COGNITIVE ASPECT OF COUNTERARGUMENTATION
Counterargumentation in disputes is viewed as a heuristic tool in the process of resolving a difference of opinion and a rational way to resist an attempt of persuasion. The article focuses on «coalescent argumentation» originated by M.A. Gilbert. The Gilbertian approach claims that counterargumentation is a means to understand one's own and one's antagonist's positions. This suggestion allows to analyze counterargumentation as a phenomenon closely related to distributed cognition.