Following the thematic panel “Emotion in Argumentation” at the European Conference on Argumentation 2025, we invite submissions to a special issue of Human and Society devoted to this topic.
While emotions have long remained in the background of argumentation theory, recent years have witnessed a growing recognition of their central role in persuasion, reasoning, and public discourse. Scholars such as Douglas Walton, Christian Plantin, and Michael Gilbert have shown that emotions are essential components of argumentative practice. This special issue seeks to bring together philosophical, linguistic, and empirical perspectives on the role of emotion in argumentation, to capture how this field has matured and diversified.
We welcome contributions that address the theoretical, methodological, and applied dimensions of emotional argumentation, ranging from classical, pragmatic and cognitive frameworks to computational and experimental approaches. Submissions may explore how emotional appeals function in dialogue, how emotions shape the perception of argument strength, and how affect interacts with rationality in various communicative contexts, including social media, political discourse, and everyday interaction.
Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
- Theoretical models of emotional argumentation
- Empirical studies of emotional appeals in natural discourse
- Pragmatic, linguistic, and psychological approaches to affect in argumentation
- Computational and AI-based modeling of pathos and persuasion
- Emotion, manipulation, and the ethics of persuasion
We particularly encourage interdisciplinary work combining argumentation theory, pragmatics, cognitive psychology, and computational linguistics.
Submission deadline: February 23, 2026
Planned publication date: June 2026
For inquiries, please contact the guest editors: bkonat@amu.edu.pl, csantibanez@ucsc.cl