 Effective argumentation is a central part of critical thinking and the topic of our last section to the course. Although the term argumentation today has negative connotations, it was once considered one of the highest pursuits. As we touched upon previously, argumentation is a process whereby divergent ideas or opinions are brought into contact and interact with the intention of inferring a conclusive single global outcome. Arguments can take two basic forms, fights or debates, depending on whether they're based on force or the process of reasoning. In this section, we will explore both rational and non-rational arguments. As we'll see, in its most constructive form, the principal purpose of argumentation is to serve as a means of collective judgment and decision making and hence an important means of governance. Argumentation also is a way of knowing, as we decide what we believe through the testing of different claims and argumentation helps to achieve the goals of a democratic society by cultivating the skills of critical thinking, reflexive judgement and active participation as vital to the maintenance of a robust society. The process of the primary use of cognition within the individual is for them to make decisions and act, the same goes for groups of people. Groups and whole societies need to use their knowledge base and means of communication to deliberate and generate decisions about important issues that affect all. This happens through the process of argumentation, whether it's scientists trying to come to the best theory, a family trying to resolve an issue, a political system trying to make a collective decision or a group of people debating a contentious issue. Argumentation is a pervasive phenomena in all societies and understanding its basic workings is of great significance both for the individual and for society at large.