Concluding Observations
摘要
The chapter provides a survey of the findings and conclusions of the book. For instance, with respect to the postulation of covert intentions in the speeches of politicians, it is emphasized that evidence is needed when such intentions are assigned, and the study offers a concrete example of such evidence. This study also points to situations where such intentions are likely to be encountered. With respect to the Sedition Act the authors show that the arguments presented for the act tended to be weak, and that the investigator should pay attention to the political aim of the governing Federalist party to retain power. Similarly, the political objective of attempting to discredit the opposition Republican party appears to have been a significant factor in the Federalist push for the Logan Act. It is shown that fallacy theory lends itself to assessing the nature of argumentation used in these debates. In Chap. 5 the notion of narrative is additionally used, to shed light on political argumentation in two newspapers, one Federalist, the other Republican, in the State of New York in the run-up to the key legislative elections in that state in 1800, which had a crucial bearing on the election of President Jefferson soon afterwards.