Key Terms
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Argument: A conclusion together with the premises that support it.
Premise: A reason offered as support for another claim.
Conclusion: A claim that is supported by a premise.
Valid: An argument whose premises genuinely support its conclusion.
Unsound: An argument that has at least one false premise.
Booby-trap: An argument that, while not a fallacy itself, might lead an inattentive reader to
commit a fallacy.
Fallacy: An argument that relies upon faulty reasoning.
What is an argument?
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An argument is a list of statements, one of which is the conclusion and the other are the
premises1 or assumptions2 of the argument.
o 1Reasons that support the conclusion
o 2Unstated reasons
Example 1: “If you want to find a good job, you should work hard. You do want to find a good
job. So you should work hard.”
o First 2 sentences are premises, and third is the conclusion. Argument is valid.
Example 2: “Whichever candidate receives the greatest share of the popular vote will be elected
President of the United States. Al Gore received more votes than George Bush. Therefore, Al
Gore was elected President of the United States.”
o First 2 sentences are premises, and third is the conclusion. However, first premise is
FALSE, and conclusion is also FALSE.
Exercise 1: (1) Do you think the immigration crisis in Europe is going to improve or worsen in the
next six months? Why or why not? What arguments can you give to support your position.
o Given previous research1, it can be believed that the immigration crisis in Europe is
going to IMPROVE over the next six months. This is, for one, due to reinforcement in
border & patrol enforcement, which has decreased the number of immigrants into
fellow European countries (at least the LEGAL side of things). There have also been
increased funding to help those families in need who are crossing the border and
carrying out the immigration, which may reduce the number of immigrants into
European countries and help those that make it past and are faced with hostility.
However, there is always a likelihood that things go the other way and there’s a heavy
increase in illegal crossings, which the border patrols are unable to deal with, and thus
would actually make the situation worse. On the good side, the probability of that
outcome happening is rather low, and the situation will most likely improve over the
next few months.
 1https://www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/refugee-crisis-in-europe/
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Exercise 1: (2) Do you think computers can have emotions? Again, what arguments can you give
to support your viewpoint? Make sure your arguments are composed of statements.
o I believe computers CANNOT have emotions, as it would be logically and practically
impossible to do. Via the definition of emotion, this must the ‘autonomous’, meaning
it’s generated on its own, rather than personally designed to. Due to the fact that
computers have to be CODED in order to handle and process programs, in order for a
computer to have emotions, it would have to overcome said coding and code itself. This,
as it might seem, is possible to an extent, like with AI, but it cannot go to the extent of
actual emotions, supported by actual thoughts and self-processing.
How to look for arguments
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Conclusions are often preceded by words like:
o Therefore
o So
o It follows that
o Hence
o Consequently
o Suggests
o Proves
o Demonstrates that
o Entails
o Implies
Words that indicate premises include:
o Since
o Firstly, secondly…
o For
o As
o After all
o Assuming that
o In view of the fact that
o Follows from
o As shown
o Indicated by
o May be inferred
o Deduced
o Derived from