A Practical Study Of Argument, Audiobook : CD For Computer Solution Manual

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CHAPTER 1What Is an Argument? (And What Is Not?)The most important ideas in this chapter are:(1)Arguments can be given for our beliefs, and the fact that we have opinions and 'have aright to our opinions' does not preclude giving such arguments.(2)These arguments can be better or worse and we can reach informed judgments aboutwhat makes them better or worse.(3)To offer an argument for a claim, C, is to put forward other claims, PI, P2, etc, asreasons supporting C. (4) The premises are supposed to support the conclusion; the ideais that one reasonsfromthe premisestothe conclusion.Obstacles frequently encountered in connection with this material are:(1)General relativism;(2)Relativism supported by cliches such as "it's all a matter of opinion," "isn't it just amatter of opinion?", "that's just his opinion," "everyone has a right to his opinion," and soon;(3)Relativism supported by the idea that it would be rude to disagree with someone else;(3)An inability to pick out arguments;(4)A tendency to reverse the direction in arguments or not understand that there shouldbe any direction and, thus, to confuse the conclusion with the premises;(5)A tendency to think that every passage must contain either an argument or anexplanation.If feasible, one might conduct a general discussion on the opinion/relativism issues. Withregard to argument structure, if students are having trouble with this, one might provideextra examples and recommend some strategy such as underlining all conclusions in redand all premises in green. One could really emphasize indicator words and, if providingextra examples, make sure these contain many of these words.Exercise 11.There is no argument here. The first sentence is a factual statement and the secondoffers an informal definition.2.Answer in text.3.Thispassage does contain an argument. The conclusion is that no one can know anyclaim with certainty. The other three sentences are premises, put forward to support thatconclusion.4.Answer in text.5.This passage does not contain an argument. There is merely a statement that one personis a better tennis player than another. No support is provided for the claim made.6.Answer in text.7.This passage contains an argument. The indicator word "so" precedes the conclusion,which is that no atheist can demonstrate his loyalty to the state. Note: in identifying thisstatement as the conclusion, adapted from John Locke, we are not implying that thestatement is true.8.This passage does contain an argument. The firstpart of thesentence is the conclusion,and the rest, following the word “because” supplies a reason for that conclusion.

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