| abstract
| - This website / Wiki is devoted to presenting an argument for a vegan lifestyle for people, and the inherent advantages (and disadvantages) for the world we live in. It is intended that it show both sides of the argument for veganism, including common objections (shown in red) that people have to veganism in general, or the specific arguments in particular. It is intended that the argument 'structure' be reviewed and revised in a thoughtful way from time to time, to ensure that the overall argument is easy to understand, remember and use as a structure for the addition of more facts, studies and arguments. Another way of thinking about this site is that it will become an 'index' to all the arguments for veganism, as they already exist / appear on the internet or other media. The trick is to 'contain' or 'link to' all of these resources, while still maintaining a simple structure that presents the key arguments clearly and succinctly. For this to be used as a resource by Vegans, in presenting their arguments to the world, it is important that the overall argument be as clear as possible regarding the reasons why veganism is a good option for individuals and society. It is hoped that the argument map can become a commonly agreed format amongst vegan interest groups, unifying our arguments, and allowing more in-depth collaboration without repetition of work. Recently, academics have highlighted how badly people typically perform in ordinary reasoning and argument tasks (van Gelder, T. 2003. Enhancing deliberation through computer supported argument visualization). Not only are people unable to follow arguments, but very often they remember the argument as being smaller and simpler than what the author of an argument had intended. There is very often a lack of clarity in the prose form of an argument, which causes confusion for the reader, and prevents them from gaining an understanding of the strength of the argument (or otherwise). Van Gelder highlights that by using a graphical representation of an argument, both the author and the reader are able to better comprehend the argument, its main points, strengths and weaknesses. By constructing an argument graphically, use can be made of a greater range of our cognitive resources, resulting in easier to create, alter and understand arguments. The argument should have a simple and easily remembered structure. The arguments should be complete, and non-overlapping, and normalised to enhance simplicity. At each level, there should be sufficient exposition and evidence to leave the reader in no doubt that the argument is sound and complete. The argument should include all of the objections that are likely to be raised, even the silly ones, along with complete rebuttals where possible. The argument should be extensible and flexible enough to include new arguments as they may occasionally arise, and easily find a place for them in the overall scheme. It should include both evidence (articles, statistics, scientific papers, reports) and examples (photos, video, articles, anecdotes), linked to their place in the argument. In order to be attractive and usable by different audiences, the core argument here may need to be transformed into other media and formats. Permission is granted to reproduce or borrow from the argument for the purposes of promoting veganism in any way. Linking back to the main site is encouraged. The work is NOT copyright, and is intended for distribution to support vegan organisations and arguments. We hope to attract 'section editors' at several levels, so that the extensive examples, and evidence gathered for each argument can be collated and included with some rigour. We also hope to receive contributions from around the world, and to include any and all existing arguments into the map. We have already become much better at understanding and explaining the vegan position, through the practice of putting together this outline argument. We hope that others will also find it useful for organising their arguments. Ultimately, of course, we hope for a vegan world. When adding new pages copy the code from this hyperlink example by clicking on the example hyperlink, then clicking on the edit button on the top of that page. Copy and paste the code from example onto the page you wish to create and fill in the blanks with your material. To add an image. First upload the image to the Upload File section in the left column of all pages and then include the following code on your webpage: open square brackets, open square brackets Image:blank| close square brackets, close square brackets. Replace blank with the title of your image. For further information, or for inquiries about this wiki, please send an email to thecaseforaveganworld@hotmail.com or petercarrman@hotmail.com
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)