ARGUMENTS

BASIC CONCEPTS
TO ARGUE IS TO ….
TO ARGUE IS TO ….
STATEMENT OF VALUE
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Among all sports, boxing is the most
dehumanizing.
Cats are smarter than dogs.
The American educational system is in a serious
state of decline.
STATEMENT OF POLICY
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• The internet needs to be censored so that children

do not have access to pornographic material.
• College athletes who do not maintain a B average
should be prohibited from playing any team
sports.
LOGIC

The science that

evaluates arguments
ATTRIBUTES OF A GOOD ARGUMENT
EFFECTIVENESS VS. CREDIBILITY
EXAMPLE ARGUMENTS
WHICH ONE IS CREDIBLE?

All film stars are celebrities. Some film stars are men.
Halle Berry is a film star. Cameron Diaz is a film star.
Therefore, Halle Berry is a Therefore, Cameron Diaz is a
celebrity. man.
IDENTIFY THE PREMISES AND
CONCLUSION OF EACH
ARGUMENT
TYPES OF
ARGUMENTS
DEDUCTIVE VS. INDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS
DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS
Works from a generalization
Applying a proven generalization to a specific case

You reason deductively when you use generalizations

(established inductively and accepted) and a specific
instance (which is a fact) to arrive at a valid conclusion
Conclusion is always true as long as the premises
are true
DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS
The basic pattern of deductive arguments is SYLLOGISM

Generalization (Major Premise): Big cities can be dangerous

Specific instance (Minor Premise): New York is a big city
Conclusion: New York can be dangerous.

Generalization: All men are mortal.

Specific instance: Socrates is a man.
Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.
DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS
Enthymeme:
A syllogism with an implied premise

Generalization: ??????
Specific instance: Herbert is an elephant
Conclusion: Herbert eats peanuts.
INDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS
Moving from specific instances to reach a generalization.

Gathering evidence before drawing a conclusion.

The conclusion is claimed to follow only probably from the

premises.
INDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS
You suffer from a bad case of math anxiety. On registration day,
you are trying to decide on a course to fulfill your math
requirement. After speaking with friends and reviewing your
available evidence, you immediately decide to register for Math 101
with professor Digit .
INDUCTIVE REASONING
You reasoned inductively, from this specific evidence to a generalization.

Your older brother, a poor mathematician but a hard worker, took Professor Digit’s course 2 years
ago, mastered his own anxiety, and earned a B_

Although his course is demanding, Professor Digit is known for being friendly, encouraging, and
for always being willing to help his students.

The students you have talked to all praise Professor Digit’s ability to make math “fun and
understandable”.

Many of Professor Digit’s students go on to take upper-level math courses as electives.

Generalization:
Professor Digit seems to be an excellent math teacher.
SAMPLE ARGUMENT 1
SAMPLE ARGUMENT 2
SAMPLE ARGUMENT 3