Argument Assessment

This lecture covers basic argument assessment.

Textbook:
Bowell, Tracy, and Gary Kemp. Critical Thinking : A Concise Guide, Routledge, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib....

Argument Assessment
• Argument Assessment helps with determining if an argument is persuasive.
o An argument may be Inductively Forceful but not rationally persuasive, because the hearer knows some piece of missing information.
o A deductive argument cannot be defeated without the addition of new premises or alteration of premises.
• Argument persuasiveness deals with “why a person ought to accept an argument.”
o An argument can be more or less persuasive.
o An argument may be persuasive to 1 person but not to another.
o Persuasiveness often has to deal with the authority of the speaker.
o For an argument to be persuasive, it must be justified (they must have reason to believe based on evidence.
• The goal is to refute or prove an argument.
o Remember a proven argument can still be defeated by unforeseen circumstances.
• We can refute arguments with Counter Examples or by Proving Premises False.
• We want to avoid the “Who’s to say” critic: which is claiming an argument is vague without refuting it.
• We also need to avoid merely “labelling” a position. Saying it is “Liberal”, “Conservative”, or some other identifier without confronting it.
• Once you have assessed an argument you may need to create a commentary in plain English explaining it.
o Explain anything removed, any implicit premises added, and whether or not the argument is persuasive.

Example:
If Zach is from KY, then Zach is a Hillbilly.
Therefore, Zach Loves Fried Chicken.