Topoi in Critical Discourse Analysis Topos is one of the most widely-used concepts from classical argumentation theory. It found its way not only in philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and linguistics; it found its way in everyday life and everyday conversation as well.In this article, I will examine the role that topoi play in Critical Discourse Analysis. Starting with definitions from Aristotle and Cicero, contrasting them with new conceptualisations by Perelman and Toulmin, and examining the superficial use of topoi (...) in everyday conversation, I will try to show that Critical Discourse Analysis relies mostly on simplified, unreflected use of topoi as found in everyday use, thus neglecting much more productive, theoretical elaborations of the concept. (shrink)

In Topoi/Graphein Christian Abrahamsson maps the paradoxical limit of the in-between to revealthat to be human is to know how tolive with the difference between the known and the unknown. Using filmic case studies, including CodeInconnu, Lord of the Flies, and Apocalypse Now,and focusing on key concerns developed in the works of the philosophers Deleuze, Olsson, and Wittgenstein, Abrahamsson starts within the notion of fixed spatiality, in whichhuman thought and action are anchored in the given of identity. He then (...) movesthrough a social world in which spatiotemporal transformations are neitherfixed nor taken for granted. Finally he edges into the pure temporality that liesbeyond the maps of fixed points and social relations. Each chapter is organized into two subjects: topoi, orexcerpts from the films, and graphein, the author's interpretation ofpresented theoriesto mirror the displacements,transpositions, juxtapositions, fluctuations, and transformations between delimited categories. A landmark work in the study of human geography, Abrahamsson's book proposes that academic and intellectual attention should focus on the spatialization between meaning and its materialization in everyday life. (shrink)

Preface by the Editors to the special thematic volume dedicated to the memory of Jakub Kloc-Konkołowicz.

Mortensen studies dual intuitionistic logic by dualizing topos internal logic, but he did not study a sequent calculus. In this paper I present a sequent calculus for complement-topos logic, which throws some light on the problem of giving a dualization for LJ.

Despite Vancil’s (1979) proclamation over twenty years ago that topoi have been abandoned in argument theory, this essay contends that topoi should have a vital role in contemporary argumentation theory. Four key areas are identified where topoi are (or can be) essential tools for argumentation: Locating argument, building argument, development of critical thinking, and argument pedagogy. As a result, teachers and students of argument can both benefit from a (re)discovery of topoi.

Steve Awodey. Sheaf Representation for Topoi.

The presence of premises expressing comparison is a problem for the Aristotelian theory of the dialectical method, first because there is no general theory of comparison in the Organon and secondly because along with propositions on the opposition and inflexion of the terms, comparative statements seem to fall outside the explicit description which Aristotle gives of possible premises. The purpose of this paper is to offer a synthetic theory of comparisons according to Aristotle’s Topics, in an attempt both to supply (...) the aforementioned absence and to highlight the importance of the second problem. There are three main types of premises on the more, the less and the similar: some comparing the degree of possession of a predicate, others comparing the plausibility of a predication and finally, others expressing an analogy. Once expounded the very marked differences that occur between these three classes of propositions, the paper analyses the various kinds of argumentation based on comparative premises and offers a formalization of its logical laws. The complexity of this theory and the volume of topoi involved in the comparisons show the magnitude of a problem that has not been sufficiently studied. (shrink)

By a model of set theory we mean a Boolean-valued model of Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory allowing atoms (ZFA), which contains a copy of the ordinary universe of (two-valued,pure) sets as a transitive subclass; examples include Scott-Solovay Boolean-valued models and their symmetric submodels, as well as Fraenkel-Mostowski permutation models. Any such model M can be regarded as a topos. A logical subtopos E of M is said to represent M if it is complete and its cumulative hierarchy, as defined by Fourman (...) and Hayashi, coincides with the usual cumulative hierarchy of M. We show that, although M need not be a complete topos, it has a smallest complete representing subtopos, and we describe this subtopos in terms of definability in M. We characterize, again in terms of definability, those models M whose smallest representing topos is a Grothendieck topos. Finally, we discuss the extent to which a model can be reconstructed when its smallest representing topos is given. (shrink)

