Scribd
Upload
30 views14 pages

What Is An Argument

The document discusses the concepts of logic, arguments, premises, conclusions and what does and does not constitute an argument. It provides definitions and examples of statements, premises, conclusions, conditional statements, reports, unsupported assertions and explanations and how they relate to arguments.

Uploaded by

Dawar Raza
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
30 views14 pages

What Is An Argument

The document discusses the concepts of logic, arguments, premises, conclusions and what does and does not constitute an argument. It provides definitions and examples of statements, premises, conclusions, conditional statements, reports, unsupported assertions and explanations and how they relate to arguments.

Uploaded by

Dawar Raza
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 14

What is logic?

The science of reasoning


Finding the criterion for evaluating good reasoning
from bad reasoning.
Evaluating arguments and methods of reasoning.
What is an argument?
Statement or proposition
A statement is a sentence that can be viewed as either true
or false. Here are some examples of statements:
Red is a color.
Lahore is in South Punjab.
God exists.
killing is morally wrong.
Non-statements
Here are some examples of sentences that are not statements:
What time is it? (question)
Hi, Dad! (greeting)
Close the window! (command)
Please send me your current catalogue. (request)
Let’s go to Paris for our anniversary. (proposal)
Insert tab A into slot B. (instruction)
Oh, my goodness! (exclamation)

None of these is a statement because none of them asserts or denies that


anything is the case. None says, in effect, “This is a fact. Accept this; it is
true.” Consequently, sentences like these are not parts of arguments.
Argument
Arguments are composed of one or more premises
and a conclusion.
Premises are statements in an argument offered as
evidence or reasons why we should accept another
statement, the conclusion.
 The conclusion is the statement in an argument that
the premises are intended to prove or support.
An argument, accordingly, is a group of
statements, one or more of which (called the
premises) are intended to prove or support another
statement (called the conclusion).
IDENTIFYING PREMISES AND CONCLUSIONS
Premise indicators:
since because, for given that
seeing that, considering that
In as much as, as
in view of the fact that, as indicated by
judging from, on account of
Examples
Having fun can be the spice of life but not its main course,
because when it is over, nothing of lasting value remains.
Women are not by any means to blame when they reject the
rules of life, which have been introduced into the world, seeing
that it is men who have made them without their consent.ins.
Conclusion indicators
conclusion indicators:
therefore thus
hence consequently
so accordingly
it follows that, for this reason
that is why, which shows that
Wherefore, this implies that
as a result, this suggests that
Examples
Rapid economic improvements represent a life-or-death
imperative throughout the Third World. Its people will not be
denied that hope, no matter the environmental costs. As a
result, that choice must not be forced upon them.
Your life is what your thoughts make it. That is why it is
important for all of us to guard our minds from unhealthy
habits of thinking, habits that hold us back from what we could
be accomplishing.
complications
I haven’t seen you since high school.
You’ve had that jacket for as long as I’ve known you.
Thus far everything has been great.
It was so cold that even the ski resorts shut down.
I wouldn’t mind seeing that movie again.
There is water on the floor because the sink overflowed.

I can’t be completely responsible for my life. After all, there are


many factors outside my control, people and forces that create
obstacles and undermine my efforts. And we are subject to pressures
and influences from within ourselves: feelings of greed, fear of death,
altruistic impulses, sexual compulsions, need for social acceptance,
and so on.
WHAT IS NOT AN ARGUMENT?
Reports: The purpose of a report is simply to convey
information about a subject.
In this passage, the authors are simply reporting a series of
events; their aim is to narrate and inform, not to offer reasons
why one statement should be accepted on the basis of others.
Unsupported assertions: are statements about what a
speaker or writer happens to believe. Such statements can be
true or false, rational or irrational, but they are parts of
arguments only if the speaker or writer claims that they follow
from, or support, other claims.
WHAT IS NOT AN ARGUMENT?
A conditional statement is an if-then statement.
Conditional statements are not arguments, because there is no
claim that
any statement follows from any part of a conditional statement.
Thus, if I say, “If it rains, the picnic will be cancelled,” I’m not
asserting either that it will rain or that the picnic will be
cancelled. I’m only asserting that if the first statement is true,
the second statement will also be true. Because there is no
claim that any statement follows from, or supports, this
conditional statement, no argument has been given.
WHAT IS NOT AN ARGUMENT?
Illustrations are intended to provide examples of a claim,
rather than prove or support the claim.
Its purpose is not to provide convincing evidence for a
conclusion but merely to provide a few notable or
representative examples of a claim.
WHAT IS NOT AN ARGUMENT?
Explanations Consider the following two statements:
Titanic sank because it struck an iceberg.
Capital punishment should be abolished because innocent
people may be mistakenly executed

On the surface, these two statements look very much alike.
Both give reasons, and both use the indicator word because.
There is, however, an important difference between the two:
The first statement is an explanation, and the second is an
argument..

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy