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The book Good Reasoning Matters! A Cognitive Approach to Critical Thinking was first published in 1989 by Oxford University Press. Next issues follow in 1997, 2004, 2008. The latest 5th edition was published in 2013 by Oxford University Press Canada. The two authors, Leo A.Groarke and Christopher W. Tindalе have included 13 parts plus Preface, three Appendices and an Index.

The 5th edition is expanded and contains a Glossary of the terms, which is a great aid for the students of argumentation.  There are also examples from current practices and the classical examples are combined with modernized tasks and exercises, which is a challenging and  attractive method of leading the learners to study the rhetorical terminology.

It is only natural to start with short profiles of the authors.

Leo A. Groarke is the Vice-President at the University of Windsor, Canada where he was appointed in 2010. He is a philosopher and his research fields extend to cover the fields of the history of ideas, social and political philosophy, informal logic and argumentation theory.  His academic training started at the University of Calgary and then followed Simon Fraser University, the University of Helsinki, and the University of Western Ontario. He received his PhD in 1982 г. His academic career is  active and dynamic, he was  professor of Philosophy at Wilfrid Laurier University, where he held a number of administrative positions: Chair of the Philosophy Department, Assistant Dean of Arts and Science, Dean of the Brantford Campus.

Leo Groarkeis the author of a long list of publications among which are Teaching History: The Future of the Past (2005), Can Capitalism Save Itself?  Some Ruminations on the End of Capitalism, 7^thedition, New York, Prentice-Hall(2004) etc. In 2011 his book Logic, Informal was published digitally in Stanford World Wide Web Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://plato.stanford.edu.

Christopher W. Tindalе is also a philosopher. He received his PhD at the University in Waterloo.  He is currently teaching profess or of Greek philosophy, Argumentation theory and Moral Issues at the University of Windsor, Canada. His latest research project is related to  his constant interests in the areas of Greek philosophy, the theory of argumentation and philosophy, and is on the development a study of the Sophist Argument.

Christopher Tindalе is the author of the books Fallacies and Argument Appraisal (2007);  Rhetorical Argumentation (2004), Acts of Arguing: A Rhetorical Model of Argument (1999). He is also the editor of several digital books on CD-Rom: Dissensus and the Search for Common Ground (2007); Argumentation and Its Applications (2003), Argumentation & Rhetoric (1998) etc.

There are quite a number of advantages of Good Reasoning Matters! A Cognitive Approach to Critical Thinking”. The first group of advantages is related to the clear structure and precise balance of the separate parts of the book.  Each of the 13 parts bears a short, yet attractive and clear title that is easy to grasp at first glance. Each of them has a clear-cut structure beginning with introduction of the terms and defining the concepts, followed by explicitly developed theoretical theses, examples and brief summary of the essential aspects.

Another group of advantages are inbuilt in the general conceptual scheme of the book: traditional and current topics are outlined; a profound study of theory is displayed; definitions of the basic concepts are given; each part is illustrated in sufficient examples precisely and carefully chosen to help the understanding of the ideas of the authors.  Some of the theses are leading to a novel and creative approach to cognitive issues, and explicitly outline how to  write an argumentative essay (pp. 340-364), what argument and proof in science are (p. 258), what is the significance of scientific method and how  it is applied  (p. 259) etc.

A third group of advantages are related to the visual aspects of the book, where photos, adverts, caricatures, slogans, figures and diagrams are used in their illustrative, argumentative and educational functions.

The fourth group concerns the outlining and graphic presentation of the terms in each part so that they are easily grasped and brought to efficient further use.  Precise definitions are the next indisputable positive aspect of the book.

The fifth group of advantages is related to the glossary of 150 terms used in the broader fields of  logic, dialectics and rhetoric, e.g. ‘audience’, ‘opponent’ and ‘proponent’, ‘argument by analogy’, etc. As well as terms, which have been well-known to the rhetorical theories of late e.g. ‘visual arguments’, non-verbal metaphor, non-verbal demonstration etc.

In part 12, entitled Ethotic Schemes (pp. 307-340) the authors not only mention well-known arguments but they also give a systematic view of a broader number of arguments in the context of ethotic thinking. This is a detailed and extended contribution to the studies of rhetorical argumentation. Some basic ideas of our common rhetorical heritage are reconceptualized within the current contexts. Among them are  the arguments Ad Hominem and Pro Homine; Argument from Authority and Arguments against Authority; Appeal to Eyewitness Testimony, the arguments of Guilt (and Honor) by Association etc.

A further proof of the detailed study of argumentation is the parts Dressing Arguments, Argument Diagrams, Looking for the Facts, More Empirical Schemes and the Reasoning of Science etc., and the Appendices. The authors are evidently cutting deep into the matter of their studies and that gives them the advantage of applying an interesting approach to the reconceptualization and systematization of the ideas in a way that is indisputably creative against thousands of years of rhetorical heritage.

