General Argument Rules. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. Distinguish premises and conclusion. Present your idea in natural order. Start from reliable premises. Be concrete and concise. Avoid loaded language. Use consistent terms. Stick to one meaning for each term. Give more than one example. Use representative samples. Background information is crucial. Consider counter examples. Analogy requires a relevantly similar example. Sources should be cited. Seek informed sources. Seek impartial sources. Cross check sources. Personal attacks do not qualify a source. Explain how cause leads to effect. Propose the most likely cause. Correlated events are not necessarily related. Correlated events may have a common cause. Either of two correlated events may cause the other. Causes may be complex. Modus Ponens. Modus Tollens Hypothetical Syllogism. Disjunctive Syllogism. Dilemma. Reductio ad absurdum. Deductive arguments in several steps.

Types of Argument. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Argument by Example. Argument by analogy. Argument by authority. Argument by causes. Deductive arguments.