J. Anthony Blair in the context of "Informal logic"

⭐ In the context of Informal logic, J. Anthony Blair is considered a key figure in establishing the field’s focus on…

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⭐ Core Definition: J. Anthony Blair

John Anthony Blair (August 12, 1941 – March 7, 2024) was a Canadian philosopher.

Along with his colleague Ralph Johnson, he has been credited as one of the founding members of the informal logic movement in North America. The two co-published one of the movement's most influential texts, "Logical Self-Defense". Blair is also co-founder of the Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation, and Rhetoric, co-founder of the Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation (OSSA), and a founding board member of the International Society for the Study of Argumentation (ISSA).

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πŸ‘‰ J. Anthony Blair in the context of Informal logic

Informal logic encompasses the principles of logic and logical thought outside of a formal setting (characterized by the usage of particular statements). However, the precise definition of "informal logic" is a matter of some dispute. Ralph H. Johnson and J. Anthony Blair define informal logic as "a branch of logic whose task is to develop non-formal standards, criteria, procedures for the analysis, interpretation, evaluation, criticism and construction of argumentation." This definition reflects what had been implicit in their practice and what others were doing in their informal logic texts.

Informal logic is associated with informal fallacies, critical thinking, the thinking skills movement and the interdisciplinary inquiry known as argumentation theory. Frans H. van Eemeren writes that the label "informal logic" covers a "collection of normative approaches to the study of reasoning in ordinary language that remain closer to the practice of argumentation than formal logic."

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J. Anthony Blair in the context of Ralph Johnson (philosopher)

Ralph Henry Johnson (born 1940) is a Canadian-American philosopher, born in Detroit, Michigan. Johnson has been credited as one of the founding members of the informal logic movement in North America, along with J. Anthony Blair who co-published one of the movement's most influential texts, Logical Self-Defense, with Johnson. Alongside its founder, Blair, Johnson co-directed the Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation, and Rhetoric at the University of Windsor. As Johnson and Blair write in the preface to the newest edition of Logical Self-Defense on the influential nature of the text:

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J. Anthony Blair in the context of Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation, and Rhetoric

The Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation, and Rhetoric (CRRAR) is an interdisciplinary research group within the University of Windsor, Canada, which supports research in the fields of argumentation, informal logic, and rhetoric. Notable members include the widely published argumentation theorist Douglas N. Walton, and early founders of the informal logic field Ralph Johnson and J. Anthony Blair.

Members of the centre collaborate with local and international projects related to argumentation and informal logic, including the Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation (OSSA), the International Society for the Study of Argumentation (ISSA), and the Association for Informal Logic and Critical Thinking (AILACT).

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