Identifying arguments

1. Carlito Manansala Jr.
manansalac25@gmail.com

3. Arguments – a form of thinking in which certain
statements (reasons) are offered in support of another
statement (a conclusion).
 Premises (Reasons) – Statements that support
another statement (known as a conclusion),
justify it, or make it more probable.
 Conclusion – A statement that explains, asserts,
or predicts on the basis of statements (known as
reasons) that are offered as evidence.

4. Lawyers earn a lot of money. (Premise)
I want to earn a lot of money. (Premise)
I should become a Lawyer. (Conclusion)
Example – A Simple Argument

5. Look for premise indicators that provide clues when
premises are being offered.
Examples: because, since, for, given, that, as, judging
from, and seeing that.
Look for conclusion indicators that provide clues
when conclusions are being offered.
Examples: therefore, thus, hence, so, as a result,
accordingly, consequently, and which shows that.
Identifying Premises & Conclusions
Tips:

6. Ask yourself, "What claim is the writer or speaker
trying to prove?" That claim will be the conclusion.
Try putting the word "therefore" before each of the
statements in turn. The statement it fits best will be
the conclusion.
If the passage contains no indicator
words, try these two strategies:

7. More precisely, a passage is an argument if and only
if:
•It is a group of two or more statements.
•One of those statements (the conclusion) is
claimed or intended to be supported by the
other(s) (the premises).
What is Not an Argument?
Note: An argument is a claim defended with reasons.

8. Notice three important things that
follow from this definition:
I. Arguments consist entirely of statements
(sentences that it makes sense to regard as either
true or false). Questions, commands, and other
kinds of non-statements cannot be parts of
arguments (Keep in mind, however, that rhetorical
question should be treated as statements.).

9. Notice three important things that
follow from this definition:
II. No single statement is an argument. Arguments
always consist of at least two statements.
III. Nothing counts as an argument unless it is claimed
or intended that one statement follows from one
or more other statements in the passage. In other
words, a passage is an argument only if the
speaker or writer intends to offer evidence or
reasons why another statement should be
accepted as true.

10. Five kinds of passages that are
sometimes confused with arguments:
Reports
Unsupported statements of
belief or opinions
Illustrations
Conditional Statements
Explanations
A statement or group of statements intended simply to
convey information about a subject.
Is a statement or set of statements in which the speaker
or writer expresses his or her personal opinion, but
offers no reasons or evidence to back up that opinion.
Unsupported statements of belief or opinions.
Is a passage intended to provide examples that
illustrate or support a claim, not to provide convincing
evidence that the claim is true.
Is an if-then statement. It is an assertion that such-and-
such is true if something else is true.
Is a statement or set of statements that seeks to
provide an account of why something has occurred or
why something is the case.