Understanding

Arguments
Dr. Ahmad Faraz Khan
What Is Not an Argument?
• Notice three important things that follow from this definition:

 Arguments consist entirely of statements (sentences that it

makes sense to regard as either true or false). Questions,
commands, and other kinds of non-statements cannot be parts of
arguments
(Keep in mind, however, that rhetorical questions should
be treated as statements.).
 No single statement is an argument. Arguments always consist of
at least two statements.

 Nothing counts as an argument unless it is claimed or intended that

one statement follows from one or more other statements in the
passage. In other words, a passage is an argument only if the
speaker or writer intends to offer evidence or reasons why another
statement should be accepted as true.
What Is Not an Argument?
Five kinds of passages that are sometimes confused with arguments are:

Reports A statement or group of statements intended simply

to convey information about a subject.
Unsupported Is a statement or set of statements in which the
statements of belief or speaker or writer expresses his or her personal
opinions opinion, but offers no reasons or evidence to back up
that opinion.
Illustrations Is a passage intended to provide examples that
illustrate or support a claim, not to provide convincing
evidence that the claim is true.
Conditional Statements Is an if-then statement. It is an assertion that such-
and-such is true if something else is true.
Explanations Is a statement or set of statements that seeks to
provide an account of why something has occurred or
why something is the case.
Example: Report

Planet Earth was much drier in the Triassic than it is

now, and there were large deserts in inland areas.
There were no flowering plants or grasses--they
evolved much later. The most common trees were
conifers, similar to today's pines. Other large plants
included yews, ginkgos, and the palmlike cycads.
Moisture-loving ferns and horsetails thrived by lakes
and rivers.

(Philip Whitfield, Simon & Schuster's Children's Guide to Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals, 1992)
Example: Unsupported statements of belief or
opinion

For the person who called and said Larry Bird was
better than Michael Jordan, wake up. No one was
ever better than Michael Jordan, not even Kareem
in his glory and not even Dr. J.

(From a newspaper call-in column)

Example: Illustration

Almost all groups agree in holding other groups to

be inferior to themselves. The American Indians
looked upon themselves as the chosen people,
specially created by the Great Spirit as an
uplifting example for mankind. One Indian tribe
called itself "The Only Men"; another called itself
"Men of Men"; the Caribs said, "We alone are
people."

(Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935)

Example: Conditional Statement

If Aida comes to the wedding then I will

come to the wedding.
Example: Explanation

I speak good English because my parents

encouraged me to practice it everyday.
 Summary
1. Distinguishing Fact = Can be proved or disproved
Fact & Opinion Opinion = Personal Belief

2. What is an Argument? An argument is a claim defended with reasons.

3. Identifying Premises Look for premise indicators that provide clues when
premises are being offered (e.g. because, since, for).
& Conclusions
Look for conclusion indicators that provide clues when
conclusions are being offered (e.g. therefore, thus,
hence, so).
If the passage contains no indicator words, try these
two strategies: 1) Ask yourself, "What claim is the
writer or speaker trying to prove?" That claim will be the
conclusion. 2)Try putting the word "therefore" before
each of the statements in turn. The statement it fits
best will be the conclusion.
4. What Is Not Five kinds of passages that are sometimes confused
with arguments are: Reports, Unsupported statements
an Argument?
of belief or opinions, Illustrations, Conditional
Statements, and Explanations
 Argument or Not an Argument?

When the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of

growth of output and income, as it did in the
nineteenth century and seems quite likely to do again
in the twenty-first, capitalism automatically generates
arbitrary and unsustainable inequalities that radically
undermine the meritocratic values on which
democratic societies are based
 Argument or Not an Argument?
The concrete physical reality of inequality is visible to
the naked eye and naturally inspires sharp but
contradictory political judgments. Peasant and noble,
worker and factory owner, waiter and banker: each
has his or her own unique vantage point and sees
important aspects of how other people live and what
relations of power and domination exist between
social groups, and these observations shape each
person’s judgment of what is and is not just. Hence
there will always be a fundamentally subjective and
psychological dimension to inequality, which inevitably
gives rise to political conflict that no purportedly
scientific analysis can alleviate.
 Argument or Not an Argument?

By the time Marx published the first volume of Capital

in 1867, exactly one half century after the publication
of Ricardo’s Principles, economic and social realities
had changed profoundly: the question was no longer
whether farmers could feed a growing population or
land prices would rise sky high but rather how to
understand the dynamics of industrial capitalism, now
in full blossom.
Any Questions?