Logic & Critical Reasoning

Identifying arguments
 The Object of Analysis

In logic and critical reasoning one studies

argumentation. From the perspective of critical
reasoning an argument is specific kind of object of
analysis.

An argument is not the same thing as a disagreement.

An argument has parts.

 Definition of an Argument

An argument is a non-empty set of claims some of

which are intended to support a single claim.

The claims that do the supporting are called the

premises.
The claim that is supported is called the conclusion.
 Argument Structure

Arguments have structure.

Atomic arguments have a single set of premises

intended to establish a single conclusion.

Complex arguments use multiple atomic arguments to

establish either a single conclusion or multiple
conclusions.
 The Two Central Claims of an Argument

An argument makes two central claims:

The factual claim is that the premises are true.

The inferential claim is that the premises support the

conclusion.
 Two Types of Support

Deductive support occurs Inductive support occurs

when the author of the when the author of the
argument intends it to be argument intends it to be
the case that the truth of the case that the truth of
the premises makes it the the premises makes the
case that the conclusion conclusion likely to be
could not be false. true.

True premises necessitate True premises makes the

a true conclusion conclusion probable.
 Identifying arguments I

The first key task of critical thinking is to identify

when an argument is present in speech and writing.

There are two main techniques for identifying

arguments are:
Using indicators phrases as a way to find parts of an
argument.
Learning to distinguish argument-like passages from
actual argument passages.
 Indicators

Premise indicators: Conclusion indicators

Since Therefore
Given that Thus
For Hence
Because
Consequently
For the reason that
It follows that
In view of the fact that
Which proves that
Granted that
So
Seeing that
 Distinguishing Arguments from Non-Arguments

Some passages look like they contain an argument,

when they do not actually contain an argument.

Sometimes this is the case because a premise or

conclusion indicator is present even though it is not
signaling the presence of what it is generally intended
to signal – a premise or a conclusion.
 Reports

Reports are passages in which the primary function is

to report what a person said. Since the primary goal of
the passage is to report what someone said, reports are
not arguments.

The primary goal of an argument is to establish the

truth of a claim by providing reasons to believe the
claim.

A report can be a premise or a conclusion, but alone a

report is not an argument.
 Report: Example

The New York Times reports that the CEO of British

Petroleum has argued that because of the Deepwater
Disaster, it can no longer supply funds to the locals that
live on the Gulf Coast.

Although the premise indicator ‘because’ is present,

since the passage in which it occurs is a report, the New
York Times is not making an argument.
 Explanation

An explanation is a passage in which a given

phenomenon is taken to be true and one offers an
account of why the phenomenon exists.

Explanations can be distinguished from arguments via

the why-test.
If the authors primary aim is to say why something is
true, then the passage is an explanation.
If the authors primary aim is to establish that
something is true, then the passage is an argument.
 Explanation: Example

Because the refraction of light depends on the

medium through which it is traveling our experience
of what an oar placed in water looks like, is different
than what is actually present. We see an object, such
as an oar or a pencil, submerged in water as slightly
bent, when in fact it is not actually bent. We see it as
bent because light traveling through the water to our
retina is refracted off of the water.

Although ‘because’ is present, there is no argument.

The author intends to say why something is the case.
 Illustration

An illustration is a passage in which some

phenomenon is illustrated through an example.

Illustration passages often contain the words ‘so’ and

‘thus’ as a way to mark the example to follow.

Often in an illustration an example is used to illustrate

a general principle.
 Illustration: Example

Chlorides dissolve in Water, for example, salt is a

chloride and it dissolves in water.

In an illustration often times a conclusion indicator is

used to signal that something is an example of a
general principle.

Key words to look for: For example, So,