International Symposium on Argumentation and Debate: Traditional Munazara and Contemporary Practices
19 - 21 January 2023
Istanbul
Effective communication is key for a collective and effective response to deep-rooted issues on a global scale. The current state of public debate, however, is marked by polarization, extremism, and exclusionary discourses. By way of addressing this predicament, the symposium will provide a venue for scholars to discuss current argumentative engagements, particularly in terms of their adversarial and/or applause-driven features and will look for possibilities to bring an alternative model for debate.
The symposium will bring together three kinds of expertise: (i) Islamic intellectual history, (ii) virtue argumentation and (iii) debate design and practice. The experts in the symposium will first strive to understand and discuss the seven-centuries old Islamic discipline and debate practice that synthesizes Muslim spiritual ethics and Aristotelian analytics: Adab al-Bahth wa al-Munazara (the manners of inquiry and argumentation). Munazara puts emphasis on the virtues of character and the manners of debate for managing deep disagreements within a framework of respect and amity between contenders. Proved by centuries long experience but disappeared in the last century; Munazara has a potential to bring new breath to the scholarly discussion on argumentative norms and procedures, it also has insights to offer contemporary debate practice with its emphasis on critical evaluations while being conducive to respectful and egalitarian cooperation between contending parties. Bringing Munazara to bear on contemporary argumentation theory and practice, in the symposium the scholars will discuss the potentials of a Munazara Engagement Model (MEM) which would address the needs and necessities of the contemporary world.
