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ArgMap : Structuring academic arguments as symmetric monoidal categories

Tjøstheim, Trond A. LU (2026) In CogNotes
Abstract
Notation frameworks have long existed to help structure propositional logic, and to map out philosophical arguments. Similar frameworks exist for outlining long texts and scaffolding manuscript drafting. These frameworks are helpful in structuring texts and developing drafts, yet can still leave the draft with hidden incoherence. To address this gap I propose ArgMap, a notation system based on category theory that explicitly models a reader’s knowledge state and casts claims as processes, or morphisms, that operate on, and change those reader states. The notation enriches claims with types (Empirical, Theoretical, Review, or Bare), and supports workflow status indeces (stub, drafted, cited, complete). The underlying categorical model is... (More)
Notation frameworks have long existed to help structure propositional logic, and to map out philosophical arguments. Similar frameworks exist for outlining long texts and scaffolding manuscript drafting. These frameworks are helpful in structuring texts and developing drafts, yet can still leave the draft with hidden incoherence. To address this gap I propose ArgMap, a notation system based on category theory that explicitly models a reader’s knowledge state and casts claims as processes, or morphisms, that operate on, and change those reader states. The notation enriches claims with types (Empirical, Theoretical, Review, or Bare), and supports workflow status indeces (stub, drafted, cited, complete). The underlying categorical model is presented along with the notation; a full worked example is provided in the appendix. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
argument structuring, applied category theory, outlining, argumentation, academic writing
in
CogNotes
issue
2
pages
23 pages
publisher
Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology, Lund University
ISSN
3119-3846
project
Cognitive Philosophy Research Group
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f337c36a-f414-4257-b33a-5a06f9fceff5
alternative location
https://cogphi.org/onewebmedia/CogNotes2.pdf
date added to LUP
2026-08-30 11:31:11
date last changed
2026-09-29 08:38:00
@misc{f337c36a-f414-4257-b33a-5a06f9fceff5,
  abstract     = {{Notation frameworks have long existed to help structure propositional logic, and to map out philosophical arguments. Similar frameworks exist for outlining long texts and scaffolding manuscript drafting. These frameworks are helpful in structuring texts and developing drafts, yet can still leave the draft with hidden incoherence. To address this gap I propose ArgMap, a notation system based on category theory that explicitly models a reader’s knowledge state and casts claims as processes, or morphisms, that operate on, and change those reader states. The notation enriches claims with types (Empirical, Theoretical, Review, or Bare), and supports workflow status indeces (stub, drafted, cited, complete). The underlying categorical model is presented along with the notation; a full worked example is provided in the appendix.}},
  author       = {{Tjøstheim, Trond A.}},
  issn         = {{3119-3846}},
  keywords     = {{argument structuring; applied category theory; outlining; argumentation; academic writing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology, Lund University}},
  series       = {{CogNotes}},
  title        = {{ArgMap : Structuring academic arguments as symmetric monoidal categories}},
  url          = {{https://cogphi.org/onewebmedia/CogNotes2.pdf}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}