript Submission System (Editorial Manager), accessible at http://www.editorialmanager.com/topo/. When submitting, ensure you select the appropriate article type – “S.I.: Practice/s of giving reasons (Godden/Campolo)” – from the scroll-down menu.

For further information please contact:

David Godden dgodden@odu.edu> or Chris Campolo campolo@hendrix.edu>

Submission deadline: November 30, 2014.JANUARY 11, 2015

Please circulate widely. Click here for a printable version of this CFP: The Practice(s) of Giving Reasons Topoi CFP Deadline 2014.11.30