Arguments consist of a set of statements, which are claims that something is or is not the case or is either true or false. The conclusion of your argument is a statement that is being argued for, or the point of view being argued for. The other statements serve as evidence or support for your conclusion; we refer to these statements as premises. It’s important to keep in mind that a statement is either true or false, so questions, commands, or exclamations are not statements. If we are thinking critically we will not accept a statement as true or false without good reason(s), so premises are key to constructing good arguments. Here are a couple of examples:

Example 1:
Capital punishment is morally justifiable since it restores some sense of balance to victims or victims’ families.

Let’s break this down into what is referred to as a standard argument form:

Capital punishment restores some sense of balance to victims or victims’ families.
Capital punishment is morally justifiable.

Example 2:
Because innocent people are sometimes found guilty and potentially executed, capital punishment is not morally justifiable.

Translating this argument to standard form looks like this:

Innocent people are sometimes found guilty and potentially executed.
Capital punishment is not morally justifiable.

When encountering an argument, one might inquire into how the conclusion was proven. As Dowden explains in Logical Reasoning, it is important to note that a proof means different things in different fields of study and in different situations. A proof in mathematics is going to have a higher standard than proving to your friend that you were at the same concert as she was last week. Essentially, “a proof is a convincing argument, an argument that should convince your audience, not simply an argument that does convince them.”

2.1 Statements

As noted above, statements are true or false. Here are a few examples of statements:

• The Earth revolves around the Sun (True).
• Humans can breathe in outer space without any special equipment (False).
• Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius at sea level (True).
• The Great Wall of China is visible from the Moon with the naked eye (False).
• Heather ate chicken for lunch (unknown truth value).

All of these are statements—they are claims that are either true or false. We don’t need to know the statement to be true or to be false as long as it is possible to know. Statements should be differentiated from commands, suggestions, and questions. If someone says, “Shut the door,” “Let’s order a pizza,” or “Is it Tuesday?” they have not communicated a statement because none of these are true or false.

2.2 Arguments

While there are different definitions of the word argument, we will be using the term in a specific way. In philosophy an argument is a conclusion supported by premises. The conclusion and all of the premises of an argument are statements. Arguments range from simple to complex and some have only one premise while others have multiple premises. According to Dowden, the link between the premise(s) and the conclusion is called an inference. Here’s an example of a simple argument that has one inference step to the conclusion from two premises.

If it is snowing, we must shovel the sidewalk.
It is snowing.
We must shovel the sidewalk.

Dowden provides an analogy that might be helpful in our practice of determining whether an argument is present:

to find out whether an argument is present, you need to use your detective skills. Ask yourself whether the speaker gave any reason for saying what was said. If you get a satisfactory answer to your own question, then you probably have detected an argument, and you’ve uncovered its conclusion and premises. In detecting an argument, your main goal is to locate the conclusion, then the reasons given for that conclusion, while mentally deleting all the other sentences and phrases that are not part of the argument.

It is worth noting that some arguments will be more complex than others but breaking down an argument into smaller components (i.e. statements) will help you determine how a conclusion is supported.

Retired professor of philosophy, Dr. James Cain, developed an exercise book for logic students. In it he gives examples of simple and complex arguments.

Examples of simple arguments:

All humans are mortal. (premise)
Socrates is a human. (premise)
Thus, Socrates is mortal. (conclusion)

If the sun is out it is daytime. (premise)
The sun is out. (premise)
It is daytime. (conclusion)

Example of a complex argument:

If the sun is out then it is daytime. The sun is out. So it is daytime. The grocery store is open whenever it is daytime. So the grocery store is open.

This argument is formed by splicing two simple arguments, namely:

If the sun is out then it is daytime.
The sun is out.
So it is daytime.

It is daytime.
The grocery store is open whenever it is daytime.
So the grocery store is open.

2.3 Premise and Conclusion Indicators

Occasionally the terms we use in setting up an argument can offer tips to how the statements come together to form an argument. When reading a passage or listening to someone’s point of view, a good question to ask yourself is if you are being given reasons to convince you of something. If you think this is the case, identifying the conclusion and the reasons for accepting the conclusion is the next step. The terms used in an argument may include “therefore” or “consequently.” These two terms are used to convey conclusions. If we see terms like “because” or “since,” the author is likely trying to get us to understand the reasoning behind their claim, which is the premises. Here are lists of common conclusion and premise indicators:

Conclusion Indicators:                                             Premise Indicators:
therefore, so, consequently                                    because, since, given that
hence, thus, as a result                                            as, due to, for the reason that,
it follows that, accordingly,                                     for, in view of, assuming that
for this reason                                                           may be inferred from

There is no guarantee that an arguer will use one of these verbal cues and we have to recognize an argument without those tips. However, if they are present and helpful, use them!

2.4 Implicit Premises and Conclusions

It is not uncommon for an argument to contains what we call implicit premises and conclusions. This means that parts of the reasoning or the conclusion remains unstated. This usually happens when the claim or assumption within the argument is too obvious. Dowden gives us an example that shows an implied premises: “suppose a biologist argues that there is nothing ethically wrong in the fact that about thirteen animals per day are killed in her laboratory, because the deaths further her scientific research. In this argument, she uses the unstated assumption that, if something done to animals furthers someone’s scientific research, then it is not ethically wrong.” If an argument relies on an assumption that is part of our common sense or what is evident, then the assumption is often left unstated.

Unstated conclusions can also turn up in arguments. Dowden suggests the following scenario:

What is the implicit conclusion in the following argument? All insects have exactly six legs, but all spiders have exactly eight legs, so now what do we know about whether spiders are insects? You, the reader, have to figure out the conclusion for yourself: that spiders are not insects. People who are unwilling to do this detective work will miss the point of many passages.

Just as we can use indicator terms and detect unstated premises, we can detect implied conclusions.

2.5 Diagramming Arguments

We can produce a visual representation of an argument by using a technique called diagramming. This is also useful for helping us breakdown or analyze the statements that constitute the argument. Here are Dr. Cain’s examples:

Conclusion

With regard to determining whether an argument is a good one, we will later learn key tools to evaluate arguments. As Dowden pointedly claims, “the main objective in arguments is for the conclusion to follow its premises either with certainty or with high probability.” This takes us to the two general categories of arguments, deductive and inductive. Deductive arguments are those that aim to secure conclusions with certainty and inductive arguments are aiming to demonstrate the probability of the conclusion. The former is the focus of chapter 6 and the latter the focus of chapter 5.

Dowden, Bradley H. Logical reasoning. Accessed January 14, 2025. https://www.csus.edu/indiv/d/dowdenb/4/logical-reasoning-archives/Logical-Reasoning-2020-05-15.pdf.

Van Cleave, Matthew J. “Logic Text V 2.0.PDF.” Google Drive. Accessed January 14, 2025. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-rkbctcWjo3OFhGODNSYTZPMVU/view?resourcekey=0-iGfOufS0tNl2MRQa64ITng.

Personhood Activity