Analyzing Arguments

A. Paraphrasing (most common and useful

technique)
B. Diagramming

• Archimedes will be remembered when

Aeschylus is forgotten, because languages die
and mathematical ideas do not.
Paraphrase:
a. Languages die.
b. The great plays of Aeschylus are in a
language.
c. So the works of Aeschylus eventually die.
d. Mathematical ideas do not die.
e. The great work of Archimedes was with
mathematical ideas.
f. So the work of Archimedes will not die.
g. Therefore, Archimedes will be remembered
when Aeschylus is forgotten.
B. Diagramming (use to of diagram to exhibit its
structure)
• Circle the proposition in the order in which it
appears
• Use arrow to show the relationship
a. Contrary to what many people think, a
positive test for HIV is not necessarily a death
sentence. For one thing, the time for the
development of antibodies to clinical
symptoms averages nearly 10 years. For
another, many reports are now suggesting
that a significant number of people who test
positive may never develop clinical AIDS.
• If an action promotes the best interests
of everyone concerned and violates no
one’s rights, then the action is morally
acceptable. In at least some cases active
euthanasia promotes the best interests of
everyone concerned, and violates no
one’s rights. Therefore in at least some
cases active euthanasia is morally
acceptable.
• To hasten the social revolution in
England is the most important object of
the International Workingman’s
Association. The sole means of
hastening it is to make Ireland
independent. Hence the task of the
“international” is everywhere to put the
conflict between England and Ireland in
the foreground and everywhere to side
openly with Ireland. Pg. 31,32, 11th
 How to Recognize Argument?
1. Conclusion and Premise Indicators
If indicators appear, easy to recognize
argument
The human eye can see a source of light that
is as faint as an ordinary candle from a
distance of 27 kilometers, through a non-
absorbing atmosphere. Thus, a powerful
searchlight directed from a new moon
should be visible on earth with the naked
eye.
• 2. Arguments in context
Meaning or setting of the passage indicates
the argument

• Whether or not to smoke is a conscious

decision, made in the light of an
abundance of information on the lethal
effects of tobacco. Surely those who
choose unwisely should bear the cost of
any resulting ill health.
• Some passages containing arguments often
contain additional material that serves neither
as premise nor conclusion.

As the government spends increasingly less on

student financial aid, many leading colleges
and universities are using a greater percentage
of tuition revenges for scholarships. Just as
income tax breaks are given for charitable
contributions, “this portion of tuition” should
be tax deductible. (first sentence is neither P
nor C)
3. Premises not in Declarative Form

• Rhetorical Question
I am irked by the new set of coins being issued.
While some first ladies have influenced our
country, should we bestow this honor on
people who are unelected, whose only
credential is having a prominent spouse?

(we should not bestow this honor on such

people)
4. Unstated Propositions (enthymemes)
• Propositions not stated but assumed to be
understood
From Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
One of the citizens listening to Marc Anthony’s
speech about Caesar remarks:
He wouldn’t take the crown;
Therefore ‘tis certain he was not ambitious.
Unstated premise is- “one who wouldn’t accept
the crown must not have been ambitious.”
Such unstated arguments are called
enthymemes.
 Non-arguments
a. warning
“Watch out that you don’t slip on the ice.”
• If no evidence is given to prove that such
statements are true, then there is no argument.
b. A piece of advice
• You should keep a few things in mind before
buying a used car. Test drive the car at varying
speeds and conditions, examine the oil in the
crankcase, ask to see service records, and, if
possible, have the engine and power train
checked by a mechanic.
c. A statement of belief or opinion
• We believe that our company must
develop and produce outstanding
products that will perform a great service
or fulfill a need for our customers. We
believe that our business must be run at
an adequate profit and that the services
and products we offer must be better
than those offered by competitors.
d. A report
• Even though more of the world is
immunized than ever before, many old
diseases have proven quite resilient in the
face of changing population and
environmental conditions, especially in
the developing world. New diseases, such
as AIDS, have taken their toll in both the
North and the South.
e. Illustrations
• An illustration consists of a statement about a
certain subject combined with a reference to
one or more specific instances intended to
exemplify that statement. Illustrations are
often confused with arguments because
many of them contain indicator words such
as ‘‘thus.’’ Example:
• Chemical elements, as well as compounds,
can be represented by molecular formulas.
Thus, oxygen is represented by ‘‘O2,’’ water
by ‘‘H2O,’’ and sodium chloride by
‘‘NaCl.’’
 Arguments and Explanation
• Passages that appear to be as arguments
can be explanations.
• “Because,” “for,” “therefore” are common
in arguments and explanation.
• Author’s intention becomes important to
distinguish either the proposition is
argument or explanation.
• There is inference in argument but not in
explanation.
• Every explanation is composed of two
distinct components: the explanandum
and explanans. The explanandum is the
statement that describes the event or
phenomenon to be explained, and the
explanans is the statement or group of
statements that asserts to do the
explaining.
• If the statement describes an accepted
matter of fact, and if the remaining
statements purport to shed light on this
statement, then the passage is an
explanation.
• Example:
A. The Challenger spacecraft exploded after
liftoff because an O-ring failed in one of the
booster rockets.
• In the example above, the explanandum is the
statement ‘‘The Challenger spacecraft
exploded after liftoff,’’ and the explanans is
‘‘An O-ring failed in one of the booster
rockets.’’
B. Cows can digest grass, while humans cannot,
because their digestive systems contain
enzymes not found in humans.
• Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust consumes and
where thieves do not break in and steal. For
where your treasure is, there will your heart
be also. (Matthew 7:19)

• Therefore is the name of it [the tower] called

Babel; because the Lord did confound the
language of all the earth. (Genesis 11:19)
 Argument, Explanation or both?
A. A black hole is an object with so much
gravity that nothing can escape it- not
even light, the fastest thing in the
universe. Anything approaching a black
hole gets pulled into the object and
disappears as if it fell into hole. Because
even light cant escape, the hole appears
black.
B. Changes are real. Now, changes are only
possible in time, and therefore time must
be something real.
C. That all who are happy, are equally unhappy,
is not true. A peasant and a philosopher may
be equally satisfied, but not equally happy.
Happiness consists in the multiplicity of
agreeable consciousness. A peasant has not
the capacity for having equal happiness with
a philosopher.
D. How do girls become afraid to ask questions
in science class? How do they come to think
of science as less useful or interesting than
boys do? Such attitudes are learnt, and
parents and teachers teach them.
E. The police have found the dead body of a
woman lying near a footpath, after a post-
mortem the pathologist reports, ‘She died
because she had a heart attack and none found
her soon enough to help.’
f. A seismologist says, ‘There are huge “plates” on
the surface of the earth which press and move
against one another. Because there is friction
between these plates, they fail to move for
many years until the pressure becomes huge
and then they move suddenly, an event we
experience as an earthquake. That is why San
Francisco had a huge earthquake in 1906 and
also why they expect another one at any time
now.