Toulmin's field-dependency thesis and the threat of relativism

Abstract

<p>In this thesis I deal with the issue of relativism that threatens Toulmin’s field- dependency thesis (i.e. the claim that the standards of argument appraisal depend on the argument field in which the argument occurs). After offering partial interpretation of the concept of “argument fields” and elucidating the concept of field-dependence, I argue that Toulmin’s field-dependency thesis does result in an unacceptably strong relativism.</p>