In legal argumentation, dissensus is the point of departure, consensus the endpoint. However, the relationship between dissensus and consensus in argumentation is more complex than it looks at first sight. First, a fruitful debate presupposes not only a difference of opinion, but also commonalities of meaning and corresponding rationality criteria, that is, consensus or common ground. Second, legal argumentation does not always result in consensus. It also explicates and refines differences o...