ARGUMENTATION MAPPING UPDATE Issue 2001.2
Published by MacroVU Press in support of the Visual Language Project
at Stanford University, which is directed by Robert E. Horn, author
of Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21st Century.
The UPDATE summarizes the research and applications of argumentation mapping methodology.
In this issue:
1. Welcome to "The UPDATE"
2. Newest Innovation -- Multiple Levels of Detail on the Web
3. The Topic Of This Innovation -- Part of the Consciousness Map
4. Request For Feedback --Are Argumentation Maps Better on the Web?
5. Vital Navigational Infrastructure
6. Art and Science Combined
7. Other Links on our Project's Work
***********************************************************************************
1. WELCOME TO "The
UPDATE"
A recent full-page review in the journal "Nature", "New
Scientist" (http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19990710/beyond.html)
and in the "Philosophers' Magazine" (Summer, 1999)(http://www.philosophers.co.uk/current/mapping.htm)
have focused attention on our project. We've been asked a lot
of questions about the field, so we've launched this newsletter.
This is our second one.
Our goal is to keep you up-to-date on the field of argumentation mapping. We will summarize the projects we're working on, both research and applications. We'll review important books and articles in the field and present brief critiques of important issues in the field.
--Bob Horn, Project Director
2. NEWEST INNOVATION
-- MULTIPLE LEVELS OF DETAIL ON THE WEB
The most recent innovation in our Mapping Great Debates Series
is a detailed portion of one of our argumentation maps on our
publisher's web site. We have also provided a second level "beneath"
the summaries of the claims on our map. This second level contains
quotes from the protagonists' original articles, on which our
summaries are based. This begins to provide the depth that hypertext
on the web offers.
3. THE TOPIC OF THIS
INNOVATION--PART OF THE CONSCIOUSNESS MAP
The web portion is from map 6--"Do Computers Have to Be Conscious
to Think?" If you look at the maps on the web, you will see
two regions of the map outlined in heavy red lines. These are:
(1) the debates about "Can Computers be Conscious?"
and
(2) the functionalism debates "Can Functional States Generate
Consciousness?"
Clicking there will enable you to view a total of 31 major "moves" in the argument--claims, rebuttals and counterrebuttals. They are presented in detail both in map form and in individual in-depth "source" pages that are hyperlinked.
FOR A LOOK AT THESE MULTIPLE LEVELS OF THE CONSCIOUSNESS MAP,
START AT THIS WEB PAGE:
http://www.macrovu.com/CCTHowItWork1.html
4. REQUEST FOR FEEDBACK--ARE
ARGUMENTATION MAPS BETTER ON THE WEB?
Many students, teachers, and researchers have commented on the
large size of the maps (They are 3 x 4 feet in size) and have
suggested to us that our whole enterprise might be better on the
web. So we decided to try the experiment first announced in this
newsletter. Others have already noted that the web versions do
not provide the ease of seeing the overall structure of the arguments
provided by the paper versions. We'd like your ideas and feedback
on this experiment.
SEND US AN EMAIL AT: info@macrovu.com
5. VITAL NAVIGATIONAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
Our own view is that this form of argumentation maps on the web
provide an important navigational infrastructure for understanding
the emergence of a philosophical subject matter and its intellectual
history. With our website you can begin to envision how the depth
of the unfolding of debates on the cutting edges of different
disciplines and interdisciplinary issues can be summarized and
mapped.
IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS ON THIS PROJECT, SEND US AN EMAIL AT: hornbob@earthlink.net
5. NEXT--LINK TO
FULL TEXT SOURCES
The obvious next step in this enterprise is to have the individual
claims linked to not only the quote pages that we have provided,
but also to the full text of the original sources. You can view
an example of this by clicking on the Turing claim on Map 6. The
link will take you to the full text of Alan Turing's 1950 article
in "Mind" which is on the web at the Dartmouth College
Philosophy Department site. We are seeking funds to enable us
to do the full linking of maps-to-full text on the web for our
mapping project.
6. ART AND SCIENCE
COMBINED
We were especially delighted that during the course of one year
our Mapping Great Debates Series received both a full page review
in one of the top science magazines in the world, Nature, and
was also hung as part of a fine arts exhibit in the Hague at the
Stoom Center for the Visual Arts.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Information Design Exhibit at Stroom Center for the Visual Arts
http://www.stroom.nl
The Representation of Meaning--Information Design as a Practical
Art and a Fine Art
(html)
7. OTHER LINKS ON
OUR PROJECT'S WORK
Reviews of Mapping Great Debates Series
Metzinger, Thomas , Review of Mapping Great Debates
PSYCHE, Official journal of the Association for the Scientific
Study of Consciousness, 5(30), December 1999
http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v5/psyche-5-30-metzinger.html
Chandler, Joseph, Review of Mapping The Great Debates in the
Philosophers' Magazine
<http://www.philosophers.co.uk/current/mapping.htm>
NEW SCIENTIST ARTICLE
To read a feature article on Robert E. Horn's work: Holmes, Robert,
Beyond Words ,New Scientist, 163, 2194, July 10, 1999 http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19990710/beyond.html
***********************************************************************************
The Argumentation Mapping UPDATE is free.
To subscribe/unsubscribe, email <info@macrovu.com>
Editor and Publisher: Robert E. Horn, visiting scholar, Stanford
University
Please share the Argumentation Mapping Update with your friends
and colleagues; we ask only that you keep the fine print attached:
Entire contents copyright 2001 R.E. Horn