Argumentative geometry of the Chinese eight-part essay.

Abstract

The subject of the study is the linguistic and cultural features of the Chinese argumentation tradition. The object of the study is the elements of the logical structure of reasoning. The author examines such aspects of the topic as the differences between Eastern and Western models of argumentation and the prerequisites for the formation of the Chinese style of argumentation. Definitions of argumentation and related terms included in the range of concepts of argumentative discourse are given. In the aspect of this problem, the question of the relationship between the functional and semantic type of reasoning and argumentation is also highlighted. The author believes that argumentation is a more detailed development of reasoning based on ways of presenting facts, quotations, appealing to authority, emotions, expert opinion, and laws. In the social contexts of polemics, public discussions, Essenes, and science, the ability to argue is understood as an art. The author also notes that argumentation is a mental and predominantly verbal activity.  Special attention is paid to the structure of classical Chinese literary argumentation. For analysis, the author turns to the scientific metaphor "geometry of argumentation". This facet of argumentation is a methodology for reconstructing argumentative discourse. According to this, a reconstruction method based on the identification of argumentation schemes is used. Argumentation schemes are generalized models of how an argument relates to a conclusion or thesis. The main conclusion of the work is that the structure of argumentation in the Chinese text differs from that in the generally accepted model of argumentation of the Western type. To substantiate this conclusion, the author considers S. Tulmin's model, which consists of six elements, believing that the elements of the model can be distinguished in the representative texts of the argumentation. Therefore, the essay can be considered as an explication of argumentation schemes. After that, the author proceeds to analyze the structure of the argumentation in the text of the "Essay on Eight Legs" (八股文), which consists of eight elements. The intermediate conclusion of the work is information about the positive and negative prescriptive aspects of using the eight-part essay scheme in an educational and professional context and in the context of application in less institutional discourses.