A book about how individuals decide that arguments (or excuses) are valid or invalid, sound or unsound, strong or weak, ethical or unethical, with many examples and applications. This book brings together essays that demonstrate the art of argument evaluation. The essays apply a variety of theoretical approaches to specific, historically-situated arguments in order to render a specific normative judgment. By bringing to bear knowledge of argumentation theory along with expertise pertaining to the specific arguments under investigation, this book illustrates the utility of argument evaluation as a discrete mode of scholarly engagement.
