 controversies than we are used to in present-day controversies among academics.
By the middle of the 17th century, questions of polite conduct became an important issue in all European societies (cf. Beetz 1990), so it is not surprising that this question should also arise in the context of scholarly disputes. This new trend of politeness seems to have had two sources. On the one hand, there was the Christian tradition, which we already mentioned and which was partly strengthened, at least in Germany, by new religious movements like the Pietist movement. On the other hand there was a trend towards the cultivation of politeness which was founded on courtly traditions.
One representative of the Pietist movement who showed this hightened awareness of the defects of traditional polemical writing quite strongly, was August Hermann Francke. A striking aspect of his controversy theory is his view that pamphlets should primarily serve to edify, from which it follows that the worldly aggressiveness of traditional pamphlet writing had no place in religious argumentation. This view is expressed quite explicitly in one of his own pamphlets, which formed the end point of long controversy with an orthodox antagonist, Johann Friedrich Mayer: “Should anyone believe that I find pleasure in such [i.e. polemical] writings, he errs greatly; for my soul is disgusted by them: since I know and recognise in truth that railing, satirising and suchlike things which entice the worldly sense, whether they happen by mouth or in written form, in no way encourage true edification, which should be the only purpose even in pamphlets, by contrast they impede much good even in an otherwise just thing, equally, among other things, an attitude of derision is aroused and much unchristian gossip and godless ways are notably increased by it.” (“Meynet iemand / daß ich an dergleichen [i.e. polemischen] Schrifften einen Gefallen habe / der irret sich weit; Denn meine Seele hat vielmehr einen grossen Eckel daran: sintemal ich weiß / und erkenne in der Wahrheit / daß durch railliren / satyrisieren / und dergleichen den irdischen Sinn kützelnde Dinge / sie geschehen mündlich oder schrifftlich / die wahre Erbauung / die doch auch in Streit-Schrifften der einige Zweck seyn solte / keineswegs befördert / hingegen viel gutes / auch bey einer sonst gerechten Sache / gehindert / der Spott-Geist bey anderm ebenmässig erreget / und mancherley unchristliches Geschwätz und gottloses Wesen dadurch mercklich vermehret wird“; Francke, „Verantwortung“ 1707, 378). It is not surprising that in Francke’s writings the principle of meekness („Sanfftmut“) is also frequently alluded to.
By 1670, the question of scholarly conduct in controversies became a serious topic in its own right – in some cases a controversial topic – which was intimately connected to questions concerning the status and function of scholarly work in general (cf. Gierl 1997, 543ff.). According to Christian Thomasius and other contemporaries, educated persons should be fit to act in public office and at court. And in these surroundings cavilling and pedantical scholars were not acceptable. This kind of attitude was also present in contemporary books of manners (e.g. Hunold 1716, 50ff.). Shapin (1994, 114ff.) refers to similar views presented in English books of manners. Another factor discouraging traditional forms of controversy may have been the trend towards eclecticism as an epistemological attitude. Against this background, traditional procedures of disputation were now increasingly denounced as mere word battles (“logomachia”) and sectarian bickering, and many authors developed a negative attitude towards this type of scholarly exchange and the aggressiveness which they considered inherent in this type of controversy. In the course of the 18th century, awareness of the inherent problems of the traditional point-by-point principle and the new discussion of politeness principles seem to have conspired to weaken the position of the disputation pattern as a scholarly form of communication and the pamphlet as its prototypical textual form. So we have here an example of a remarkable change in forms of communication which is closely linked to changes in communication principles.
To sum up the result of this study: There are both long-lasting traditions and remarkable changes in the history of communication principles. In order to analyze these forms of evolution we have to consider the principles in their contexts of justification and application, including the consequences of the commitment to these principles. This kind of analysis requires detailed study of a large corpus of historical texts. So there is still a lot of work to do for the Historical Pragmatics of controversies.
[i] cf. Fritz (1995), Gloning (1999), Fritz (2003).
[ii] Lists of communication principles for 18th and 19th century controversies in Germany can be found in Goldenbaum (2004, 111f.) and Dieckmann (2005, 118ff.).
[iii] Similar examples from Galileo and other philosophers and scientists are mentioned in Biagioli (1993, 211f.).
Biagioli, M (1993): Galileo courtier. The practice of science in the culture of absolutism. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press.
Beetz, M.(1990): Frühmoderne Höflichkeit. Komplimentierkunst und Gesellschaftsrituale im altdeutschen Sprachraum. Stuttgart: Metzler.
Beetz, M. (1999): The polite answer in pre-modern German conversation culture. In: A.H. Jucker, G. Fritz & F. Lebsanft (Eds.): Historical dialogue analysis (pp. 111-166). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins.
Dieckmann, W. (2005): Streiten über das Streiten. Normative Grundlagen polemischer Metakommunikation. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Dascal, M. (1995): Strategies of dispute and ethics: Du tort and La place d’autruy. In: Proceedings of the VI. Internationaler Leibniz-Kongress, vol. 2 (Hannover 18-23 July 1994), pp. 108-116.
Eemeren, F.H. van & Grootendorst, R. (1993): The history of the argumentum ad hominem since the seventeenth century. In: E.C.W. Krabbe, R.J. Dalitz & P.A. Smit (Eds.): Empirical Logic and Public Debate. Essays in Honour of Else M. Barth (pp. 49-68, Ch. 4), A,sterdam/Atlanta: Rodopi.
Eemeren, F.H. van, Grootendorst, R. & Snoek Henkemans, F. (2002): Argumentation: Analysis. Evaluation. Presentation. Mahwah, N.J./London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
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Francke, A.W. (1706): Aufrichtige und gründliche Beantwortung Eines an ihn abgelassenen und hiebey abgedruckten Send-Schreibens […]. Halle: Gedruckt im Waysenhause. In: E. Peschke (Ed.)(1981): A.W. Francke: Schriften und Predigten. Bd. I: Streitschriften (pp. 231-263), Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.
Francke, August Hermann: Gründliche und Gewissenhaffte Verantwortung gegen Hn. D. Johann Friedrich Mayers […] harte und unwahrhaffte Beschuldigungen […]. In: E. Peschke (Ed.)(1981): A.W. Francke: Schriften und Predigten. Bd. I: Streitschriften (pp. 265-381), Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.
Fritz, G. (1995): Topics in the history of dialogue forms. In: A.H. Jucker (Ed.): Historical Pragmatics (pp. 469-498), Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins.
Fritz, G. (2001): Remarks on the pragmatic form of the Hobbes-Bramhall controversy. In: M. Dascal, G. Fritz, Th. Gloning, Y. Senderowicz (Eds.): Controversies in the République des Lettres. Technical Report 1 : The Hobbes-Bramhall Controversy (pp. 5-24), Tel Aviv.
Fritz, G. (2003): Dialogical structures in 17th century controversies. In: Bondi, M. & Stati, S. (Eds.): Dialogue Analysis 2000 (pp. 199-208). Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Fritz, G. (2005): On answering accusations in controversies. Studies in Communication Sciences