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ANALYSING ARGUMENTS
Engineering a culture of
ReasoningUNIT 2
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Outline
Identifying Arguments
Arguments and Nonarguments
Well-Crafted ArgumentsArgument Diagrams
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Arguments
An argument is a set of statement s wheresome of the statement s, called the premises,are intended to support another, called the
conclusion Premises and conclusions are distinct complete
statements that are either true or false.
They may be found in any number and in any
location in a passage or utterance. Be careful since a complete sentence may contain
more than one complete statement.
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Notice three important things that follow
from this definition:
1.Arguments consist entirely of statements, i.e., sentencesthat it makes sense to regard as either true or false.
Questions, commands, exclamations, and other kinds of
nonstatements cannot be parts of arguments. (Keep in
mind, however, that rhetorical questions should be
treated as statements.)
2. No single statement, however long, complex, or
controversial, is an argument. Arguments always consist
of at least two statements.
3. Nothing counts as an argument unless it is claimed orintended that one statement followsfromone or more
other statements in the passage. In other words, a
passage is an argument only if the speaker or writer
intends to offerevidence orreasons why another
statement should be accepted as true.
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Nonarguments
Five kinds of passages that are sometimes confused witharguments (Unsupported Assertions) are:
Reports Set of statements intended to provide information
about a situation, topic or event.
Illustrations Statements together with explanatory or clarifying
examples.
Explanatory Statements
Statements that provide a causal or other reason forsome phenomenon
Conditional Statements If then statements
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Example
Thirteen years ago Jamaica's crime rate was high, but stillnowhere near the horrendous levels that it has now reached.A record number of people were killed in Jamaica last year,police said, confirming the island's reputation as havingone of the world's highest murder rates. The majority of the1,680 killingssix more than the previous record set in 2005
involved victims of drug and extortion gangs. Most wereshootings. Therefore there possibility of being murdered in
Jamaica have increased rapidly over the last decade .
ARGUMENT
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Example
The Jamaican economy recorded growth of 0.7 per cent
during the third quarter of 2009, this was due mainly to a
1.7 per cent increase in the Goods Producing industries.
The economy however declined by 2.3 per cent whencompared to the similar quarter in 2008. Both the Goods
Producing and Services industries declined by 8.7 per cent
and 0.2 per cent respectively.
REPORT
Conveying information about the economy
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Example
Prime numbers are divisible only themselves and one. For
example, 3, 5, 7, and 11 are prime numbers
Jamaica continues to face a variety of development
challenges. For instance, the nation struggles with a
persistent fiscal deficit, heavy indebtedness and a high
crime rate. USAID
Non argument s- The passage is intended to illustrate theauthor's claim, rather than to prove it. An illustration is a
passage intended to provide examples that illustrate or
support a claim, not to provide convincing evidence that the
claim is true
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Example
"Jamaica has missed numerous opportunities to make
necessary adjustments because of the politics of
opportunism,"
Capitalpunishment should be abolished since
innocent people may be mistakenly executed
EXPLANATORY STATEMENS -show why something is the case, not
to prove that it is the case
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Example
If Jamaica was serious about education, then teachers
would be the highest paid in our society.
(Wilmot 'Mutty' Perkins)
If Jamaica's economic programme is designed to maintainrelative exchange rate stability while lowering interest rates,
then fiscal adjustment is unavoidable. (Colin Bullock)
The speaker isn't asserting that A or B will happen, he isasserting that B will occur provided thatan event has
already occurred. It is also a non argument because
arguments always contain at least two statements and
conditional statements consist of only a single statement
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Well-Crafted Arguments
A WCA is an argument that is stated in
such a way that its important logical
features are explicit.
