Exam 1: An Introduction to Arguments

In your own words, explain the difference between an argument and an explanation, being sure to give a definition of each.

All arguments include at least one premise indicator or conclusion indicator.

Consider the following argument: "Since humpback whale mothers nurse their young, humpback whales are mammals. Therefore, humpback whales are not fish." The claim that "humpback whales are mammals" is:

Consider the following argument: "There's a giant plot hole in the Disney version of The Little Mermaid. In the movie, Ariel signs her name on a contract with the sea witch Ursula. That shows that she knows how to write. She could easily have written a letter to Prince Eric to explain the situation, at which point he would have kissed her and avoided a lot of drama. But she never does this." The claim that "there's a giant plot hole in the Disney version of The Little Mermaid" is:

Early on the morning of November 9, 1979, the U.S. national security adviser received a phone call warning that the Soviet Union had launched nuclear missiles at the United States. Just before he called President Carter, the national security adviser received a second phone call from the base that had detected the attack, saying, "There is no emergency because it was a false alarm caused by a computer error." The second caller gave the national security adviser:

An argument that satisfies the acceptability, relevance, and sufficiency criteria is cogent, but it may not be sound.

An argument always includes:

A "claim" is any statement that can be

Argument analysis is the process of identifying the parts of an argument and figuring out how they relate to one another.

An argument is:

The Catholic philosopher Saint Thomas Aquinas offered the following argument for God's existence: Some things have causes. Since nothing can cause itself, each thing that has a cause must be caused by something else. But if everything had a cause, then the chain of causes would go on forever. It is impossible for the chain of causes to go on forever. Therefore, there must be something that can cause other things but is not caused by anything else. That uncaused cause is God. In this argument, the claim that "it is impossible for the chain of causes to go on forever" is:

Consider this argument, adapted from the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: "God must have created the best possible world because God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good. God created this world. Therefore, this world is the best possible world." Rewrite that argument as a numbered list of claims, clearly indicating which claim is the conclusion.

An argument is cogent if:

A premise is relevant to a conclusion if it is true relative to the audience's beliefs.

What are the three criteria for evaluating an argument? Explain each criterion in your own words.

Supporting a premise with an argument is not a way to make the premise acceptable.

Many words that are used as premise indicators are also used for other purposes.

Consider this argument, adapted from the Chinese philosopher Mencius: "Each person naturally has feelings of compassion for others. If a person cultivates those feelings of compassion, he or she will become a good person. Therefore, people can become good simply by cultivating their natural feelings." Rewrite that argument as a numbered list of claims, clearly indicating which claim is the conclusion.

A premise can be acceptable to an audience even if the audience doesn't actually accept it.

Whether something is an argument or explanation depends only on the claims used and not on the intentions of the person stating those claims.