ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with informal reasoning in the domain of international relations, a specialized field of the social sciences. The study of informal reasoning in this domain raises interesting theoretical issues for cognitive science (as well, perhaps, as a few eyebrows), but it also has potential significance elsewhere. In recent years, a number of specialists in international relations have become increasingly concerned with the role of cognitive processes in shaping foreign policy decisions (e.g., Bonham & Shapiro, 1977; Chan & Sylvan, 1984; O. R. Holsti, 1976; Mandel, 1986; Pruitt, 1965). The argument is that, because governments consist of people, the process of understanding the decisions made by a particular government must take into account cognitive and affective components of the decision makers. Thus, the study of informal reasoning in international relations may, in addition to expanding scientific inquiry in informal reasoning, aid in the development of an interdisciplinary field that has the potential to impact on decision making as found in international relations.
