ABSTRACT
A standpoint can be positive or negative. In both cases the standpoint can lead to a difference of opinion. In argumentative discourse there is always an explicit or implicit appeal to some standard of reasonableness, but this does not, of course, mean that each argumentation is indeed reasonable. Since people can have opinions on any subject whatsoever, the standpoints they adopt can relate to propositions of all kinds. In trying to identify a difference of opinion it is therefore important to distinguish between the main difference of opinion and any subordinate differences of opinion that may arise during the discussion about the main difference. A difference of opinion comes into being as soon as a standpoint is not fully shared by the people who communicate. Even though expressions of doubt may seem to be thinly disguised negative standpoints, their consequences are not the same.
