Fabrizio Macagno, Ph.D. in Linguistics (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, 2008), is an assistant professor in the Departments of Philosophy and Communication at the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He also serves as the Head of International Relations (Associate Dean) at the institution. His research lies at the intersection of Linguistics and Philosophy of Language, focusing on argumentation schemes (natural patterns of argument), the persuasive power of emotive language, and the implicit dimensions of discourse (e.g., presuppositions).

Dr. Macagno has been instrumental in developing a theoretical framework with Douglas Walton and other colleagues, applying it to empirical studies in medical, educational, and legal discourse. He leads two major research projects: METACARE, a national initiative using discourse analysis and argumentation tools to study communication in diabetes care, and DIALLS, a European project on dialogue and argumentation in the classroom, where he coordinates the Portuguese team.

He has authored numerous articles on topics such as definition, informal fallacies, argumentation schemes, and dialogue theory, published in leading journals including Journal of Pragmatics, Intercultural Pragmatics, Argumentation, Philosophy and Rhetoric, Informal Logic, and Pragmatics and Cognition. His notable books include Argumentation Schemes (Cambridge University Press, 2008), Emotive Language in Argumentation (CUP, 2014), Interpreting Straw Man Argumentation (Springer, 2017), Statutory Interpretation: Pragmatics and Argumentation (CUP, 2021), and The Logic of Academic Writing (Wessex, 2019).

Dr. Macagno’s extensive publications explore the application of logical methods and argumentation theories to enhance communication in critical fields such as education, law, and medical discourse.