Elements of ArgumentsWorkbook

Introduction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y

As an Advanced Level student you must be able to develop the ability to understand and evaluate others’ arguments, and to construct arguments of your own. This is the core of the critical path, and what makes Global Perspectives a particularly useful subject to study.

We are surrounded by attempts to persuade us; we should accept some and reject others. This part of the course is all about learning to discern which attempts to persuade fall into which category.

This means first learning to work out what argument is being presented to us. This requires an understanding of the various elements of arguments, and an ability to read a passage or listen to a speech and reconstruct its argument.

The second skill involved is assessing the strength of the evidence offered; keeping an eye out for any logical fallacies that might have been committed.

For the examination it is important to be able to extract an argument from a passage. This requires comprehension skills, analytic ability, and an understanding of the elements of arguments.

Once the argument of a passage has been identified, it needs to be assessed. Is the argument a strong one? To what extent do the reasons offered support the conclusion drawn? What does the argument assume, and are those assumptions plausible? In short, should we accept the argument’s conclusion?

Part of this assessment requires an understanding of evidence sampling. If empirical data is offered as evidence then it is important to consider how it has been gathered. Is there enough data? Has it been collected from a variety of sources? Is it a random selection or has it been hand-picked to support a particular perspective?

Also important is a thorough knowledge of logical fallacies. These are common errors of reasoning that you should be on the look out for. It is important that you know their names, and can explain what’s wrong with arguments that commit them.

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Elements of Arguments

An argument is not just a conversation in which two people hurl abuse at each other. Neither is it the same thing as straightforward disagreement; there’s a difference between arguing with someone and merely contradicting them.

As Monty Python’s Argument Clinic sketch puts it, an argument is “a collected series of statements to establish a definite proposition”, an attempt to persuade by offering reasons. Any statement that attempts to persuade you that something is true by offering at least one reason for thinking that it is so counts as an argument.

The main Elements of Arguments are thus reasons and a conclusion. The ability to read a passage and pick out its conclusion and the reasons offered in support of it is perhaps the most basic skill required for critical thinking.

As you progress to more complicated arguments, you’ll also need to be able to spot intermediate conclusions and counter-arguments. Indicator words can be helpful in flagging up how different parts of a passage are functioning in the argument that it contains.

1. ConclusionsThe conclusion of an argument is the main point that it is trying to get you to accept. You’ll often (but not always) find this statement either at the beginning or the end of a passage. It may be indicated by a word such as “therefore”, “thus”, or even “in conclusion”.

The Therefore TestA test that can help you to identify the conclusion of a passage is the ‘therefore test’. Simply insert the word “therefore” into the passage directly before the phrase that you think is the conclusion. If the passage makes sense, then you’ve probably got the right section. If it doesn’t, then you haven’t.

Quote!When you’re asked to identify the conclusion of a passage, you should give a direct quotation. You’re being asked to pick out a specific phrase that the rest of the passage is trying to get you to accept. If you give a rough paraphrase, then you risk changing the meaning of the phrase slightly, and so giving an inaccurate statement of the conclusion. Even missing out a word or two can change the meaning of the conclusion resulting in inaccuracy in your answer. To err on the side of caution, always quote word-for-word.

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2. ReasonsThe reasons in an argument are the claims made in an attempt to persuade you that the conclusion is true.

The Because TestA test that can help you to identify the reasons in a passage is the ‘because test’. Simply insert the word “because” into the passage directly before the phrase that you think is a reason. If the passage makes sense, then you’ve probably got the right section. If it doesn’t, then you haven’t.

Quote!When you’re asked to identify the reasons in a passage, you must give direct quotations. You’re being asked to pick out a specific claim that the passage makes in attempting to prove its conclusion. If you give a rough paraphrase, then you risk changing the claim, resulting in inaccuracy in your answer and so losing you marks.

3. Intermediate ConclusionsAn intermediate conclusion is something in an argument that functions both as a reason and as a conclusion. To function as a reason, it must offer support to the main conclusion of the argument (or to another intermediate conclusion). To function as a conclusion, there must be something else in the argument that lends it support.

Take, for example, the following argument: “Your face is covered in chocolate, so it must have been you that ate my cake, so you owe me a cake.” The main conclusion of this argument is the final clause: “You owe me a cake.” This is supported by the previous clause, which is therefore functioning as a reason, “it must have been you that ate my cake.” This clause, though, is also supported by the previous clause, “Your face is covered in chocolate”, so it is both a conclusion and a reason; it is an intermediate conclusion.