In Enthymemes and Topoi in Dialogue, Ellen Breitholtz presents a novel and precise account of reasoning from an interactional perspective. The account draws on the concepts of enthymemes and topoi, originating in Aristotelian rhetoric and dialectic, and integrates these in a formal dialogue semantic account using TTR, a type theory with records. Argumentation analysis and formal approaches to reasoning often focus the logical validity of arguments on inferences made in discourse from a god's-eye perspective. In contrast, Breitholtz's account (...) emphasises the individual perspectives of interlocutors and the function and acceptability of their reasoning in context. This provides an analysis of interactions where interlocutors have access to different topoi and therefore make different inferences. (shrink)

This paper aims to give an informal introduction to the ways in which a topos can be viewed as an intuitionistic universe of sets. In particular, it is explained how infinitesimal real numbers and various types of ordinal numbers arise in this context.

I will deal with a much-discussed passage of Aristophanes’ Birds, in which Socrates is depicted as a psuchagogos, a conjurer of souls. This is the only passage in Socratic literature in which such an activity is attributed to Socrates. In the Clouds, which was staged nine years prior to Birds, Aristophanes defines Socrates’ school as the ‘thinkery of wise souls’, and the endeavors of his pupils as a ‘taking care’ of their own souls. In the Clouds, Socrates is portrayed training (...) his pupils in natural philosophy, eristic arguments and Orphic-Pythagorean rituals: but what Socrates specifically does with the souls of his pupils is not clear at all. For this, we have to look to Birds, and in particular to verses 1553-1564, a passage I examine in detail. I first discuss the passage itself and how it relates to the comedy as a whole, I then provide a reading of parallel passages from the Clouds and Pythagorean literature, before finally returning to the verses in the Birds to draw some conclusions. (shrink)

In this paper we define a notion of relativization for higher order logic. We then show that there is a higher order theory of Grothendieck topoi such that all Grothendieck topoi relativizes to all models of set theory with choice.

Os dois primeiros capítulos dos Evangelhos canônicos de Mateus e Lucas têm dois conceitos teológicos que precisam ser mais investigados. Trata-se de “justiça” e “virgindade”, que podem ser entendidos como “tópoi”, isto é, palavras ou conceitos muito especiais. A tentativa desde artigo é abrir o debate a respeito e propor uma nova leitura dos relatos de Anunciação, desta-cando as figuras fundamentais de José e Maria, referências específicas de Jesus: sua messiani-dade e sua humanidade.

In disability studies, social and medical explanatory models are seen as being conflicting or mutually exclusive, and as mystifying respectively bodily impairment and the agency of social and environmental factors. This article uses critical discourse analysis to discuss the relationship between such models in policy documents produced by The Norwegian Federation of Organizations of Disabled People. Analysis of key topoi in the policy documents shows that they display elements of both social and medical discourse, and that the consequences of (...) medically defined impairments are used as justifications for policy interventions in a framework of social justice. While a strict version of the social model is adopted in general programmatic documents, arguments about specific policy fields conceptualize disability as a property of individuals — traditionally, a medical model framing. Analysis of topoi is shown to be a useful tool when CDA is applied to policy texts. (shrink)

In this paper, I investígate a question in the Rhetoric surrounding the metaphorical sense of Aristotle’s topos: one can look to a location for “available means of persuasion,” evoking an image of seeing ; or topoi are viewed as “general lines of argument.” Are they places we go for arguments, or actual lines of arguments? The difference matters, given a propensity to view topoi as forerunners of argument schemes.

