Academic Arguments (2011) (original) (raw)
Calling an argument “merely academic” impugns its seriousness, belittles its substance, dismisses its importance, and deflates hope of resolution, while ruling out negotiation and compromise. However, “purely academic” argumentation, as an idealized limit case, is a valuable analytical tool for argumentation theorists because while the telos of academic argumentation may be cognitive, it is cognitive in the service of a community, which, in turn, is a community in the service of the cognitive