What is Strategic in Strategic Maneuvering?

Since the late 1990s, the Amsterdam school of Pragma-Dialectics has extended its theory of a critical discussion by the integration of the concept of « strategic maneuvering ». The aim of that extension was to bridge the gap between dialectic and rhetoric by the integration of a rhetorical dimension into the dialectical framework. Three main aspects of strategic maneuvering are explicitly addressed: argumentative choices from topical potential, adaptation to audience demand, and the employment of presentational devices. The article takes a closer look at the martial metaphor of strategic maneuvering. Examining the meaning and history of both « strategy » and « maneuvering » as well as the differences between strategy and tactics, it describes the positioning of each of the three aspects within the rhetorical system and the hierarchy between strategy and tactics. It thus shows how the choice of this metaphor frames the entire theory, and how the interpretation of fallacies as « derailments » of strategic maneuverings modifies the original pragma-dialectical concept. It turns out that the incorporation of strategic maneuvering into the pragma-dialectical system may itself be a strategy meant to immunize the theory against criticism.