WHAT IS AN

ARGUMENT?
Sally: Abortion is morally wrong and those who think otherwise are seeking to justify murder!
Bob: Abortion is not morally wrong and those who think so are right-wing bigots who are
seeking to impose their narrow-minded views on all the rest of us!
-Logic concerns a different sense of the word “argument”
- An argument in this sense, is a reason for thinking that a statement, claim or idea is true
Example:
Sally: Abortion is morally wrong because it is wrong to take the life of an innocent human
being, and a fetus is an innocent human being.
Example:
1. The Nile is a river in northeastern Africa.
2. The Linabo Peak is a mountainous area in Pagadian City.
3. Please help yourself to more casserole.
4. Don’t tell your mother about the surprise.
5. Do you like Japanese anime?
2 parts of an Argument
1. Premise- the reason for thinking that the conclusion is true
2. Conclusion- the claim or idea that a person wants to establish usually supported by two or
more premises
Both premises and conclusions are statements that can be true or false and corresponds to the
grammatical category of a “declarative sentence”
Arguments typically involve more than one premise and the standard way of capturing the
structure of an argument is by numbering the premises and conclusion.
Example: Abortion is morally because it is wrong to take the life of an innocent human being,
and a fetus is an innocent human being.
1. It is morally wrong to take the life of an innocent human being
2. A fetus is an innocent human being.
3. Therefore, abortion is morally wrong.

This is what is called putting an argument into standard argument form

Diagramming Arguments
An argument diagram involves the application of three kinds of symbols
1. Numbers: 1,2,3,4,5,6….
2. Joint: +
3. Supports: ________
Example: Some people that attend church don’t believe in God. But some people that don’t attend church
believe in God. So, whether one believes in God or not cannot be determined by whether they go to church
Diagramming Arguments
[(1) Some people that attend church don’t believe in God.] But[(2) some people that don’t attend church
believe in God.] So, [(3)whether one believes in God or not cannot be determined by whether they go to
church.]
Diagramming: (1) +(2)
(3)
Example 2: All good athletes eat healthy food. Since, all good athletes train hard. And healthy food is
necessary for training hard
Diagramming: (2) +(3)
(3)
Example 3: Lentils are healthy. There are many reasons for this. They reduce heart disease. They
are a great source of fiber and protein. They are low in fat and simple carbohydrates.
Which is correct?
Diagramming 1: (2) +(3)+(4)+(5)
(1)
or
Diagramming 2: (2)+ (2)+(2)+(2)
(1) (1) (1) (1)
Exercise 1: Which of the following sentences are statements and which are not?
1. No one understands me but you. | NOT A STATEMENT
2. Alligators are on average larger than crocodiles. | NOT A STATEMENT
3. Is an alligator a reptile or a mammal? | STATETMENT
4. An alligator is either a reptile or a mammal. | STATEMENT
5. Don’t let any reptiles into the house. | NOT A STATEMENT
6. You may kill any reptile you see in the house. |NOT A STATEMENT
7. East Africans are not the best distance runners. |STATEMENT
8. Obama is not a Democrat. | STATEMENT
9. Some humans have wings. |STATEMENT
10. Some things with wings cannot fly. |STATEMENT
Exercise 1: Which of the following sentences are statements and which are not?
1. If Sheng were president, she’d have lowered the taxes by now. If taxes were lowered, we’d have
more money. If we had more money, we’d be happier. If Leni were president we’d be happier.
ANSWER:
Not a statement: All the sentences are arguments

