Lessons From the Past

I argued in chapter 3 that FDL—the oldest, most powerful, and most attractive theory of argument we possess—is not an adequate theory. The alternatives discussed by Govier (positivism and conductivism) fare no better. Thus, it appears that the inquiry we know as logic has not provided us with an adequate theory of argument. When we stop to think that logic goes back as far as Aristotle, this realization is likely to cause some bewilderment. “How can this be?” we want to ask. In this chapter, I want to inquire into some of the reasons for this situation.