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Fundamentals of Legal Argumentation

A Survey of Theories on the Justification of Judicial Decisions

  • Discusses salient backgrounds to the field as well as major approaches and trends in the contemporary research
  • Surveys relevant theoretical factors from different traditions in the study of legal argumentation
  • Good basis for students, researchers and professionals to further study the field of legal argumentation and the practice of legal reasoning

Part of the book series: Argumentation Library (ARGA, volume 1)

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
  2. Legal Argumentation and Legal Interpretation

    • Eveline T. Feteris
    Pages 1-21
  3. The Logical Approach of Legal Argumentation

    • Eveline T. Feteris
    Pages 23-47
  4. Toulmin’s Argumentation Model

    • Eveline T. Feteris
    Pages 49-61
  5. Perelman’s New Rhetoric

    • Eveline T. Feteris
    Pages 63-75
  6. Alexy’s Procedural Theory of Legal Argumentation

    • Eveline T. Feteris
    Pages 117-154
  7. Back Matter

    Pages 355-361

About this book

This book is an updated and revised edition of Fundamentals of Legal Argumentation published in 1999. It discusses new developments that have taken place in the past 15 years in research of legal argumentation, legal justification and legal interpretation, as well as the implications of these new developments for the theory of legal argumentation. Almost every chapter has been revised and updated, and the chapters include discussions of recent studies, major additions on topical issues, new perspectives, and new developments in several theoretical areas. Examples of these additions are discussions of recent developments in such areas as Habermas' theory, MacCormick's theory, Alexy's theory, Artificial Intelligence and law, and the pragma-dialectical theory of legal argumentation. Furthermore it provides an extensive and systematic overview of approaches and studies of legal argumentation in the context of legal justification in various legal systems and countries that have been important for the development of research of legal argumentation.

The book contains a discussion of influential theories that conceive the law and legal justification as argumentative activity. From different disciplinary and theoretical angles it addresses such topics as the institutional characteristics of the law and the relation between general standards for moral discussions and legal standards such as the Rule of Law. It discusses patterns of legal justification in the context of different types of problems in the application of the law and it describes rules for rational legal discussions.

The combination of the sound basis of the first edition and the discussions of new developments make this new edition an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the various theoretical influences which have informed the study of legal argumentation. It discusses salient backgrounds to this field as well as major approaches and trends in the contemporary research. It surveys the relevanttheoretical factors both from various continental law traditions and common law countries.

Reviews

“The most comprehensive overview of the different theories about legal argumentation in circulation. … Eveline Feteris has made a veritable tour de force to collect the materials that were needed for her overview. The result of her work is a treasure trove for anybody who wants to obtain an overview of the existing research or looks for a reference to a particular article or book on the subject.” (Jaap Hage, Journal of Argumentation in Context, Vol. 7 (3), March, 26, 2019)​

Authors and Affiliations

  • Speech Communication, Argumentation Theory and Rhetoric, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Eveline T. Feteris

About the author

Eveline T. Feteris is an Associate Professor at the Department of Speech Communication, Argumentation Theory and Rhetoric of the University of Amsterdam. She is a member of the research programme of the Argumentation & Rhetoric Group Amsterdam (ARGA) and the research school of the International Learned Institute of Argumentation Studies (ILIAS). She is director of the research masters's programme Text and Communication. Her research interests are argumentation theory, legal argumentation theory, and visual argumentation.
Feteris is author of several books, academic volumes and many publications in international journals. Among Feteris’ key publications are Fundamental of Legal Argumentation: A Survey of Theories of Justification of Judicial Decisions, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands 1999 (translated in Chinese, Spanish and Turkish); E.T. Feteris, H. Kloosterhuis, H.J. Plug, Argumentation and the Application of Legal Rules, Amsterdam: Sic Sat, 2009; E.T. Feteris, B.J. Garssen, A.F. Snoeck Henkemans, Keeping in Touch with Pragma-Dialectics, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2011; C. Dahlman and E.T. Feteris, Legal Argumentation Theory: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives. Dordrecht: Springer, 2013; E.T. Feteris, H. Kloosterhuis, H.J. Plug, C.E. Smith, Legal Argumentation and the Rule of Law, The Hague: Eleven, 2016.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access