The Pandemic of Argumentation

This open-access book explores the communicative aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the epidemic of misinformation from the perspective of argumentation theory. It investigates how public argumentation has changed in response to the pandemic, focusing on expert argumentation due to its significance and challenges in the public sphere. The contributions are divided into three groups, examining public and institutional discourse, health policies, and proposals for improving public discourse. The book is a timely inquiry into all things argumentative in pandemic discourse and is of interest to a broad readership.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 371 pages
Publication date: 26 February 2022
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This open-access book explores communicative aspects of the current COVID-19 pandemic and the epidemic of misinformation from the perspective of argumentation theory. Argumentation theory is uniquely positioned to understand and account for the challenges of public reason as expressed through argumentative discourse. The book thus focuses on the extent to which the forms, norms, and functions of public argumentation have changed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This question is investigated along the three main research lines of the COST Action project CA 17132: European Network for Argumentation and Public Policy Analysis (APPLY): descriptive, normative, and prescriptive.

The volume offers a broad range of contributions that treat argumentative phenomena that are directly related to the changes in public discourse in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. The volume additionally places particular emphasis on expert argumentation, given (i) the importance expert discourse has had over the last two years, and (ii) the challenges that expert argumentation has faced in the public sphere as a result of scientific uncertainty and widespread misinformation. Contributions are divided into three groups, which (i) examine various features and aspects of public and institutional discourse about the COVID-19 pandemic, (ii) scrutinize the way health policies have been discussed, debated, attacked, and defended in the public sphere, and (iii) consider a range of proposals meant to improve the quality of public discourse, and public deliberation in particular, in such a way that concrete proposals for argumentative literacy will be brought to light. Overall, this volume constitutes a timely inquiry into all things argumentative in pandemic discourse.

This volume is of immense value to scholars, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners interested in understanding the dynamics of argumentation and public policy in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary analysis of the challenges and opportunities that arise in the face of misinformation and public health crises. The book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of argumentation theory, communication studies, public policy, health policy, and science communication.

Weight: 582g
Dimension: 155 x 235 x 32 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030910198
Edition number: 1st ed. 2022