Thursday, September 9, 2010

Good Argument

A good argument has premises that are plausible. This means that the claims that the person makes are reasonable and possible. A good argument also has premises more plausible than the conclusion. When the claim is more believable than the conclusion then it satisfies one of the tests for being a good argument. Lastly, a good argument is valid or strong, meaning, the premise is true and the reasoning is most likely true as well or the evidence supports the claim very strongly. A good argument has strong support to back up the claim. Arguments can be weak or strong. Take this argument for example: Professor Garfield is an art teacher. All art teachers are supposed to wear a nametag with an easel on it during school hours. So Professor Garfield has a nametag with an easel on it.

This argument is valid. It is not possible for the claim that Professor Garfield is an art teacher and the fact that art teachers wear and easel on their nametag. This is a bad argument however because all art teachers don’t wear their nametags. Sometimes they forget or don’t feel like wearing it that day.

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