2. If the Lakers aren’t strong enough to beat the Chicago Bulls, they won’t be able to beat the Miami
Heat. From last week’s performance they don’t look strong enough to beat the Miami Heat. So, it is
likely they won’t beat the Chicago Bulls.
Not a statement:
-If the Lakers aren’t strong enough to beat the Chicago Bulls, they won’t be able to beat the
Miami Heat
- So, it is likely they won’t beat the Chicago Bulls.
Statement: From last week’s performance they don’t look strong enough to beat the Miami Heat
Exercise 1: Which of the following sentences are statements and which are not?
11. Was Obama born in Kenya or Hawaii? - STATEMENT
12. Oh no! A grizzly bear! - STATEMENT
13. Meet me in St. Louis. -STATEMENT
14. We met in St. Louis yesterday. -STATEMENT
15. I do not want to meet a grizzly bear in the wild. -STATEMENT
Identifying Arguments
1. The best way is to ask whether there is a statement that someone is trying to establish.
2. Knowing certain words or phrases that are premise indicators or conclusion indicators
Example1: Abortion is morally wrong because it is wrong to take the life of an innocent human being, and
a fetus is an innocent human being
Note: The word because here is a premise indicator
Example 2: I know that the student since I found the exact same sentences on a website and the website
was published more than a year before the student wrote the paper.
Note: the word “since is a premise indicator and take note that for both cases, the premise indicators
because and since are interchangeable and the meaning is still the same.
Identifying Arguments
Example 3: Bob-the-arsonist has been dead for a year, so Bob-the-arsonist didn’t set the fire at the East
Lansing Starbucks last week.
Example 4: A poll administered by Gallup(a respected polling company) showed candidate x to be
substantially behind candidate y with only a week left before the vote, therefore candidate y will probably
not win the election.
Note: So is a conclusion indicator because what follows it is a statement that is trying to establish as true
and the same with the conclusion indicator therefore.
Common premise and conclusion
indicators
Premise Indicators Conclusion Indicators
Since Therefore
Because So
For Hence
As Thus
Given that Implies that
Seeing that Consequently
For the reason that It follows that
Is shown by the fact that We may conclude that
1. I have been running competitively since 1999.
2. I am so happy to have finally finished that class.
• Although “since” can function as a premise indicator and although “so” can function as a
conclusion indicator, neither one is doing so here. This shows that you can’t simply mindlessly
use occurrences of these words in sentences to show that there is an argument being made.
• Is there a statement that someone is trying to establish as true or explain why it is true by
basing it on some other statement?
• Another way to explain about so and since in the given examples which do not indicate an
argument is present by noting that both premise indicators and conclusion indicators are,
grammatically conjunctions.
• Substitution test can be use if there is any doubt whether a word is truly a premise/conclusion
indicator
Example: instead of so
Bob-the-arsonist has been dead for a year, it follows that Bob-the-arsonist didn’t set the fire at
the East Lansing Starbucks last week.

Example 2: Instead of so
I am because happy to have finally finished that class.
Exercise 2: Which of the following are arguments? If it is an argument, identify the conclusion of the argument.
1. The woman in the hat is not a witch since witches have long noses and she doesn’t have a long nose.
Conclusion: The woman in the hat is not a witch since

2. I have been wrangling cattle since before you were old enough to tie your own shoes.
not an argument

3. Albert is angry with me so he probably won’t be willing to help me wash the dishes.
Conclusion: so he probably won’t be willing to help

4. First I washed the dishes and then I dried them.

Not an argument

5. If the road wasn’t icy, the car wouldn’t have slid off the turn
Conclusion: the car wouldn’t have slid off the turn
Exercise 2: Which of the following are arguments? If it is an argument, identify the conclusion of the argument.
6. Albert isn’t a fireman and he isn’t a fisherman either.
Not an argument

7. Are you seeing that rhinoceros over there? It is huge!

Not an Argument

8. The fact that obesity has become a problem in the U.S. is shown by the fact that obesity rates have risen
significantly over the past four decades.
Conclusion: obesity rates have risen significantly over the past four decades.

9. Bob showed me a graph with the rising obesity rates and I was very surprised to see how much they’ve risen.
Not an Argument

10.Albert isn’t a fireman because Albert is a Greyhound, which is a kind of dog, and dogs can’t be firemen.
Not an argument
Exercise 2: Which of the following are arguments? If it is an argument, identify the conclusion of the argument.
11.Charlie and Violet are dogs and since dogs don’t sweat, it is obvious that Charlie and Violet don’t sweat.
Conclusion: not an argument

12.The reason I forgot to lock the door is that I was distracted by the clown riding a unicycle down our street while
singing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man.”
Not an argument

13.What Bob told you is not the real reason that he missed his plane to Denver.
Not an argument

14.Samsung stole some of Apple’s patents for their smartphones, so Apple stole some of Samsung’s patents back in
retaliation.
Conclusion: so Apple stole some of Samsung’s patents back in retaliation.

15.No one who has ever gotten frostbite while climbing K2 has survived to tell about it, therefore no one ever will.
Conclusion: therefore no one ever will.