RECOGNIZING, ANALYZING,

AND CONSTRUCTING
ARGUMENTS
The aim of this tutorial is to help you learn to
recognize, analyze, and evaluate arguments.

How do politicians use logical arguments and rhetoric in political

debates?

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Arguments and issues

3

Arguments help us to analyze issues and to assess

whether positions on issues are reasonable or
unreasonable. An issue is an ill-defined complex of
problems involving a controversy or uncertainty.
Identifying an issue requires clear thinking as well as good
communication skills.

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Argument recognition
4

Rhetoric is the art of persuasionit is the defense of a

particular position usually without adequate
consideration of opposing evidence.
Rhetoric can be useful once you have come to a
reasoned conclusion, and are now trying to convince
others of this conclusion.
The goal of rhetoric is to win. The purpose of
argumentation, in contrast, is to discover the truth.

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Are the two people in this photo engaging

in rhetoric or argumentation?

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Hot or Not?
6

Is it acceptable to use rhetoric if

youre sure of your position?

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Argument recognition (continued)

7

Arguments are made up of two or more propositions,

one of which, the conclusion, is supported by the
other(s), the premise(s).

There are two types of arguments

Deductive arguments contain a conclusion that necessarily

follows from the premise.
In inductive arguments, the premises provide support but not
necessarily proof for the conclusion.

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Propositions, conclusions, and

premises
8

Propositions are statements that express a complete

thought. A proposition can either be true or false.
The conclusion of an argument is the proposition that is
supported or denied on the basis of other propositions or
reasons. Also called claims, viewpoints, and positions, it
is what the argument is trying to prove. A conclusion can
appear anywhere in an argument.
Premises are propositions that support or give reasons
for acceptance of the argument. Reasoning proceeds
from the premises to the conclusion.
Good premises are based on fact and experience.
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Proposition:
The Earth revolves around the sun.

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Types of premises
10

There are several types of premises.

Descriptive premises are based on empirical facts:

scientific observation and/or sensory experience.
Prescriptive premises, in contrast, contain value
statements.
Analogical premises take the form of an analogy in which
a comparison is made between two similar events or
things.
Definitional premises contain a definition of a key term for
purposes of precision or clarification.
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Nonarguments: explanations and

conditional statements
11

Sometimes we confuse arguments with explanations

and conditional statements.

An explanation is a statement about why or how

something is the case.

A conditional statement is an Ifthen statement

that offers no claim or conclusion.

Unlike explanations and conditional statements, an

argument tries to prove that something is true.
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12

Conditional statement:
If 18-year-olds are emotionally mature enough to go to war, then they should be allowed to drink alcohol.

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Breaking down arguments

13

Knowing how to diagram and identify parts of an

argument allows us to visualize the entire argument, its
propositions, and its premise/conclusion relationship.

Before you can diagram an argument, you must first

break it down into its propositions. First, bracket the
propositions; second, identify the conclusion; third,
identify the premises.

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14

Bracket the propositions:

[Students who site in front of a classroom generally earn higher grades.] Therefore, [you should move up to the front of the class], since [I know you
want to improve your grade point average].

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Diagramming arguments using

symbols
15

Diagramming arguments involves the use of specific

symbols to identify the different parts of an argument
and their relationships to each other.

A circled number is used to indicate a proposition and where

it appears in the argument.
A broken circle is used to indicate an unstated premise or
conclusion.
An arrow is used to indicate the relationship between an
independent premise and the conclusion.
A line is used to connect dependent premises.
A line with an arrow below it is used to indicate the relationship
between dependent premises and the conclusion.
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16

1 [The Bible states in Leviticus 20:26, You should

not practice augury or witchcraft.] Therefore, 2
[the Harry Potter books are not suitable reading for
children,] since 3 [Harry Potter is a wizard] and
4 [wizards practice augury].
1

Argument with dependent premises

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17

These people are burning Harry Potter books based on their conclusion that
Harry is a wizard and witchcraft should not be practiced.

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18

1 Laws that permit public colleges to discriminate

against applicants on the basis of race or sex are
unconstitutional. 2 The University of Michigans
affirmative action policy that awards extra points on
the basis of a persons race and sex discriminates
against white males.
1 Laws that permit public colleges to discriminate
against applicants on the basis of race or sex are
unconstitutional. 2 The University of Michigans
affirmative action policy that awards extra points on
the basis of a persons race and sex discriminates
against white males. Therefore, 3 the University of
Michigans affirmative action policy is unconstitutional.

Argument with an unstated conclusion

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19

College students are divided regarding the morality and constitutionality of

affirmative action in college admissions.

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Hot or Not?
20

Does knowing how to break down

and diagram arguments serve any
practical purpose in your life?

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Evaluating arguments
21

Knowing how to break down and diagram arguments

makes it easier for you to evaluate them.

Five criteria are useful for evaluating arguments:

Clarity
Credibility
Relevance
Completeness
Soundness

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Evaluating clarity and credibility

22

Clarity: Is the argument clear and unambiguous?

Clarifying another persons argument requires good
listening skills and openness to ideas that may differ
from your own.

Credibility: Are the premises supported by evidence?

Examine each premise carefully. Be alert for
assumptions that are passed off as facts.

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23

Boys become doctors; girls become nurses

if one of the premises is false, the premises do not support the conclusion.

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Evaluating relevance and

completeness
24

Relevance: Are the premises relevant to the

conclusion? In addition to being true, the premises
should provide good reasons for accepting the
conclusion.

Completeness: Are there any unstated premises and

conclusions? This is often the case within arguments
that are incompletely researched or loaded with
confirmation bias.

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Evaluating soundness
25

Soundness: Are the premises true, and do they support

the conclusion? A sound argument is one in which the
premises are true and they support the conclusion.

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Constructing an argument
26

Once you know how to identify, deconstruct, and

evaluate arguments, you are ready to construct your
own. The following eight steps are a useful guide to help
you improve the quality of your arguments.

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Eight steps to better arguments

27

Begin by stating the issue. Try to use neutral language.

Develop a list of premises. Remain as objective and
open-minded as possible.
Eliminate weak or irrelevant premises.
Establish a conclusion.
Organize your argument. Clearly state your conclusion,
or thesis statement, in the opening paragraph.
Test your argument using others.
Revise your argument if necessary.
If appropriate, act on your conclusion or solution.
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28

Working collaboratively to identify and eliminate weak or biased premises can

help make your argument stronger.

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Hot or Not?
29

Does the two-party system in the

United States discourage the use
of logical argumentation in
resolving issues?

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Writing papers using logical arguments

30

Writing effective college papers requires the use of good

structure, both in your argument and in the paper itself.

Use the following approach as a guide:

Identify the issue

Present the premises
Present and address counterarguments
End the paper with an expanded version of your
conclusion. Restate the issue, and summarize your
argument thoroughly. Be sure to include references for all
facts and evidence used.
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Conclusions
31

Arguments are useful tools for making real-life decisions.

Skilled critical thinkers employ them to recognize conflict
and avoid or defuse it. They also avoid jumping to
premature conclusions, only taking a stand after studying
an issue from multiple perspectives.

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32

Was Lincolns decision to stand by his conclusion that slavery

should be illegal a wise one? Are there times when it is best to
back down on an argument rather than risk conflict?

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33

Perspectives on same-sex marriage

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