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José Plug is lecturer and researcher at the Department of Speech Communication, Argumentation Theory and Rhetoric of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands . Since 2005 she has also been the director of education of the Department of Dutch studies. José Plug obtained her PhD doing interdisciplinary research on argumentation in legal decisions. In addition to legal argumentation, her research interests are political argumentation and the theory of debate. Over the past few years she co-organised several conferences on Debate and on Legal argumentation (Symposium Juridische Argumentatie, Argumentation and the application of legal rules).

Teaching

José Plug has taught differentcourses in bachelor and master programmes, at several universities. Since 2002 she hasbeen working at the Department of Speech Communication, Argumentation and Rhetoric of the University of Amsterdam where she teaches ‘Introduction to Communication and Argumentation’, ‘Academic Writing’ and ‘Argumentation and debate’. Currently she teaches at master level Institutional argumentation and Political argumentation. Until 2002 she was lecturer at the Law faculty of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam (EUR) where she taught ‘legal writing’, ‘legal argumentation’ and ‘oral pleading’. At the Law faculty she also developed a Moot Court programme of which she was then to become the supervisor. From 1999 until 2001 she was a guest lecturer at the Law faculty of the University of the Netherlands Antilles (UNA) for a number of semesters.

Some recent pubications

(2012) Obscurities in the Formulation of Legal Argumentation. International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse, Volume 2.1, pp 126-142.

(2011) Strategic maneuvering with visual arguments in political cartoons. In: Feteris, E.T. (Eds.) Keeping in touch with Pragma-Dialectics. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins. (with E.T. Feteris)

(2010) Ad-hominem arguments in Dutch and European parliamentary debates: strategic manoeuvring in an institutional context. In: Cornelia Ilie (ed.), European Parliaments under Scrutiny: Discourse Strategies and Interaction Practices, DAPSAC series, (pp. 305-328). Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

(2010) Institutional Bounderies on the Evaluation of Argumentation in Legislative Discussions. Legisprudence. International Journal for the Study of Legislation. Volume IV, No 1, pp. 53-69.

(2009) The argumentative use of examples in legislative discussions: the burqa-ban case. In: E.T. Feteris, H. Kloosterhuis and H.J. Plug (eds.) Argumentation and the Application of Legal Rules. Amsterdam: Rozenberg/ SicSat. pp. 106-122.

(2008). Apologies for Metaphors as a Strategic Manoeuvre inPolitical Debates. In: L. Dam, L. Holmgreen and J. Strunck (Eds.). Rhetorical aspects of discourses in present-day society. Cambridge : Cambridge Scholars Press, Chapter 5, (with Francisca Snoeck Henkemans).

(2008). Naar een verbetering van strafmotiveringen. Een onderzoek naar de effectiviteit van het PROMIS model. Tijdschrift voor Taalbeheersing, 30, nr. 3, 249-267, (met Paul van den Hoven).

Website ISSA conference 2010

Publications José Plug

Legal argumentation

(2009) Argumentation and the Application of Legal Rules. Amsterdam: Rozenberg.

(with Feteris, E.T. and H. Kloosterhuis Eds.).

 

In modern legal systems there is a tension between the rule
of law and the arguable character of law. As a consequence
sound legal argumentation is crucial for the legitimacy of legal
decisions. Argumentation and the Application of Legal Rules is
a collection of essays on the role of argumentation inlegal
discourse. The essays discuss the use of interpretative
arguments, argumentation schemes, goal- and case bound
reasoning and strategic manoeuvring.

(2008)    Alles afwegende… Bijdragen aan het vijfde symposium juridische argumentatie. Rotterdam 22 juni 2007. Nijmegen: Ars Aequi Libri. (co-edited with E.T. Feteris, H. Kloosterhuis, J.A. Pontier)

(2004)    In het licht van deze overwegingen. Bijdragen aan het vierde symposium juridische argumentatie. Rotterdam 27 juni 2003. Nijmegen: Ars Aequi Libri. (co-edited with E.T. Feteris, H. Kloosterhuis and J.A. Pontier )

(2000)    Met Recht en Reden. Bijdragen aan het derde symposium juridische argumentatie. Rotterdam 18 juni 1999. Nijmegen: Ars Aequi Libri. (co-edited with E.T. Feteris, H. Kloosterhuis and J.A. Pontier )

(1997)   Op goede gronden. Bijdragen aan het tweede symposium juridische argumentatie. Rotterdam 14 juni 1996. Nijmegen: Ars Aequi Libri. (co-edited with E.T. Feteris, H. Kloosterhuis and J.A. Pontier).

(1994)   Met redenen omkleed. Bijdragen aan het symposium juridische argumentatie. Rotterdam 11 juni 1993. Nijmegen: Ars Aequi Libri. (co-edited with E.T. Feteris, H. Kloosterhuis, J.A. Pontier).