The text consists of two parts. Part one puts the works of Hans Blumenberg, as far as they tackle the problem of rhetoric, into their historical context. Relevant here in particular is the tradition of topological philosophies of the Renaissance and their different types of revival in the 20th century. Part two analyses three main ‘absolute metaphors’ or ‘topoi’ Hans Blumenberg has investigated, the metaphors of ‘light’, ‘shipwreck’, and ‘book of nature’, in order to add to the philosophical perspective (...) taken by Blumenberg a hidden philological perspective, which shows the shortcomings of conceptualizing rhetorical techne (how does a metaphor work), which does not always account for philological techne (how do we write texts). (shrink)

In the last fifty years a series of valuable contributions on Aristotle's Topics has helped to understand how a Topics functions in the dialectical argumentation. In contrast to this, Aristotle's topoi as set out in the Rhetoric does not seem to have received the same attention. Current opinion holds that the methodology in the Rhetoric involves two different kinds of topoi, the topoi koinoi and the ídia, considered by most scholars as idioi topoi. The problem, here, (...) is that this distinctíon of is topoir is not supported by any passage in the Rhetoric. Aristotle never speaks of. This work aims to show that the term'ídia is not intended to imply'ídioi topoi. The only distinction that Aristotle introduces in the Rhetoric is that between and which also appears in the Topica and which is the consequence of a fundamental coherente in thc thcory of argumentation presented by Aristotle in the two treatises. However, the results of such investigation has revcaled that the concept of which Aristotle introduces in Rhetaric 1358 a l0 clashes with the list of topoi which appears in Rhetoric B23. In the addenda, this work addresscs this issue and make a case for the possibility that Rhetoric B23 has been originally written independently from the previous sections of the Rhetoric. (shrink)

The presence of premises expressing comparison is a problem for the Aristotelian theory of the dialectical method, first because there is no general theory of comparison in the Organon and secondly because along with propositions on the opposition and inflexion of the terms, comparative statements seem to fall outside the explicit description which Aristotle gives of possible premises. The purpose of this paper is to offer a synthetic theory of comparisons according to Aristotle’s Topics , in an attempt both to (...) supply the aforementioned absence and to highlight the importance of the second problem. There are three main types of premises on the more, the less and the similar : some comparing the degree of possession of a predicate, others comparing the plausibility of a predication and finally, others expressing an analogy. Once expounded the very marked differences that occur between these three classes of propositions, the paper analyses the various kinds of argumentation based on comparative premises and offers a formalization of its logical laws. The complexity of this theory and the volume of topoi involved in the comparisons show the magnitude of a problem that has not been sufficiently studied. (shrink)

It is embarrassing, to say the least, to admit in limine the impossibility of defining the key concepts of this paper, for I do not know either what tradition is or what topoi are. And what is even worse, I have no theoretical conclusions to present. But, after all, why define tradition? We all know what tradition is since it is one of the staples of our academic fare. Even the word itself is in great part an academic one. (...) As a matter of fact, in classical Latin, what we mean by tradition was expressed by words like memoria or institutum or mos vetus, whereas traditio meant surrender or the handing over of a city or of an enemy, although the meaning of instruction, training, teaching is also attested. It was the latter meaning that prevailed in the humanistic period, though with the technical sense of transmission of a text; and in this special meaning the word traditio still survives in the discipline of textual criticism. Of course, the transmission of the text was understood not only in the material sense but also as a means of conveying ancient wisdom, as a witness to its institutions and mores. So the revival of ancient learning implied a reconstruction of a tradition which was thought to have been broken during the Middle Ages. Thus, the studia humanitatis were defined as study of the past, a very well circumscribed past. Even today when we talk about humanistic studies we understand in great part the study of the institutions, mentality, literary movements of the past. Paolo A. Cherci, associate professor in the department of Romance languages and literatures at the University of Chicago, is the editor of Tommaso Garzoni's Works and the author of the forthcoming works, Capitoli di Critica Cervantina, Effemeridi Romaunze, and a collection of short stories, Erostratismo. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungVor dem Hintergrund der medialen Debatte um die beiden Therwiler Schüler, die sich mit Verweis auf religiöse Gründe weigerten, ihrer Lehrerin die Hand zu reichen, strebten Politikerinnen und Politiker im Kanton Basel-Landschaft an, die dortige Verfassung zu ändern. Dabei wurde auf rechtliche und erinnerungskulturelle Diskurse aus dem Kulturkampf des 19. Jahrhunderts – und auf solche, die dazu Bezug nehmen – verwiesen. Diese Verweise werden in einem (partiellen) Close Reading des Kommentars zur geplanten (letztlich aber nicht realisierten) Änderung der basellandschaftlichen Kantonalverfassung (...) erörtert und in den konfligierenden Narrativen des liberalen und des konservativen Lagers verortet. Dabei wird der Kommentar als Dokument gelesen, in welchem spezifische Geschichtsbilder, politische Identitäten und das Recht als sozial konstruierte Entitäten verwoben werden – und in welchem spezifische Konstruktionen und Reifikationen von Identität und Alterität angelegt sind. (shrink)

