Research Information System
Thesis Type: Postgraduate
Institution Of The Thesis: Bursa Uludağ University, SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ, Turkey
Approval Date: 2015
Thesis Language: Turkish
Student: Meriç Seyhan Karaca
Supervisor: SERKAN GÖLBAŞI
Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection
Abstract:The topic of this thesis is, the argumentation theory of lawyer and philosopher Chaim Perelman, who is among the most important argumentation theorists of the twentieth century and legal argumentation theory, which could not be dissociated from the argumentation theory. While elaborating his argumentation theory, Perelman laid emphasis on rhetoric and dialectic on one hand relationship between justice and legal reasoning on the other hand. In this connection, first chapter is devoted to his life and philosophical background in order to provide better understanding of thinker's opinions. Therefore, thoughts of Aristotle, one of the greatest thinkers of Western philosophy, whose way of thinking on rhetoric, dialectic and justice constituted a keystone for Perelman's philosophical background, are discussed briefly in relation with their influences on Perelman's ideas. Thereafter, a framework about Perelman's general philosophy is set forth. In the second chapter, Perelman's argumentation theory is elucidated, which is to him the logic of practical life. In this context, firstly Perelman's thoughts on science and philosophy, and the function of language in these realms are explained. Later, the idea of rhetoric as means of providing knowledge of plural truths is pointed out. Afterwards, Perelman's distinction between particular audience and universal audience, which constitute a basis for the argumentation theory, and the critisisms about concept of the universal audience are explained. Then, starting points of arguments, techniques of argumentation, and strength and order of arguments are analyzed in compatibility with the system of The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation. The third chapter is devoted to the opinions of Perelman on idea of justice and legal reasoning. Perelman firstly, makes a distinction between formal justice and concrete justice and then establishes relation between justice and argumentation in accordance with his philosophical transformation. In this context, argumentation becomes an ethical standard for action. Perelman consideres justice as a rational virtue and argumentation as a criterium of rationality in practical life. Therefore, there is a close link between legitimacy of law and justice of juridicial judgments, and argumentation.