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Well-Crafted Argument Principles:
1. Identify the Premises and the Conclusion.
2. Eliminate excess verbiage (words and statementswhich add nothing to the argument).
3. Employ uniform language.
4. Be fair and charitable in interpreting anargument.
5. Do not confuse subconclusions with finalconclusions.
6. Make implicit premises explicit in a charitableway.
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1. Identify the Premises & the
Conclusion
Premises of an argument are statements on
the basis of which the conclusion is affirmed
Statements are sentences or parts of a
sentences that are either true or false
Premise indicators are words that typically
followed by a premise
Conclusion indicators are words that are
typically followed by a conclusion
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Premises & Conclusion Indicators
Since Because
for/for one thing
for the reason that
follows from
inasmuch as as shown by
given that
seeing that
owing to seeing that
as/as indicated by
assuming that
considering that
therefore hence
thus/ergo
so
follows that
consequently
which entails that
which proves that
which implies that
necessarily must be the case that
which means that
demonstrates that
we can conclude that as a result
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Example: Premises & Conclusion
We should abolish the death penalty because it does not
deter crime.
conclusion: we should abolish the death penalty
premise: the death penalty does not deter crime)
Words like because and since are always
followed by a premise.
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2. Eliminate Excess Verbiage
Excess verbiage is a word or statement that adsnothing to the argument
Four types:
Discounts
Repetition
Assurances
Hedges
Ignore discounts excess verbiage
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Discounts
Discount is an acknowledgement of a fact orpossibility that might be thought to render theargument invalid, weak, unsound, or uncogent
Ignore discount such as:
although while it may be true that
even though while I admit that
despite the fact that in spite of the fact that
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Example - Discount
Although certain events in the subatomic realm occur at
random, I still say that the universe as a whole displays a
marvelous order. Perhaps the best evidence for this is the
fact that scientists continue to discover regularities thatcan be formulated as laws.
Premises: The universe as a whole has a
marvelous order.
Conclusion: Scientists continue to discoverregularities that can be formulated as laws.
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Repetition
Restating premises and conclusions usingslightly different language
When rewriting the argument, choose thestatement that best seems to capture the essenceof the claim, and ignore the other version.
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Example - Repetition
The study of logic will increase both yourattention span and your patience with difficultconcepts. In other words, if you apply yourself
to the subject of logic, youll find yourself ableto concentrate for longer periods of time. Youwill also find yourself increasingly able to
approach complex material without feelingrestless or frustrated Therefore, a course inlogic is well worth the effort.
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Assurance
Assurance -words or phrases to indicate a highconfidence in the truth of the premises orconclusion. Some common assurances are:
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obviously the fact is that
clearly it is undeniable that
no one will deny that it is well known that
no doubt everyone knows that
no one will deny that
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Example: Assurance
Sarah will do well on the logic test, for she is bright and
has obviously studied very hard.
Premises:
Sarah is bright.
Sarah has studies very hard.
Conclusion:
Sarah will do well on the test.
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Hedges
indicates either a tentativeness about a premiseor inference (the opposite of an assurance)
Some common hedges are:
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I think that I guess that
it seems that in my opinion
perhaps it is reasonable to suppose that
Maybe it is plausible that
I believe that this seems reasonable
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ExampleHedges
In my opinion, it is wrong to kill animals for food.
Therefore, we should all be vegetarians.
Premises: It is wrong to kill animals for food.
Conclusion: We should all be vegetarians.
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Exception for Assurances &
Hedges Sometimes assurances and assurances cannot be
dropped from an argument because it contributeto the validity, strength, soundness of cogency
of the argument. E. g.
1. If it seems to me that I am in pain, then I am inpain
2. It seems to me that I am in pain
So, I am in pain
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3. Employ Uniform Language
There should be a logical link b/t the premisesand conclusion of an argument
1. God is love.
2. Love is blind.
3. Ray Charles is blind.
Thus, God is Ray Charles.The linkage b/t premises and conclusion is
obscured in this case
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3. Employ Uniform Language
Stick with one term throughout the argument asto highlight the logical form of reasoning (seeexample on page 79)
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4. Be Fair A fair reconstruction will be loyal to the
authors original meaning Consider an argument:
1. Morality is objective only if God exists.2. Morality is objective.3. So, God exists.
Now consider this unfair rendition:1. If Morality is objective then an invisible space ghost
exists.2. Morality is objective.3. So, an invisible space ghost exists.