4. AssumptionsAn assumption, for the purposes of this course, is an unstated reason. It is something that must be true for an argument to work, but which is not explicitly stated in the argument.

For example, the argument “The college address is the same street as I’m standing on; therefore, the college must be nearby” assumes that the street isn’t very long. If the street is long, then the college could be on it but still miles away.

The Negative TestTo test whether something is assumed by an argument, you can use the negative test. This involves inserting the opposite of the alleged assumption into the argument and seeing if it still makes sense.

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For example, to test whether the above argument assumes that the street isn’t very long, we would check whether this makes sense: “The college address is the same street as I’m standing on; the street is very long; therefore, the college must be nearby.”

With the opposite of the alleged assumption inserted, the argument clearly doesn’t make sense, so the alleged assumption must be true for the argument to work; it is assumed by the original argument.

Don’t Quote!When answering a question that asks you to identify an assumption, unlike when answering other questions, you should never give a quote from the text; by definition, assumptions are unstated.

5. Counter ArgumentsA counter-argument is an argument that goes against the author’s main conclusion. Typically, counter-arguments are considered and rejected in an attempt to strengthen the author’s case.

For example, “If Superman and Spiderman had a fight, then Superman would win as his ability to fly would mean he could attack from any angle. You might think that Spiderman’s ability to hurl webs (a ranged weapon) would give him the edge, but Superman would be manoeuvrable enough to dodge them.”

In this passage, the main conclusion is “If Superman and Spiderman had a fight, then Superman would win”. The reason given in support of this is “his ability to fly would mean he could attack from any angle”. Also considered, though, is an argument that Spiderman would win: “Spiderman’s ability to hurl webs (a ranged weapon) would give him the edge”; this is a counter-argument. It is then dismissed with the comment “Superman would be manoeuvrable enough to dodge them”.

6. Indicator WordsThere are certain words that often indicate the presence of a particular element of an argument. These are called indicator words. Not every element of an argument is flagged up by an indicator word, and not every use of an indicator word is associated with an element of an argument, but indicator words are useful guides.

ConclusionsConclusions are often indicated by one of the following words or phrases: “therefore”; “thus”; “hence”; “so”; “in conclusion”; “consequently”; “showing that”; “demonstrating that”; “proving that”; “establishing that”; “meaning that”; “entails that”; “implies that”; “as a result”. In past papers, conclusions have often been statements about how we

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ought to respond to something, so “should”, “must”, and “ought to” should also be treated as indicator words, albeit cautiously.

ReasonsIndicator words for reasons include the following: “because”; “as”; “since”; “in order to”; “otherwise”. Sometimes authors enumerate their reasons, writing “First”, “Second”, “Third,” etc., which can also help in their identification.

Counter-ArgumentsCounter-arguments can be given away by phrases like “some might argue that”, “it has been suggested that”, or equivalent phrases. The main giveaway for counter-arguments, though, is that the reason(s) cited count against the author’s conclusion rather than for it.

7. Evidence SamplingWhen presented with observational evidence to support a claim, we need to be wary. It is said that there are lies, damned lies, and statistics, and that you can devise a survey to prove anything that you want. If we are told “A study has shown that…” then we should think twice before we accept the conclusion that is drawn from it.

Misrepresenting the DataThe most basic mistake in interpreting evidence is simply misrepresenting the data. If the observational data do not fit the inference drawn, then there is a problem. There is the possibility of deliberate distortion, accidental misinterpretation, and selectivity.

Insufficient DataA more common error is drawing a conclusion from insufficient data. Every study has a margin of error, and the smaller the study the greater this will be. Studies with a significant margin of error always leave doubt about any conclusions based on them, so it is important to consider the quantity of data in a study in assessing its validity.

Unrepresentative DataA constant danger in empirical studies is unrepresentative data. A study that has a sufficient quantity of data may nevertheless be flawed due to insufficient quality of evidence. For a general conclusion to be drawn with any confidence from a limited data set, it must be reasonable to believe that the data set is representative.

8. Logical FallaciesLogical fallacies are common errors of reasoning. If an argument commits a logical fallacy, then the reasons that it offers don’t prove the argument’s conclusion. (Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the conclusion is false, just that these particular reasons don’t show that it’s true.)

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There are literally dozens of logical fallacies (and dozens of fallacy web-sites out there that explain them).

