This is the user manual for the collaborative argumentation system Pacisco.  Arguments are structured using a variant of the Toulmin model.  They may be rated for plausibility and analysed to identify controversy and inconsistency.

For background on the Pacisco system, select the menu item Pacisco above.

For information on entering arguments using the Pacisco Escritoire interface, select the menu item Escritoire\Writing above.

“Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man”

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Of Studies, 1625

“To fix the thoughts by writing, and subject them to frequent examinations and reviews, is the best method of enabling the mind to detect its own sophisms, and keep it on guard against the fallacies which it practises on others: in conversation we naturally diffuse our thoughts, and in writing we contract them; method is the excellence of writing, and unconstraint the grace of conversation.”

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) On Studies, 1753