Structure of a well-formed argument
It does not use reasons that contradict each other, contradict the conclusion or explicitly or implicitly assumes the truth of the conclusion. Checklist:
- Does the communication include at least one reason to support the conclusion as being true? If not, it is not an argument, but an opinion.
- Could any of the key premises be interpreted as making the same claim as the conclusion? If so, then it’s a “circular argument” without independent reason given to support the conclusion.
- Do any of the premises contradict another premise, or does the conclusion contradict any of the premises?
1.51K
7.96K reads
CURATED FROM
IDEAS CURATED BY
The idea is part of this collection:
Learn more about communication with this collection
How to prioritize self-care in the workplace
How to adapt to new work arrangements
How to maintain work-life balance
Related collections
Similar ideas to Structure of a well-formed argument
Begging the question
Begging the question is an example of a fallacy of presumption, also known as a circular argument: The conclusion appears at the beginning and the end of the argument. A is true because A is true.
A valid argument in support of a claim will of...
Constructing a good argument
At its core, an argument consists of a conclusion and one or more premises, or claims.
- The conclusion is what the communicator wants his or her audience to accept.
- The premises are the reasons for believing the conclusion to be true.
How to respond to false premises
When you respond to the use of false premises, you should generally call them out as false, explain why they're false, and how them being false invalidates the argument.
- False premises can be implicit rather than explicit.
- It can also be helpful to ask the p...
Read & Learn
20x Faster
without
deepstash
with
deepstash
with
deepstash
Personalized microlearning
—
100+ Learning Journeys
—
Access to 200,000+ ideas
—
Access to the mobile app
—
Unlimited idea saving
—
—
Unlimited history
—
—
Unlimited listening to ideas
—
—
Downloading & offline access
—
—
Supercharge your mind with one idea per day
Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.
I agree to receive email updates