You need to be able to recognise these fallacies and to explain what is wrong with arguments that commit them (just being able to label them is not enough on its own!). Once you’ve learned what the fallacies are, pay attention and see if you can spot any of them being committed on TV, the radio, or in the press.

Ad Hominem “Ad hominem” is Latin for “against the man”. The ad hominem fallacy is the fallacy of attacking the person offering an argument rather than the argument itself. Ad hominem can simply take the form of abuse: e.g. “don’t listen to him, he’s a jerk”. Any attack on irrelevant biographical details of the arguer rather than on his argument counts as an ad hominem however: e.g. “that article must be rubbish as it wasn’t published in a peer-reviewed journal”; “his claim must be false as he has no relevant expertise”; “he says that we should get more exercise but he could stand to lose a few pounds himself”.

Appeal to Authority An appeal to an authority is an argument that attempts to establish its conclusion by citing a perceived authority who claims that the conclusion is true. In all cases, appeals to authority are fallacious; no matter how well-respected someone is, it is possible for them to make a mistake. The mere fact that someone says that something is true therefore doesn’t prove that it is true.

The worst kinds of appeal to authority, however, are those where the alleged authority isn’t an authority on the subject matter in question. People speaking outside of their area of expertise certainly aren’t to be trusted on matters of any importance without further investigation.

Example

“Darwin’s theory of evolution is false; my pastor says so.”

A pastor saying that a complex scientific theory is false doesn’t prove that it’s so, particularly if the pastor lacks a background in science.

Appeal to History There are two types of appeal to history. The first is committed by arguments that use past cases as a guide to the future. This is the predictive appeal to history fallacy. Just because something has been the case to date, doesn’t mean that it will continue to be the case.

This is not to say that we can’t use the past as a guide to the future, merely that predictions of the future based on the past need to be treated with caution.

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The second type of appeal to history is committed when it is argued that because something has been done a particular way in the past, it ought to be done that way in the future. This is the normative appeal to history fallacy, the appeal to tradition. The way that things have always been done is not necessarily the best way to do them. It may be that circumstances have changed, and that what used to be best practice is no longer. Alternatively, it may be that people have been consistently getting it wrong in the past. In either case, using history as a model for future would be a mistake.

Example

At the start of the 2006 Premiership season, some might have argued, “Under Jose Mourinho, Chelsea have been unstoppable in the Premiership; the other teams might as well give up on the league now and concentrate on the Cup competitions.”

Appeal to PopularityThe appeal to popularity fallacy is the fallacy of arguing that because lots of people believe something it must be true. Popular opinion is not always a good guide to truth; even ideas that are widely accepted can be false.

Example

“Pretty much everyone believes in some kind of higher power, be it God or something else. Therefore atheism is false.”

Circularity Circular arguments are arguments that assume what they’re trying to prove. If the conclusion of an argument is also one of its reasons, then the argument is circular. The problem with arguments of this kind is that they don’t get you anywhere. If you already believe the reasons offered to persuade you that the conclusion is true, then you already believe that the conclusion is true, so there’s no need to try to convince you.

If, on the other hand, you don’t already believe that the conclusion is true, then you won’t believe the reasons given in support of it, so won’t be convinced by the argument. In either case, you’re left believing exactly what you believed before. The argument has accomplished nothing.

Example

“You can trust me; I wouldn’t lie to you.”

Confusing Necessary and Sufficient Conditions Necessary conditions are conditions which must be fulfilled in order for an event to come about. It is impossible for an event to occur unless the necessary conditions for it are fulfilled. For example, a necessary condition of you passing your Mathematics

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examination is that you actually sit the examination. Without doing so, there’s no way that you can get the qualification.

Sufficient conditions are conditions which, if fulfilled, guarantee that an event will come to pass. It is impossible for an event not to occur if the sufficient conditions for it are fulfilled. For example, a sufficient condition of you passing Mathematics is that you get enough marks on the relevant exams. If you do that, there’s no way that you can fail. Some arguments confuse necessary and sufficient conditions. Such arguments fail to prove their conclusions.

Example

“People who don’t practice regularly always fail music exams. I’ve practiced regularly though, so I’ll be all right.”

Not having practiced regularly may be a sufficient condition for failing a music exam, but it isn’t necessary. People who have practiced regularly may fail anyway, due to nerves, perhaps, or simply a lack of talent.

