From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!yorku.ca!rreiner Sun Dec  1 13:06:52 EST 1991
Article 1775 of comp.ai.philosophy:
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Path: newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!yorku.ca!rreiner
>From: rreiner@nexus.yorku.ca (Richard Reiner)
Subject: Carlson's claim that dialectic cannot be formalized
Message-ID: <rreiner.691528965@yorku.ca>
Sender: news@newshub.ccs.yorku.ca (USENET News System)
Organization: York University
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 1991 19:22:45 GMT

Some time ago, Richard Carlson claimed in this group that dialectical
reasoning cannot be formalized.  (It may be recalled that he offered
this claim without argument.)

Quite by chance, I have just come across a (fairly old and moderately
well-known) attempt to do exactly that:
 
    Churchman, C. (1971). The design of inquiring systems.  New York:
    Basic Books.

A short and readable overview of Churchman's work on dialectical
inquiry systems, and some commentary, can be found in

    Dacey, R. (1981).  "An interrogative account of the dialectical
    inquiring system based upon the economic theory of information".
    Synthese 47:43-55.

Perhaps it would be illuminating if Mr. Carlson were to try to say
exactly why Churchman's attempt fails.



