For more than two thousand years, philosophers and teachers of rhetoric have described the many ways people persuade one another. Each list of arguments and other persuasive techniques has value, but none offers 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. The PTA takes a different approach. It uses a precise theoretical matrix: every argument type is defined by specific values of three parameters (form, substance, and lever). Only if two arguments share the same combination of values do they belong to the same type.
Advantages
The PTA offers several key advantages. First, it provides clarity, since it shows exactly what distinguishes one argument type from another. Second, it enables comparability: arguments drawn from different cultures, eras, or disciplines can be analyzed within a common framework. Third, it imposes a systematic structure, in that every argument is classified using the same three parameters. Fourth, it affords precision, capturing subtle differences that are easy to overlook. Fifth, it ensures replicability, meaning two analysts applying the method will either arrive at the same classification or identify precisely where their interpretations diverge. Finally, the PTA achieves integration: rather than replacing earlier approaches, it brings them together by providing a common underlying framework that links the classical traditions of logic, dialectic, and rhetoric to present-day 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, researchers, and educators 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
(photo by Bob Bronshoff)
The Periodic Table of Arguments (PTA) is developed by Jean Wagemans, a philosopher 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 theCambridge 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, and LinkedIn.
PERIODIC TABLE OF ARGUMENTS 