Arguments and Argumentation
Key Concepts
- Logic:
the study of methods for constructing and evaluating inferences.
- Inference:
a movement in thought from one idea to another, on the grounds that the former somehow supports or grounds the latter.
- Argument:
the representation of an inference, usually (but not necessarily) in spoken or written language.
Parts of Arguments
- Premises:
statements or reasons being put forward to support the conclusion.
- Conclusion:
the main claim or the "point" of the inference being expressed in the argument
Image: Gears, by Kaushik.chug, CC-A-SA 3.0
Evaluating Arguments
Relevance
Sufficiency
Acceptability
Relevance
- Premises are relevant to a conclusion when they bear some evidential weight towards it.
- Each premise must be individually assessed for relevance to the conclusion.
- Keep in mind that relevance is a contextual judgment, and that the relevance of one premise may be tied to that of another.
Sufficiency
The premises of an argument are said to be sufficient when there is an appropriate logical connection between the premises and the conclusion.
Two basic standards we can use are VALIDITY and COGENCY.
In a VALID Argument
The logical connection between the premises and the conclusion is so strong that IF ALL the premises are TRUE, then the conclusion MUST be TRUE, too.
The logical connection between the premises and the conclusion is good enough so that IF ALL the premises are TRUE, then the conclusion is LIKELY (but not guaranteed!) to be true too.
In a COGENT Argument
Acceptability
- Just as Sufficiency applies ONLY to logical structure, Acceptability applies ONLY to confidence in the premises.
-
A premise is acceptable when there is good reason to believe that it is true, and little or no reason to believe that it is false.
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Premises that are known to be true are automatically
acceptable.
Argumentation
The mutual giving, consideration, analysis, and evaluation of arguments between two or more parties.
Argumentation IS:
- giving reasons for one's positions
- questioning the positions of others
- responding to others' questions of one's own position
- attempting to persuade others, through reasons, arguments and/or evidence
Argumentation is NOT...
- any shouting or angry behavior
- belittling the positions or ideas of others
- behaving in an unduly offensive manner
- attempting to hurt others emotionally
- maliciously attempting to make others lose social standing just to hurt them
Argumentation is really about rational persuasion.
Rational persuasion is the attempt to get others to accept a claim by appeal to the reasons and evidence that support the claim, instead of appealing to emotions (like sympathy, anger, fear etc.), selfishness, wishful thinking, or by exploiting one's own status as an authority, etc..
Argumentation vs. Debate
Most debates contain arguments and at least some argumentation, but not every instance of argumentation is a debate!
Debates have:
- an audience
- judges
- winners and losers
Being Good at Argumentation Means
- Being able to create arguments that are relevant to the topic.
- Being able to create arguments that are logically sufficient to support the conclusion.
- Wherever possible, using only premises whose acceptability is clear and evident.
- Being able to express one's arguments in clear, informative language.
- Being fair to those on the other side when asking and answering questions.
- Trying to avoid distorting others' views as a result of one's own biases.
- Being intellectually honest and civil when challenged.
Arguments and Argumentation
By Steven Patterson
Arguments and Argumentation
A VERY basic presentation on arguments and argumentation for an introductory critical thinking class.
