Karl Popper and Contemporary Argumentation Theory: the Case of Pragma-Dialectics

Abstract

Virtually for the first time in the known historiography on the present impact of Karl Popper’s philosophy upon the theory of rhetoric and argumentation, this impact is scrupulously analysed and its most important dimensions are highlighted. The author shows how the above impact is crucial to understanding some contemporary schools within the scope of that theory, such as pragma-dialectics. The limitations of Popper’s philosophy are carefully analysed while, on the other hand, the limitations of the theory of rhetoric and argumentation itself are thoroughly discussed, in order to properly appreciate the contribution in question. Globally, it is concluded that Popper’s influence is inescapable.