Argument

1. A conclusion $Q$
2. Premises supporting the conclusion

All arguments can have this form:

• $A$
• $B$
• $C$
• …
• Therefore $Q$

Flawed Argument

An argument like “EARTH IS FLAT, EARTH IS FLAT, EARTH IS FLAT”, is not an argument because it does not have premises.

Argument Choice

You can either:

• Accept the conclusion (You can be so confident in the conclusion that you don’t pay heed to the premises)
• Reject the premises (You can’t reject the conclusion without rejecting the premises)
  • You dont necessarily need to think the premise is wrong, you just need to value your own conclusion more than the premise to reject it.

Example Argument

$Q:$ USC will lose the big-ten game

• $A:$ The Michigan defense will be stout again
• $B:$ The game is played in the big house
• $C:$ (implicitly if $A$ and $B$ then $Q$)
• Therefore $Q:$ USC will lose If you want to argue that the QB is amazing, then you reject premise $C$.

Concepts

• Conclusion Confidence
• Deductive Argument
• Validity
• Soundness
• Argument Objection