This essay is about how four deeply important Kantian ideas can significantly illuminate some essentially intertwined issues in philosophical theology, philosophical logic, the metaphysics of agency, and above all, morality. These deeply important Kantian ideas are: (1) Kant’s argument for the impossibility of the Ontological Argument, (2) Kant’s first “postulate of pure practical reason,” immo...

Social psychology shows that the effect of a persuasive argument depends on characteristics of the person to be persuaded, including the person’s involvement with the topic and the discrepancy between the person’s current position on the topic and the argument’s position. Via a series of experiments, this paper provides insight into how the receiver’s position can be modelled computationally, a...

Diagrammatic models of argument have grown in prominence in recent years. While they have been applied in a number of tutoring contexts, it has not yet been shown that student-produced diagrams can be used to effectively grade students or predict their future performance. We show that manually-assigned diagram grades and automatic structural features of argument diagrams can be used to predict ...

Collaborative Computer-Supported Argument Visualization (CCSAV) has often been proposed as an alternative over more conventional, mainstream platforms for online discussion (e.g., online forums and wikis). CCSAV tools require users to contribute to the creation of a joint artifact (argument map) instead of contributing to a conversation. In this paper we assess empirically the effects of this f...

Argument visualisation (AV) tools enable structured debates around issues, positions and arguments. These tools have the potential to substantially improve transparency e.g. by enabling understanding complex legislation and debating. In this paper we present the results of the evaluation of an AV platform by experts and policy makers. The results suggest the potential of such tools is large par...

This research advocates the idea of combining argumentation theory with the social web technology, aiming to enact large scale or mass argumentation. The proposed framework allows mass-collaborative editing of structured arguments in the style of semantic wikipedia. The long term goal is to apply the abstract machinery of argumentation theory to more practical applications based on human genera...

Argumentation is central to law. Written and oral argument structures, however, are often difficult to analyze and employ in instruction. Diagrammatic models of argument offer a potential solution to these problems. In this paper we report on the results of an empirical study into the diagnostic utility of argument diagrams in a legal writing context. The focus is on comparing experts’ and stud...

The Luck Argument is among the most influential objections to the main brand of libertarianism about metaphysical freedom and moral responsibility. In his work, Alfred Mele [2006. Free will and luck. Oxford: Oxford University Press] develops – and then attempts to defeat – the literature’s most promising version of the Luck Argument. After explaining Mele’s version of the Luck Argument, I prese...

The issue of adjuncts has long been a neglected field of linguistic study whether it be syntactic or semantic. It is only in Pustejovsky (1995) that we find a brief mention of adjuncts. In addition to what the author calls true arguments, default arguments, and shadow arguments, he sets up a class of true adjuncts citing the following sentence , Mary drove down to New York on Tuesday. We will t...

Staphylococcus aureus, a commensal of the human nasopharynx and skin, also causes invasive disease, most frequently skin and soft tissue infections. Invasive disease caused by drug-resistant strains, designated MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus), is associated with failure of antibiotic therapy and elevated mortality. Here we review polysaccharide-conjugate and subunit vaccines that were de...