Introducing abstract reasoning: reader position and writer argument across disciplines

the article explores differences across academic disciplines from a text pragmatics point of view by looking at ways these disciplines may differ in the manner they constitute or represent their object of knowledge, and by asking how these differences in turn affect persuasive strategies instantiated in the texts. The analysis has as its basic object contemporary research articles from four academic disciplines, two from the so-called 'hard' or exact sciences - unified physics and molecular biology - and two from the 'soft' or social sciences - economics and business management.