Summary: This is part of one of a longer essay entitled, "Making Sense with Pleasure in the Age of the Argument." This part focuses on establishing what I mean by the Age of the Argument—and what I mean by an argument. An argument is not based on proof. In fact, arguments begin where proof leaves off. If there's proof, there's nothing to argue about! Arguments assemble data and the relations between all the data points. They slice and dice the world—inevitably ignoring most of the world—and create a little engine that makes sense. That's what arguments offer—not certainty, not proof, not truth, but sense. Sense is a local shape of things, a way things can hang together. It is a nebulous form but a form nonetheless. Arguments don't lack certainty. They're just not interested in it as certainty is impossible (in this case). It's not that we're uncertain; it's that we're a-certainty. So how do we make decisions without a ground? That's part 2! Hold tight!
