CONVERGENT AND LINKED PREMISES
EXAMPLES
Argument 1
P1: Paper is made from trees.
P2: We need paper.
C:
We should cut down trees.
Argument 2
P1: We can recycle paper.
P2: Trees filter out pollution.
C:
We shouldn’t cut down trees.
Argument 3
P1: A man of experience is wiser than a man of sensation.
P2: A man of art is wiser than a man of experience.
C:
A man of art is wiser than a man of sensation.
Argument 4
P1: All men believe that what is called wisdom is concerned with the first
causes and principles.
P2: A man of experience is wiser than a man of sensation.
P3: A man of art is wiser than a man of experience.
P4: A master artist is wiser than a manual worker.
P5: The theoretical sciences (episteme) are wiser than the productive
sciences.
C:
Wisdom is the science of certain causes and principles.
Argument 5
P1: John had no motive for committing a crime.
P2: If you had blood type O+ you could not have committed the crime.
P3: John has blood type O+.
C:
John did not commit the crime.