Procedural Arguments

Although many authors claim that argumentation is a process, in most models the procedural side of argumentation is restricted to the definition of a procedural framework that is able to compare arguments. This paper elaborates on the procedural side of argumentation. A distinction is made between structural and procedural arguments. Structural arguments arecharacterizedbytheirspecificstructure. Theelements recognizedinthe analysis of structural arguments areusedtoillustrate theattack, justification and construction of structural arguments in a procedural model. Subsequentlythequestionis addressedwhetherstructural argumentsnecessarilyhave underlying rules. Procedural arguments are characterized by the procedure in which they are adduced. It is argued that there is more to argumentation than structure. Therefore the notion procedural arguments is introduced and elaborated. Especially in legal practice, e.g. court decisions, non-structural, procedural arguments play an important role. It is argued that procedural models of legal reasoning should take procedural arguments into account.