Argumentation (ahr-gyuh-men-teyshun) Noun. A gathering of historians, so named because of the contentious nature of their debates. 

How does history work? This question has fascinated thinkers since the earliest days of civilization, and exerts a powerful unseen influence on our politics, spirituality, and self-image. Concepts about the nature, purpose, and direction of history shape seemingly random collections of names, dates, and events into tools that help us to understand the world around us; and sometimes even to destroy it.

Argumentation is a tool in the form of a storytelling card game that allows players to examine various theories of history. It is GM-less, for three to six players, requires no preparation, and take two to four hours. Players take on the role of underpaid instructors at a poorly funded liberal arts college, drinking burnt coffee in the faculty lounge and arguing about the nature of history between classes. They pose a series of great historical questions to one another, some counterfactual, others more abstract, which are answered using a selection of framing cards representing theories about the nature and function of the historical process. These include historical materialism, classical realism, dialectic idealism, Whig historiography, great man theory, paradigm shift, the fourth turning, negative conquest theory, and many others. Gameplay functions on a mixture of original rules, Apples-To-Apples mechanics, and inspiration drawn from Alex Roberts’ For The Queen.

As part of the open and collaborative nature of this project, the author (me) has left seven cards unfilled at launch with the intention of allowing you the backers to submit suggestions for framing and question cards. Please feel free to do so. If your suggestion is used, you will receive credit on the card. Additionally, the current rough version of the game has been made available electronically for free so that you can download it, critique it, and offer constructive comments (suggestions from professional historians will be particularly appreciated). All input offered in good faith will be received in good faith.

Below is a longer form video in which I explain the thought that went into the game, and why I feel the project to be important. I share my thoughts on why the models of history we embrace shape our views on politics, culture, and the nature of reality as we experience it through the cultural and intellectual frameworks we exist within.

You can access a free zip file containing a "rough cut" version of Argumentation including a print-and-play deck, tuck box, the video linked above, and some notes from the High Rock Press website HERE.  The final version will be cleaned up, have some different images, and will also have suggestions made by backers integrated into it which best support the project's goal of creating an experience that helps the players examine what they think about how history works.

The final version of this project will include four original images of important figures who have contributed to the philosophy of history created by Celina M Castaneda at CMC Fine Art & Illustration. Below is an excellent example of her work: a drawing of author Robert Anton Wilson, the godfather of the Conspiracy! theory of history.

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UPDATE 2025-03-20

Today I’d like to show you another piece of original artwork from Celina M Castaneda of CMC Fine Art & Illustration. It’s a depiction of E.H. Carr (1892-1982) A British historian, diplomat, journalist.

From the game: “An international relations expert, Carr believed that historical information fell into two categories: ‘facts of the past’ that historians deem unimportant, and ‘historical facts’ that they consider important. Historians then arbitrarily determine which ‘facts of the past’ to turn into ‘historical facts,’ based on their own biases and agendas. This is so self-evidently true that academics have dedicated decades of effort to disproving it.”

Carr is considered to be the father of Classical Realism.

From the game: “History is a product of the present. All knowledge of the past is experienced through our perceptions of reading it and, as the histories we read are mostly translated, tell us as much about the translator as the historian. Thus historians are always manufacturing the past in service to the present by selecting facts which suit their biases and agendas with witch to construct it. “

UPDATE 2025-03-23

Today I’d once again like to show you another piece of original artwork from Celina M Castaneda of CMC Fine Art & Illustration. It’s an amazing depiction of American author and consultant Neil Howe. Uniquely among the historical figures mentioned in this game, he's still with us.

From the game: "An American author, demographer, and businessman, Howe is one of the people who carefully reads the federal government's annual budgetary reports. Which may be why he doesn't sleep at night. The only living intellectual to receive praise from both Steve Bannon and Al Gore, Howe has spent his lifetime studying how generational shifts shape attitudes, behavior, and history. Which makes him surprisingly difficult to argue with.

Howe is one of the fathers of The Fourth Turning.

From the game: "History exists in sequential repeating patterns derived from generational shifts, all taking place within the span of a single long human lifetime. There are four, with each "season" being roughly 20 years long and symbolized by a generational archetype: High [Spring/Prophet], Awakening [Summer/Nomad], Unraveling [Autumn/Hero], and Crisis [Winter/Artist]."

UPDATE 2025-03-25

Greetings everyone! Here is the last of the original artwork I've commissioned, like the rest from Celina M Castaneda of CMC Fine Art & Illustration. It’s a yet another amazing depiction, this time of American paleontologist, snail biologist, and historian of science Stephen Jay Gould.

From the game: "An evolutionary biologist, paleontologist, snail geneticist, historian of science, and professor of zoology at Harvard University. Her argued that in history as in evolution there is no inherent progress, and that humanity is not inevitably marching toward anything better than what it had before. Most people disagree with Gould, while doing their very best to prove him right."

Gould represents the view that history has no direction or pattern. 

From the game: "There is no pattern to history. Periods of accomplishment are followed by periods of decay. 'Progress' is mostly a myth; there is nothing inevitable about it. The simple passage of time improves nothing. Does your room become clean because you patiently stare at it?"