Lecture 06 Deep Analysis

Question 0

Describe the standard form of an argument.

Answer 0

Write down the numbered premises, drawing a line, adding therefore, followed by the conclusion, and indicating which premises are supposed to be reasons for the conclusion.

Question 1

Describe what might be irrelevant material to an argument.

Answer 1

Discounting the use of excess verbiage,

irrelevant guarding,

irrelevant assuring.

Question 2

Excess verbiage violates conversational rules which rules are violated?

Answer 2

Quantity, relevance, manner.

Question 3

What should we do with a sentence that is not necessary for the argument?

Answer 3

Do not add it when we list the premises and conclusion in standard form.

Question 4

Describe what repetition is.

Answer 4

It is not repeating it is really stating the same information or concept using different words.

Question 5

What are guarding terms?

Answer 5

They are terms describing feelings and emotions.

Question 6

What is an example of an assuring term

Answer 6

Obviously,

Question 7

What is a goal of argument analysis?

Answer 7

If you want to understand someone’s argument, you should try to make that argument as good as it can be. You should interpret it charitable. Distorting and oversimplifying other peoples arguments might be fun at times and win points in debates, but it cannot help us understand all learn from other peoples arguments.

Question 8

What is the purpose of clarifying crucial terms?

Answer 8

It is an exercise in eliminating ambiguity and reducing vagueness.

The goal is to clarify anything that could cause confusion.

Question 9

What are the eight steps in the method of reconstructing an argument?

Answer 9

1. Do a close analysis of the passage containing the argument.
2. List all explicit premises and the conclusion in standard form.
3. Clarify the premises and the conclusion where necessary.
4. Break up the premises and the conclusion into smaller parts where this is possible.
5. Arrange the parts of the argument into a chain or tree of sub arguments where this is possible.
6. Assess each argument and sub argument for validity.
7. If an argument or sub argument is not valid, or if it is not clear why it is valid, add suppressed premises that will show how to get from the premises to the conclusion.
8. Assess the truth of the premises.

Question 10

Describe methods of tangential irrelevancy.

Answer 10

Discounting,

Trick of excess verbiage,

Repetition,

Irrelevant guarding,

Irrelevant assuring.

Question 11

What are the basic steps in analysing an argument

Answer 11

1) remove excess verbiage,
2) clarify crucial terms,
3) dissect the argument,
4) represent the argument in standard form,
5) analyse the structure for validity.

Question 12

What are suppressed premises

Answer 12

A premise that is not stated but assumed (i.e. needed to make the argument valid) is said to be suppressed.