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4. Be charitable
The basic idea: when confronted with aninterpretative choice, it is best to pick theinterpretation that best preserves the rationality
of the author. example (pg 80):
Oh, yes, we are all deeply appreciative of the fulland accurate information from our government
during the Vietnam War. So, how can anyonedoubt that we received full and accurateinformation during the war in the Persian Gulf?
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4. Be charitable
well-crafted:
1. Americans did not receive accurate informationfrom their government
2. during the Vietnam War.
3. So, Americans probably did not receiveaccurate information from their governmentduring the war in the Persian Gulf.
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Argument Diagrams
4.An argument may have several premises that
jointly support the conclusion.
5. An argument may have several premises, each
separately supporting the conclusion.
6. It may contain a series of premises, the 1stsupporting the 2nd and the 2nd supporting the
conclusion which could be the 3rd statement.
Example:
1. 1[Campaign reform is needed] because 2[many contributionsto political campaigns are morally equivalent to bribes.]
2
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Argument Diagrams
In the diagram above, the arrow is drawn downfrom premise to conclusion.
The arrow means; (1), the conclusion, is
affirmed, on the basis of (2), the premise. In other words, (2) is given as support for (1).
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Argument Diagrams
Premise, sub-conclusion and conclusion
Example
1[Charles is unpleasant to work with] since 2[he
interrupts people constantly.] Therefore, 3[I donot want to serve on a committee with Charles.]
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1
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Argument Diagrams
Premise, sub-conclusion and conclusion.Example
- The diagram above says that premise (2)supports (1), the sub-conclusion and (1) is givenin support of (3).
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Argument Diagrams Arguments Sometimes two or more premises provide
independent support for a single conclusion:Example:
- Although 1[Americans like to think they have interfered with
other countries only to defend the downtrodden andhelpless], 2[there are undeniably aggressive episodes inAmericas history.] For example, 3[the USA took Texas fromMexico by force.] 4[The USA seized Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and
Guam.] And 5[in the 1st third of the 20th century, the USAintervened militarily in all of the following countries withoutbeing invited to do so: Cuba, Nicaragua, Guatemala, theDominican Republic, Haiti, and Honduras.]
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Argument Diagrams
The diagram is as follows:
3 4 5
2 NB: Statement (1) is omitted as it is a
discount and so it is neither premise nor
conclusion.
The premises support the conclusion
independently.
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Argument Diagrams
Statements joined by the words and or but
of ten need to be separated into distinct unitsfor diagramming.
Whenever the word and joins two premises,
the diagram must indicate whether the premisesoperate independently or interdependently.
Example:1[The defendant is guilty.] After all, 2[he confessed
to stealing the jewels] and 3[he was undoubtedlypresent at the scene of the crime] since 4[his
fingerprints are on the safe.] 38
A Di
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Argument Diagrams
Interdependent Premises: Below
4
2 3
1
The diagram indicates that premises (2) and (3)support conclusion (1) independently. Inaddition, (4) supports (3) but not (2).
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Summary1. The principles of WCA are used to help you
detect faults and problems with arguments.2. The principles of WCA enables you to see the
content of the argument more clearly.
3. By observing these principles in craftingarguments enables you to distinguish betweenarguments and non-arguments.
4. Argument diagrams help the reader or thelistener to identify the logical connectionsbetween statements and propositions in an
argument. 40
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Summary
Argument diagrams helps the reader and listenerto determine what ads value to the argument.and what statements detract from the value of it.
With the aid of argument diagrams the reader orlistener is more able to analyze and meticulouslyexamine the argument to determine validity and
invalidity. The diagrams help the reader or listener to
identify and discard verbiages such as discounts,hedges, assurances and so on.