ABSTRACT
A general cognitive theory of human reasoning should cover the reasoning of individuals and of groups. We lack such a theory perhaps because reasoning theorists have until recently largely ignored the fundamental social character of the human mind. The first part of this chapter (The centrality of argument) presents the case for the central role of argument in coordinating action among social agents. It reinterprets experimental data suggesting that simple affective reactions to an issue are sufficient to explain opinion on an issue. Instead, it proposes that such reactions reflect complex mental representations that are better understood as argumentative in character.