To conclude with, the 5^th issue of the book Good Reasoning Matters! A Cognitive Approach to Critical Thinking is a contribution to modern rhetorical studies and it is a valuable aid for the university students of  philosophy, rhetoric, law, communication studies etc.

prof. Dr, DSc. Ivanka Mavrodieva, assos. prof. Dr Gergana Apostolova

Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 13, July 2012, rhetoric.bg/, ISSN 1314-4464

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Abstract: Media manipulation is one of the most important issues in contemporary societies. According to Van Dijk media manipulation is simultaneously a social, a cognitive, and a discursive phenomenon. This article comments on the various characteristics of media manipulation in Bulgarian political discourse.

Keywords: media manipulation, cognition, domination, discourse, politics.

Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 13, July 2012, rhetoric.bg/, ISSN 1314-4464

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Abstract. Events which have taken place in the winter of 2013 gave rise to these two phenomena come into symbiosis and unite a nation in a cause as an expression of dissatisfaction with the energy monopolies. Accumulated political and economic problems led to the social changes and it is specific test for citizen behabior. The goal of the paper is to sets this work is to trace the genesis of the protest and its effects from PR point of view. The paper’s tasks are to identify the sircumstances/conditions and factors for the protester’s participation and to describe the specific characteristics of the protest.

Keywords: protest, process, energy monopolies, consumers, police and state.

Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 13, July 2012,  rhetoric.bg/, ISSN 1314-4464

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Abstract: In this article the author insists that the look at the brand terrorism is not limited in to the phenomena of its visual identity only. He accepts the brand terrorism as a special case of the theory and practice of contemporary brand and branding and he trying to peer into its near future. There we have to expect some unexpected but possible challenges in a fast changing communication puzzle.

Keywords: brand, branding, brand terrorism, branding terrorism, future of brand terrorism.

Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 13, July 2012, rhetoric.bg/, ISSN 1314-4464

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Abstract: The aim of this research is to determine if Bulgarian public administration which provide the ecological government policy, possesses the potential ability to build the image of the new global person. This new global person is characterized with high ecological values, respect to the planet Earth and sense of responsibility for the new generations. The necessary minimum condition for the building of this new image is every public administration to be represented with website in which are incorporated dialogic PR 2.0 tools. 35 websites were examined for incorporated dialogic PR 2.0 tools and conclusions were made.

Keywords: public administration, ecological public administration, institutional image, PR2.0, dialogic tool tools.

Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 13, July 2012, rhetoric.bg/, ISSN 1314-4464

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Abstract: In the following research there is a prompt attempt an Interactive model or PR communication to be outlined. This model gives opportunity of in depth reflection over the peculiarities of targeted communication within the WEB 2.0 discourse. The model observes rhetorical PR as one of the many possible PR varieties while targeted communication is taking place. It is grounded on the balance between the communication sources, the message and the targeted audience. It is essential for the Interactive model of PR communication the influence of the medium to be taken into consideration while using each and every PR technique for the realization of effective targeted communication.

Key words: PR, rhetoric, rhetorical PR, rhetorical argumentation, WEB 2.0, Interactive advertising model, Interactive model of PR communication, communication power, rhetoric of the detail, Model of PR efficiency.

Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 13, July 2012, rhetoric.bg/, ISSN 1314-4464

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Abstract: The arguments from authority are a fundamental epistemological and rhetorical problem that, at least to this point, has not received systematic elucidation. The study of these arguments in the Western logico-dialectical tradition from the perspective of the logical and dialectical normativism does not allow for its full-bodied evaluation, while the models from the position of which they have been investigated are helpless in addressing a number of problems of their practical use. It is contended that the whole notion of critical normativity, developed in the second half of the 20^th century by the “New Rhetoric” and the “New Dialectics” is peculiarly entwined with the authority and is marked by veiled but denied rhetoricism. The key to the solving of the problem in question, it is argued, lies in the notion of ethos: the person and the arguments that are derived from him/her are warrants and exponents of normativity in communication because the responsibility for the words is bound with their materialization into acts and the person is the subject that bears this main communicative and pragmatic burden.

Keywords: Ethotic Argument, Argument from Authority, Ad Hominem, Ethos, Character, Authority, Rhetoric, Argumentation

Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 13, July 2012, rhetoric.bg/, ISSN 1314-4464

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Abstract: The main purpose of the article is to highlight the need to overcome the reductionism of elementary thinking that accepts the idea that human creatures can be controlled as a resource. Such reductionism leads to dehumanization of the human relations in the modern attempts to fit people in economic models. In contrast to it, humanist thinking suggests a change in the abbreviation HR), without changing the letters. Instead of talking about controlling human resources, let us talk about the construction, maintenance and development of the human potential abilities and relations (HR then stands for what).

Keywords: human, human resource, human relations, humanity, categorical imperative, language, values, ethical categories

Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 13, July 2012, rhetoric.bg/, ISSN 1314-4464

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