Commentary on: Steven Patterson\u27s Are arguments abstract objects

In “Are arguments abstract objects”, Steven Patterson first motivates the issue of the nature of arguments with some comments on my “Is argument subject to the product/process ambiguity?” He then turns to presenting and criticizing Simard-Smith and Moldovan’s account of arguments found in their “Arguments as abstract objects”. In the last section he explores an analogy between works of music and arguments that motivates him to propose treating ‘argument’ as an open concept. In what follows I will very briefly address some minor issues with his criticisms, but then focus most of my attention on his analogy and his resulting proposal