Thursday, February 11, 2010

Testing for Arguments

There are three roles that must be met in order for an argument to be good:
1. The premises are plausible
2. The premises are more plausible than the conclusion
3. The argument is valid or strong.

Example: I think chocolate is the best kind of candy you can eat. My sister thinks chocolate is the best kind of candy you can eat. Everyone I know thinks chocolate is the best kind of candy you can eat.

Explanation: In this example the premise is true and plausible, I think that chocolate is the best kind of chocolate candy, and my sister also thinks chocolate is the best kind of candy. The premise is more plausible than the conclusion because I only know two people who think chocolate is the best kind of candy therefore I cant conclude just from two people that everyone thinks chocolate is the best. My argument is not valid because I do not have the proper evidence to know just from two people that everyone likes chocolate and thinks it’s the best candy.

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