What an Argument Is
Chapter Three
Syllabus topic 1.2, "Analysis of arguments - Purpose, Content, language, structure / form. How to identify, evaluate, interpret and construct argument."
Pages 13 to 17 of 334
In one line
An argument is a group of statements in which one of them is claimed to follow from the others.
In the wording a student can write in an examination: an argument is a group of propositions of which one, the conclusion, is asserted on the strength of the others, the premises, which are offered as evidence or reasons for it.
Why the definition matters more than it looks
Everything in this subject is a judgment about arguments, so a student who cannot pick the argument out of a paragraph cannot begin. In an examination, the question "analyse the following argument" is worth nothing to a candidate who has not identified which sentence is the conclusion, and identifying the conclusion is a skill and not a knack.
In practice it matters more still. A judgment of a court is a long document, most of which is narrative, and somewhere inside it there is an argument. Finding it is the whole of what law students are told to do when they are told to find the ratio of a case.
The parts
A statement, also called a proposition, is a sentence that is either true or false. "The notice was served on 4 April" is a statement. "Was the notice served?" is not, and neither is "Serve the notice." Only statements can be premises or conclusions.
The conclusion is the statement the argument is trying to establish. The premises are the statements offered in support of it. An argument must have at least one premise and exactly one conclusion. It may have any number of premises.
Note two things that are not part of the definition. Nothing requires the premises to be true. Nothing requires the conclusion actually to follow. A thoroughly bad argument, with false premises and a conclusion that does not follow, is still an argument. That is why "is this an argument?" and "is this a good argument?" are separate questions, asked in this chapter and the next but one.
Recognising the parts: indicator words
English marks premises and conclusions with small words, and learning the two lists is the fastest single improvement a student can make in this subject.
Conclusion indicators, which come immediately before the conclusion: therefore, hence, thus, so, consequently, accordingly, it follows that, we may conclude that, which shows that, which means that, for this reason, implies that.
Premise indicators, which come immediately before a premise: because, since, for, as, given that, inasmuch as, seeing that, owing to, on the ground that, for the reason that, in view of the fact that.
The word order is not fixed. "The tenancy has ended, therefore the tenant must give up possession" and "The tenant must give up possession, since the tenancy has ended" are the same argument. In the first, the conclusion is last. In the second, it is first. The indicator word is what tells you which is which, and not the position.
What an Argument Is
Standard form
To analyse an argument it is set out in standard form: each premise on its own numbered line, then a line, then the conclusion. The order of the premises never matters.
Take: "Since every agreement enforceable by law is a contract, and this agreement is enforceable by law, it is a contract."
1. Every agreement enforceable by law is a contract.
2. This agreement is enforceable by law.
Therefore, this agreement is a contract.
Rewriting an argument this way is not decoration. It forces three decisions: which statements are in the argument at all, which one is the conclusion, and what the premises actually say once the connecting words are stripped off. Most disagreements about an argument turn out to be disagreements about one of those three.
Arguments with more than one step
Not every argument is one move. In a chain argument, the conclusion of one step becomes a premise of the next, and the intermediate statement is called a sub-conclusion.
1. The notice was posted on 1 March.
2. A notice posted by registered post is deemed served on the third day.
3. Therefore the notice was served on 4 March. [sub-conclusion]
4. The tenancy ends thirty days after service.
Therefore the tenancy ended on 3 April.
Statement 3 is a conclusion in relation to 1 and 2, and a premise in relation to 4. Every judgment of any length is built this way, and a student who cannot see the joints will read the whole thing as one undifferentiated assertion.
There is a second structure worth naming. In a convergent argument, several independent premises each support the conclusion on their own, so that destroying one leaves the others standing. In a linked argument the premises work only together, so that destroying one destroys the argument. A pleader who advances four independent grounds is arguing convergently on purpose.
A worked example
Here is a passage of the kind that appears in an examination paper.
"The defendant company cannot escape liability. It employed the driver, and the driver was on his employer's business when the collision happened. An employer is answerable for a wrong committed by an employee in the course of employment."
Step one, find the conclusion. There is no indicator word, which is common. Ask which statement the others are there to support. The first sentence is the point being urged; the rest is offered as reason for it. The conclusion is "the defendant company cannot escape liability", which restated positively is "the defendant company is liable".
What an Argument Is
Step two, list the premises. That the company employed the driver; that the driver was acting in the course of his employment; that an employer is answerable for an employee's wrong committed in the course of employment.
Step three, standard form.
