Reasoning for Change
Oct 21, 2008 → Feb 13, 2009
Call for Papers: REASONING FOR CHANGE
We invite submissions for a special issue of the journal Informal Logic that will address the relationship of reasoning and argumentation to political change and progress.
Informal Logic is a peer-reviewed open access online journal. It addresses topics related to reasoning and argumentation in theory and practice. It is multi-disciplinary, welcoming theoretical and empirical research from any pertinent field.
This issue of Informal Logic will focus on “Reasoning for Change.” Whether we seek to redress existing social inequities such as sexism and racism or halt the decay of our natural environments, the operations of reason can aid the achievement of social and political progress. In turn, political engagement can affect how people reason, and be involved with theories about reasoning and argumentation.
Possible topics include but are not limited to the following:
What forms of reasoning are most effective in bringing about change in social, political, or environmental circumstances?
What forms of reasoning encourage or discourage activism and political engagement?
Which types of reasoning entrench existing views and which encourage change?
How may activism affect a person’s or a community’s reasoning and argumentation?
Do specific models of argumentation help or hinder understandings across differences (social, cultural, political, or religious differences, for example)?
What are the liberatory potentials of monological as opposed to dialogical models of reasoning and argumentation?
What are the political implications of the distinction between formal and informal logic?
The editors for this special issue are Catherine Hundleby, Department of Philosophy, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and Phyllis Rooney, Department of Philosophy, Oakland University, Michigan, USA). We accept submissions for review only on condition that that the material is not under review for publication elsewhere. Submissions will be anonymously reviewed by the editors and additional readers. Papers should be submitted to Lauri Daitchman no later than Monday, February 10, 2009.
Submissions should be no longer than 8000 words and in Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format. Prepare manuscripts for anonymous reviewing with no identifying references in the paper, and include an abstract of no more than 100 words at the beginning of the paper. A separate title page must include the author’s name(s), e-mail address, mailing address, phone number, and title of the paper. Submissions must comply with the Informal Logic author guidelines or at and follow the links.