Scepticism has been the driving force in the development of Greco-Roman culture in the past, and the impetus for far-reaching scientific achievements and philosophical investigation. Early Jewish culture, in contrast, avoided creating consistent representations of its philosophical doctrines. Sceptical notions can nevertheless be found in some early Jewish literature such as the Book of Ecclesiastes. One encounters there expressions of doubt with respect to Divine justice or even Divine involvement in earthly affairs. During the first centuries of the common era, (...) however, Jewish thought, as reflected in rabbinic works, was engaged in persistent intellectual activity devoted to the laws, norms, regulations, exegesis and other traditional areas of Jewish religious knowledge. An effort to detect sceptical ideas in ancient Judaism, therefore, requires a closer analysis of this literary heritage and its cultural context. This volume of collected essays seeks to tackle the question of scepticism in an Early Jewish context, including Ecclesiastes and other Jewish Second Temple works, rabbinic midrashic and talmudic literature, and reflections of Jewish thought in early Christian and patristic writings. Contributors are: Tali Artman, Geoffrey Herman, Reuven Kiperwasser, Serge Ruzer, Giuseppe Veltri, Cana Werman, and Casten Wilke. (shrink)

In Greek inscriptions on cult foundations and regulations from the Hellenistic period onwards it is possible to see the development of an especial religious discourse that includes ancient and new hymnic elements, in addition to new topoi that do not belong to the Hymn tradition. This new religious discourse develops incorporating new features of Greco-Roman religion, strongly influenced by oriental cults, and at the same time well aware of the new philosophical trends that very much pervaded religion at this (...) time. Some sacred inscriptions from the third century BC onwards show precedents of elements well attested in the sacred literary prose of the second century AD. In this paper, the main topoi that constitute this new religious discourse will be analyzed looking specifically at the topoi concerning the founder of the sacred institution or norms, the god or gods worshipped and the worshippers, and also the topoi concerning the content of the foundation norms and the resources used to force the observance of the norms. (shrink)

We develop a categorical scheme of interpretation of quantum event structures from the viewpoint of Grothendieck topoi. The construction is based on the existence of an adjunctive correspondence between Boolean presheaves of event algebras and Quantum event algebras, which we construct explicitly. We show that the established adjunction can be transformed to a categorical equivalence if the base category of Boolean event algebras, defining variation, is endowed with a suitable Grothendieck topology of covering systems. The scheme leads to a (...) sheaf theoretical representation of Quantum structure in terms of variation taking place over epimorphic families of Boolean reference frames. (shrink)

The notion of a continuously variable quantity can be regarded as a generalization of that of a particular quantity, and the properties of such quantities are then akin to, and derived from, the properties of constants. For example, the continuous, real-valued functions on a topological space behave like the field of real numbers in many ways, but instead form a ring. Topos theory permits one to apply this same idea to logic, and to consider continuously variable sets . In this (...) expository paper, such applications are explained to the non-specialist. Some recent results are mentioned, including a new completeness theorem for higher-order logic. (shrink)