Correlation not Causation The correlation not causation fallacy is committed when one reasons that just because two things are found together (i.e. are correlated) there must be a direct causal connection between them. Often arguments of this kind seem compelling, but it’s important to consider other possible explanations before concluding that one thing must have caused the other.

Example

“Since you started seeing that girl your grades have gone down. She’s obviously been distracting you from your work, so you mustn’t see her anymore.”

Inconsistency An argument is inconsistent if makes two or more contradictory claims. If an argument is inconsistent, then we don’t have to accept its conclusion. This is because if claims are contradictory, then at least one of them must be false. An argument that rests on contradictory claims must therefore rest on at least one false claim, and arguments that rest on false claims prove nothing.

In an argument that makes contradictory claims, whichever of those claims turns out to be false the arguer won’t have proved their conclusion. This means that it is reasonable to dismiss an inconsistent argument even without finding out which of its contradictory claims is false.

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Examples

“Murder is the worst crime that there is. Life is precious; no human being should take it away. That’s why it’s important that we go to any length necessary to deter would-be killers, including arming the police to the teeth and retaining the death penalty.”

This argument both affirms that no human being should take the life of another, and that we should retain the death penalty. Until this inconsistency is ironed out of the argument, it won’t be compelling.

“We don’t tell the government what to do, so they shouldn’t tell us what to do!” These were the words of an angry smoker interviewed on the BBC News following the introduction of a ban on smoking in enclosed public places in England. Her claim that she doesn’t tell the government what to do is instantly refuted as she proceeds to do just that.

Generalisation Arguments often use specific cases to support general conclusions.

For example, we might do a quick survey of Premiership footballers, note that each of the examples we’ve considered is vain and ego-centric, and conclude that they all are. (Or we might offer one example of an argument that moves from the specific to the general as evidence that others do the same.) We need to be careful with such arguments.

In order for a set of evidence to support a general conclusion, the evidence must meet certain conditions. For example, it must be drawn from a sufficient number of cases, and the specific cases must be representative. The more limited or unrepresentative the evidence sample, the less convincing the argument will be. Arguments that base conclusions on insufficient evidence commit the generalisation fallacy.

Examples

“Smoking isn’t bad for you; my granddad smoked thirty a day for his whole life and lived to be 92.”

“Estate agents are well dodgy. When we moved house… [insert horror story about an estate agent inventing fake offers to push up the sale price].”

Restricting the Options We are sometimes faced with a number of possible views or courses of action. By a process of elimination, we may be able to eliminate these options one-by-one until only one is left. We are then forced to accept the only remaining option. Arguments that do this, but fail to consider all of the possible options, excluding some at the outset, commit the restricting the options fallacy.

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Example

“Many gifted children from working class backgrounds are let down by the education system in this country. Parents have a choice between paying sky-high fees to send their children to private schools, and the more affordable option of sending their children to inferior state schools. Parents who can’t afford to pay private school fees are left with state schools as the only option. This means that children with great potential are left languishing in comprehensives“.

Quite apart from any problems with the blanket dismissal of all comprehensives as inferior, this argument fails to take into account all of the options available to parents. For the brightest students, scholarships are available to make private school more affordable, so there is a third option not considered above: applying for scholarships to private schools. Unless this option can be eliminated, e.g. by arguing that there are too few scholarships for all gifted children to benefit from them, along with other options such as homeschooling, the conclusion that children with great potential have no alternative but to go to comprehensives is unproven.

Slippery Slope Sometimes one event can set of a chain of consequences; one thing leads to another, as the saying goes. The slippery slope fallacy is committed by arguments that reason that because the last link in the chain is undesirable, the first link is equally undesirable. This type of argument is not always fallacious. If the first event will necessarily lead to the undesirable chain of consequences, then there is nothing wrong with inferring that we ought to steer clear of it. However, if it is possible to have the first event without the rest, then the slippery slope fallacy is committed.

Example

“If one uses sound judgement, then it can occasionally be safe to exceed the speed limit. However, we must clamp down on speeding, because when people break the law it becomes a habit, and escalates out of control. The more one breaks the law, the less respect one has for it. If one day you break the speed limit, then the next you’ll go a little faster again, and pretty soon you’ll be driving recklessly, endangering the lives of other road-users. For this reason, we should take a zero-tolerance approach to speeding, and stop people before they reach dangerous levels.”

