About

For more than two thousand years, philosophers, scholars, and teachers of rhetoric have tried to map the many ways people persuade one another. They created lists, taxonomies, and classifications that are each valuable, but none is offering a single, unified system. The Periodic Table of Arguments (PTA) changes that.

What makes it different?

Most traditional classifications rely on loose categories or intuitive labels that can feel arbitrary. The PTA takes a different approach. It uses a precise theoretical matrix: every argument type is defined by three parameters: form, substance, and lever. If two arguments share the same combination, they belong to the same type. Change even one parameter, and you’ve created a different “piece of reasoning.”

Advantages

The PTA offers several key advantages:

• Clarity – It shows exactly what distinguishes one argument type from another.
• Comparability – Arguments from different cultures, eras, or disciplines can be analyzed using the same system.
• Systematic structure – Every argument is classified using the same three parameters.
• Precision – It captures subtle differences that are easy to overlook.
• Replicability – Two analysts using the method will reach the same classification, or clearly identify where they differ.
• Integration – Rather than replacing earlier approaches, the PTA brings them together by providing a common underlying framework that links ancient dialectic, classical rhetoric, medieval logic, and contemporary argumentation theory.

A scientific model for arguments

The PTA isn’t just another list. It is a unifying model that allows us to understand the vast diversity of human reasoning through a single, coherent, systematic lens. Just as the Periodic Table of Elements helped chemists understand the structure of matter, the Periodic Table of Arguments offers philosophers, rhetoricians, educators, and researchers a comprehensive way to study how people try to convince one another.

As a contribution to the philosophy of argument, the PTA continues a long combinatorial tradition that includes Ramon Llull’s Ars magna (1308) and Leibniz’s Dissertatio de arte combinatoria (1666) – see this article by Jonathan Gray for more on this lineage.

Author info

The Periodic Table of Arguments (PTA) is developed by Jean Wagemans, a philosopher of argument who specializes in dialectic and rhetoric. Wagemans is professor of Cognition, Communication, and Argumentation at the University of Amsterdam and coordinator of the interdisciplinary research group Language and Cognition in Argumentation (LANCAR) at the Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication (ACLC). He authored the chapter on The Philosophy of Argument (2022) in the Cambridge Handbook for the Philosophy of Language and co-authored the Handbook of Argumentation Theory (2014) and Argumentation and debate (in Dutch, 2014). Wagemans publishes scientific articles, web content, and popularizing columns, and regularly appears in the media to discuss his research and provide expert commentary on current affairs. For more information and to download publications, please visit his pages on UvA, ORCID, Academia, X, and LinkedIn.