What is RAIL?
RAIL is a blog for scholars engaged in the study of reasoning, argumentation theory, informal logic, rhetoric, and critical thinking. All perspectives on argumentation theory are welcome, including but by no means limited to those based in Toulmin’s theory, philosophical informal logic, pragma-dialectics, epistemic theory, fallacy-studies, computation, those based in various orientations in the study of rhetoric, or brilliant new ways of looking at orientation that no one has ever heard of before. All disciplines that study argumentation are welcome too: philosophers, logicians, rhetoricians, communication scholars, computer scientists, psychologists, legal theorists, interdisciplinary scholars, and anyone else in any other discipline who might be working on a project in argumentation theory. RAIL is intended to be as inclusive and interdisciplinary as is the field of argumentation theory itself. You can follow RAIL on Twitter: @RAILBlog.
About Yours Truly
I am Steven W. Patterson. Until Marygrove College closed all of its undergraduate programs, I taught critical thinking, argumentation, moral, and political philosophy there. I spent some time teaching at Wayne State University in the Honors College before leaving academia in 2019. In the past I have had the good fortune to be a Visiting Research Fellow with CRRAR at the University of Windsor and to serve on the Board of AILACT. You can find me on Twitter: @seventanterpost and at Academia.edu.
My perspective in argumentation theory falls pretty much within informal logic as done in philosophy, but RAIL is borne of my interest in and genuine enjoyment of argumentation theory in all its diversity. As of right now, and near as I can tell, RAIL is in a very small club of blogs that are not attached to any institution or academic department, nor are dedicated to any particular subset of issues or to a theoretical orientation in argumentation theory. This reflects the enjoyment I get from crossing those kinds of lines, and my conviction, which I believe I share with a great many others in this field, that we can all derive some benefit by doing so.
RAIL 
Hello Steve,
This Blog is excellent ! Thank you for having made it !
I also lecture in argumentation at the Mons University to students in law. In fact I specialised in legal argumentation (including historical aspects). I would be very interested in keeping in touch with you, namely by subscribing to a mailing list, as your blog looks very complete and spreads deals with many topics in my field of interests.
Best regards,
Stefan Goltzberg
Hello Stefan,
Thank you for your kind comment! At present there is no mailing list associated with rail, but I’m working on it!
All the best,
Steve
[…] with presentation from Jean Goodwin (Iowa, USA), Bart Verheij (Groningen, The Netherlands), and Steven Patterson (Detroit, […]