Straw Man Straw Man arguments are arguments that misrepresent a position in order to refute it. Unfortunately, adopting this strategy means that only the misrepresentation of the position is refuted; the real position is left untouched by the argument.

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Examples

“Christianity teaches that as long as you say ‘Sorry’ afterwards, it doesn’t matter what you do. Even the worst moral crimes can be quickly and easily erased by simply uttering a word. This is absurd. Even if a sinner does apologise for what they’ve done, the effects of their sin are often here to stay. For example, if someone repents of infanticide, that doesn’t bring the infant back to life. Christians are clearly out of touch with reality.”

This argument distorts Christianity in a couple of ways. First, it caricatures repentance as simply saying the word ‘Sorry’. Second, it implies that Christianity teaches that all of the negative effects of sin are erased when one confesses, which it doesn’t. Having distorted Christianity, the argument then correctly points out that the distortion is ludicrous, and quite reasonably rejects it as “out of touch with reality”. The argument, however, completely fails to engage with what the Church actually teachers, and so its conclusion has nothing to do with real Christianity.

Tu Quoque (“Tu quoque” is Latin for “you too”)The tu quoque fallacy involves using other people’s faults as an excuse for one’s own, reasoning that because someone or everyone else does something, it’s okay for us to do it. This, of course, doesn’t follow. Sometimes other people have short-comings, and we ought to do better than them. We can be blamed for emulating other people’s faults.

Example

“It doesn’t matter that I occasionally break the speed limit; everyone else does it.”

Weak Analogy Arguments by analogy rest on a comparison between two cases. They examine a known case, and extend their findings there to an unknown case. Thus we might reason that because we find it difficult to forgive a girlfriend or boyfriend who cheated on us (a known case), it must be extremely difficult for someone to forgive a spouse who has had an affair (an unknown case).

This kind of argument relies on the cases compared being similar. The argument is only as strong as that comparison. If the two cases are dissimilar in important respects, then the argument commits the weak analogy fallacy.

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Appendix: Research Task

Topic: Interactive Communities

This topic covers all the themes – ethical, political, economic, technological and environmental. Using the two resources provided as a starting-point, your research should enable you to consider (elucidate and evaluate) the arguments for and against the existence and use of interactive communities on the following grounds:

Ethical – does the existence of interactive communities facilitate immoral activities (for example, pornography and copyright theft), or is it a violation of natural rights to interfere in their activities?

Political – are interactive communities a breeding-ground for terrorism or an essential element in modern democracy?

Economic – what role do interactive communities have to play in the twenty-first century global economy? Are they agents of globalization, destroying local industry, or an invaluable aid in sharing technological innovation?

Technological – can the internet cope with the increasing demands being placed upon it?

Environmental – is at least partially removing the need for paper in communication offset by the environmental cost of running the servers needed to support our internet use?

Begin by looking in detail at the following resources:

Internet sites could be given 'cinema-style age ratings', Culture Secretary says http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/technologynews/3965051/Internet-sites-could-be-given-cinema-style-age-ratings-Culture-Secretary-says.html

Frank Fisher: Freedom of speech on the internet should be protectedhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/29/censorship-andyburnham

1, Evaluate the strengths of the arguments in the two resources. Answer the following question: Do the arguments of the second resource successfully refute the arguments presented in the first?

2. Working in pairs, do a presentation on an issue arising from the links between any two themes in this topic. You will need to do more research for this.

3. Write an essay on one of the questions posed in the summary above.

The source work exercise is due in two weeks’ time, the presentation a week later and the essay a week after that. This should give you the time to research and prepare effectively.

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Interactive Communities Resources

From The Economist, a few starters:http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12411882(on interactive communities and the economy)

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348963&story_id=12673221(on the technological limitations of the internet)

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348963&story_id=12673385(on ‘cyberwarfare’, a political dimension to the topic)

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348963&story_id=12641740(on the effect of the internet on environmental campaigning)

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348963&story_id=12376821(on hopes for the paperless office)

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348963&story_id=12295455(on government surveillance of our internet use)

The BBC also has lots of interesting news stories to delve into – a few tasters here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7797280.stm(Was 2008 the year of the net underground economy taking off?)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7800846.stm(Should websites get age ratings like films?)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7799524.stm(the impact of online shopping on the economy)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7359589.stm(child pornography online)

The Observer’s Henry Porter can be relied upon to raise issues about the threats to our civil liberties from government use of IT technology – see here for a recent example:http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/25/civilliberties

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