Posted by Lydia Le
Argument - What is it?
It is believed that an argument is not the competition showing different kinds of opinion; when you argue about a matter, the goal of an argument is to offer good and evident reasons in the support of your conclusion that all parties to your dispute can accept (Pryor, 2010).
Bringing in an academic viewpoint, Dr Mary Coupland (2016) provides an extract of information about arguments from the book of "Bad Arguments" written by Ali Almossawi. In that book, Almossawi (2013) indicates that an argument is linked to the notions of proposition, premiss, and conclusion.
Firstly, the notion of proposition refers to a statement that is either true or false, but not both, and aimed at persuading through reasoning.
Secondly, the notion of premiss refers to a proposition that provides explanation and support to an argument's conclusion.
Thirdly, the notion of conclusion refers to some other proposition that is fully provided solid supports by the premisses.
In other words, an argument includes a set of propositions with persuading reasons, and one or more premisses giving supports for some other proposition which is called the conclusion (Almossawi, 2013).
Firstly, the notion of proposition refers to a statement that is either true or false, but not both, and aimed at persuading through reasoning.
Secondly, the notion of premiss refers to a proposition that provides explanation and support to an argument's conclusion.
Thirdly, the notion of conclusion refers to some other proposition that is fully provided solid supports by the premisses.
In other words, an argument includes a set of propositions with persuading reasons, and one or more premisses giving supports for some other proposition which is called the conclusion (Almossawi, 2013).
Noticeably, it is crucial to understand the argument before commenting on it (University of Idaho, 2004), therefore, raising correct questions toward argument evaluation is particularly important towards persuading all parties to reach an acceptable agreement. Two leading questions involving the evaluation of arguments are suggested as below.
1. Do the premisses support the conclusion?
2. Are all the premisses true?
2. Are all the premisses true?
Some different sources/authors and their explanation about the definition of arguments are collected in the table below.
Sources / Authors
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About the Arguments
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The word “argument” can be used to designate a dispute or a fight, or it can be used more technically. It refers to a collection of truth-bearers (that is, the things that bear truth and falsity, or are true and false) some of which are offered as reasons for one of them, the conclusion.
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Argument is an activity we all engage in, with varying results, in every walk of life. Philosophers have developed powerful methods for classifying arguments and identifying common errors in reasoning. Argument and Critical Thinking teaches these methods and applies them to real-life arguments, both written and spoken. It is thus an introduction to communication and applied logic.
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The Argument answers the questions "What is it?" "What category does it belong to?" In other words, the Argument attempts to assign a specific case to a larger category because it shares the essential characteristics of that category. The argument requires that we generate a list of essential criteria of the term (category)
The definition argument has two areas of major concern:
1) the criteria and whether they sufficiently characterize the y term (category), and
2) the match, or whether the x term (specific case) actually possess the criteria.
During the match portion of the definition argument, on the other hand, our concern is to demonstrate that the criteria apply to the x term.
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An argument is a sequence of statements called premises, plus a statement called the conclusion. A valid argument is an argument such that the conclusion is true whenever the premises are all true.
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An argument (in the context of logic) is defined as a set of premises and a conclusion where the conclusion and premises are separated by some trigger word, phrase or mark known as a turnstile.
The turnstiles seem to indicate where the premises come as opposed to where the conclusion comes. Examples of turnstiles (indicating either conclusion or premises) are: so, thus, hence, since, because, it follows that, for the reason that, from this it can be seen that.
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The argument may show that one meaning is more correct than (an)other(s), or that no meanings are correct, or that the definition can be shown by the actions of a particular group (which may ally or oppose itself with the term). The argument may posit that many definitions of the term are in circulation (and then describe these definitions in detail), thus proving the slipperiness or controversy of the term itself; or the argument may posit that several different-sounding definitions are actually very much alike.
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Argument is the most fundamental concept in our study of critical thinking. Argument refers to "a set of propositions, or statements, which are designed to convince a reader or listener of a claim, or conclusion, and which include at least one reason (premise) for accepting the conclusion."
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A logical argument (or just argument) is a process of creating a new statement from one or more existing statements.
An argument proceeds from a set of premises to a conclusion, by means of logical implication, via a procedure called logical inference.
An argument may have more than one premise, but only one conclusion.
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It links to a coherent series of reasons, statements, or facts intended to support or establish a point of view (Merriam Webster, 2020) |
Types of arguments
There are different techniques to categorise and group to the mentioned arguments. On this page, the grouping-types of arguments are introduced include deductive arguments, and inductive arguments.
1-A deductive argument is 'an argument that is intended by the arguer to be deductively valid, that is, to provide a guarantee of the truth of the conclusion provided that the argument’s premises are true' - IEP (n.d.).
2-An inductive argument is 'the use of collected instances of evidence of something specific to support a general conclusion. Inductive reasoning is used to show the likelihood that an argument will prove true in the future' - TeachTarget,(2020).
Why are arguments important?
Learning thinking skills are crucial in all aspects and levels of studies that arguments occupy an important platform towards critical thinking. Arguments are very important because, through the arguments, the skills of critical thinking to learn are required and achieved. WikiHow (n.d.) points out that the ability to argue effectively is actually a great skill to learn, and can come in handy in a wide variety of situations. This gives you the confidence to stand up for yourself and what you believe in. WikiHow also indicates that through arguments, the skills of how to argue positively are developed. For example, these skills include the practices in areas of playing fair, respecting other people, attacking ideas - not the person's the ideas attached to, admitting when you are wrong, apologising when appropriate, and being open to new ideas. Understanding the skills of argument helps assists on how to compose an effectiveargument and to analyze the arguments of others. Further, in terms of arguing persuasively, I strongly support opinions that through the argument, this makes people feel smart in order to protect their beliefs and rights through reasonable reasons. These reasons are supported through argumentative actions that people can use evidence tailored to assist the argument and gain their audience; they can look for logical fallacies, they can paint them as the hero or victim; they can curate the use of language, and they know how, and when to stop the argument (WikiHow, n.d.)
References
*Almossawi, Ali (2013). Bad Arguments. UTS Workshop week 8 Spring 2016
*Coupland, Mary (2016). UTS Workshop week 8 Spring 2016.
*Pryor, Jim (2010). What Is an Argument? Retrieved 10/04/2016
from http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/vocab/argument.html
*University of Idaho(2004). Argument Evaluation. Retrieved 24/5/2016
from http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/crit_think/ctw-m/eval.htm
*WikiHow (n.d.). How to argue. Retrieved 10/04/2016
from http://www.wikihow.com/Argue
Useful link
*Coupland, Mary (2016). UTS Workshop week 8 Spring 2016.
*Pryor, Jim (2010). What Is an Argument? Retrieved 10/04/2016
from http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/vocab/argument.html
*University of Idaho(2004). Argument Evaluation. Retrieved 24/5/2016
from http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/crit_think/ctw-m/eval.htm
*WikiHow (n.d.). How to argue. Retrieved 10/04/2016
from http://www.wikihow.com/Argue
Useful link
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