1. An employer is answerable for a wrong committed by an employee in the course of employment.
2. The defendant company employed the driver.
3. The driver was acting in the course of his employment when the collision happened.
Therefore the defendant company is liable.
Step four, notice what the form shows. The premises are linked and not convergent: knock out premise 3 and the argument collapses entirely, which is exactly why the whole of the litigation in such a case is fought over premise 3. Setting the argument out in standard form does not tell you who wins. It tells you where the fight is.
Distinctions that carry marks
| Argument | Quarrel | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A set of statements, one supported by the others | A dispute between persons |
| Judged by | Whether the conclusion follows | Nothing; it has no logical standing |
| Can be conducted | On paper, by one person, about anything | Only between people |
| Premise | Conclusion | |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Offered as a reason | Claimed to follow |
| Number in one argument | One or more | Exactly one |
| Typical indicators | because, since, for, as, given that | therefore, hence, thus, so, it follows that |
| Linked premises | Convergent premises | |
|---|---|---|
| How they work | Only together | Each independently |
| Effect of destroying one | The argument fails | The rest survive |
| Legal example | The three elements of vicarious liability | Four separate grounds of appeal |
What this does not mean
An argument is not a heated exchange. In ordinary speech "they had an argument" means a quarrel. In logic it means a piece of reasoning, and the two have almost nothing to do with each other. A perfectly polite paragraph in a textbook is an argument; two people shouting is not.
A long passage is not automatically an argument. Much writing states facts, tells a story or describes a scene without claiming that anything follows from anything. The next chapter is about telling the difference.
The conclusion is not the last sentence. It is very often the first, particularly in legal writing, where the practice is to state the proposition and then support it.
Quick revision
Definition: an argument is a group of propositions in which one, the conclusion, is claimed to follow from the others, the premises.
Only statements can be premises or conclusions. Questions and commands cannot.
One conclusion, any number of premises. Truth of the premises is not required for something to be an argument.
What an Argument Is
Conclusion indicators: therefore, hence, thus, so, consequently, accordingly, it follows that.
Premise indicators: because, since, for, as, given that, inasmuch as, on the ground that.
Standard form: premises numbered, line, conclusion. Order of premises is irrelevant.
Chain argument: a sub-conclusion serves as a premise for the next step.
Linked against convergent: linked premises work only together; convergent ones work independently.
Test yourself
1. Define an argument and say what an argument must contain.
An argument is a group of propositions in which one proposition, the conclusion, is asserted on the strength of the others, the premises, which are put forward as reasons for it. It must contain at least one premise and exactly one conclusion, and every one of its members must be a proposition, that is, a sentence capable of being true or false. It need not contain true premises and its conclusion need not actually follow.
2. How do you find the conclusion of a passage that contains no indicator word?
Ask which single statement the rest of the passage is there to support. Test a candidate by putting "therefore" in front of it and "because" in front of the others and seeing whether the passage still reads as the author intended. In legal writing the conclusion is very often the opening sentence, since the practice is to state the proposition first and then give reasons.
3. Put this into standard form: "He cannot be convicted, for the prosecution has not proved the last link in the chain, and a case on circumstantial evidence fails unless every link is proved."
1. A case resting on circumstantial evidence fails unless every link in the chain is proved.
2. The prosecution has not proved the last link in the chain.
Therefore he cannot be convicted.
The word "for" marks the premises and the conclusion stands first, which is the usual legal order.
4. Distinguish linked premises from convergent premises, and say why the difference matters to a lawyer.
Linked premises support the conclusion only in combination, so that if one is destroyed the argument fails altogether. Convergent premises each support the conclusion independently, so that destroying one leaves the others intact. It matters because it tells a pleader where to attack and how to draft: a case built on linked premises has a single weakest point, while independent grounds of appeal are deliberately convergent so that losing one ground does not lose the appeal.
5. Is "Please serve the notice today, because the limitation period expires tomorrow" an argument?
No, or at least not as it stands. "Please serve the notice today" is a request and not a proposition, so it cannot be a conclusion; it is neither true nor false. The passage does contain a reason, and it can be turned into an argument by restating the request as the proposition "the notice ought to be served today", which is capable of truth and falsity and can then be supported.
What an Argument Is
6. What is a sub-conclusion?
A statement that is the conclusion of one step of an argument and a premise of the next. It appears wherever an argument takes more than one move, which is the normal shape of a judgment. Identifying sub-conclusions is what separates reading a judgment as reasoning from reading it as a block of assertion.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.