沃尔顿论辩理论的修辞学维度——道格拉斯·沃尔顿教授访谈录

The Rhetorical Dimension of the Walton Theory of Argumentation——An Interview with Professor Douglas N.Walton

问:沃尔顿教授,您好!在国际论辩研究界,您的大名可谓如雷贯耳。中国有一个成语,叫“著作等身”。就您所取得的学术成果的广度和深度以及极为罕见的多产性而言,用这个成语来形容您的研究生涯,大概一点不为过,完全名副其实。所以,第一个问题是,有这么多令人难以置信的研究成果,您希望给国际论辩研究留下什么样的学术遗产?答:就我个人而言,过多地谈论一个人在其学术研究领域的遗产这个话题,是一个错误。我只不过是在一个时期,致力解决论辩研究领域的一个问题。我的目标是找到有效的办法和工具,寻求这些问题的解决之道。

This interview with Douglas Walton is an inquiry into the rhetorical dimension of the Waltonian theory of argumentation,especially the future for a rhetorical model of argument with its focus on the role played by audience in argumentation. It covers a wide range of topics,from Walton’s incredible prolificity in academic research to his view of informal logic,and from the role of argumentation studies in the development of artificial intelligence to the notion of"incommensurability"in intercultural argumentation,etc. It undertakes to single out an impossibly central theme among Walton’s numerous academic works to help Chinese readers to grasp the gist of the Walton theory.