CENTRE OF BUSINESS ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH (CoBAR) DIVISION OF BUSINESS & ENTERPRISE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA WORKING PAPER SERIES

The argumentative system, known to the decision-making, communications, knowledge creation, problem solving, and research methods literature, can be generalised to assist IS design. It has a deep philosophical basis, confronts the issue of uneven power relationships in stakeholders, does not assume objective knowledge, and encourages a learn-by-doing modular approach allowing rolling reflection. The type of argumentative system suggested is that of Aristotle’s dialectic reasoning (to argue, from the Greek root of dialectic), Hegels’ thesis and anti-thesis, coupled with the modern resurgence in the argumentative research methodology and argumentative decision making management literature (eg. Neiderman and DeSanctis 1995, Meyers and Seibold 1989). It is not to be confused with quarrels or symbolic logic. Reasoned argument (debate) places language and group interaction at the centre of knowledge acquisition, while still acknowledging the observer-reasoning dialectic.