Lecture 2 - What is an Argument?

Last modified: 11/14/2012 15:52 pm

Well, I hope the first lecture convinced
you that arguments really matter.

Of course, they're not the only thing that
matters,

There's more to life than reason and
arguments. But, they are something that

matters, and they matter a lot.
So, we need to understand arguments.

And the first step in understanding
arguments is to figure out what arguments

are.
And the first step in understanding what

arguments are is to figure out what
arguments are not because we want to

distinguish arguments from all those
things that don't count as arguing.

And the best source of information about
what arguments are not is, of course,

Monty Python.
Well, that was pretty silly wasn't it?

But it in the midst of all that silliness,
we find some truth because, after all,

many members of the Monty Python troupe
were philosophy majors.

So, each room represents a kind of thing
that we need to distinguish from

arguments.
So, let's think first about getting hit on

the head lessons.
Oh.

Arguments are not like hitting
people on the head.

You hit people on the head when you
wrestle.

The point is that arguments are not
fights.

You don't win an argument by hitting
somebody on the head.

Sometimes, little children say that their
parents are arguing when they're really

having a verbal fight.
All this fighting, I might as well

be back with my parents.
Damn it, George, I told you if you didn't

quit drinking I'd leave you.
Well, guess that makes you a liar because I'm

drunk as hell and you're still here.
But, you cannot win an argument

just by yelling at someone.
That doesn't make the argument any better,

because that's not the point of arguing.
Another room in the Monty Python skit

involves abuse.
Don't give me that, you snotty-faced heap

of parrot droppings.
Now, abuse is one of the things

you do with language, but it's not the
same as arguing.

You cannot win an argument simply by
calling your opponent a stupid git.

Stupid git.
And the point of this course is not to

teach you to go back and abuse your
roommate by calling them nasty names,

That will not help you win any argument.
It also won't help you win any friends.

And another room in the skit has to do
with complaining.

Nothing happens, you might just as well
not bother, and my back hurts, and we'll

never have a fine day.
But all those complaints don't amount to

an argument either.
They're just expressing your emotion about

the situation.
Arguing is something different from all of

those rooms.
So, what is arguing?

Well, at one point, one of the characters
says,

Well, arguing is not the same as
contradiction.

It can be.
No, it can't.

So, what do they mean by a contradiction?
In British English, to say a

contradiction, is just to deny the person,
or contradict what they said.

But contradicting what the person said,
that is denying it, is not arguing.

I can say,
What do you think is the best flavor of

ice-cream in the world?
Well, I have my favorite. I know what the

best flavor is.
The best flavor is Ben and Jerry's Coconut

Almond Fudge Chip ice cream; there's
nothing better.

And then, you say, no it isn't.
Well, you haven't argued that it isn't and

I haven't argued that it is.
We're just disagreeing with each other.

We haven't given any reason for any of the
positions that we've adopted yet.

So, as Monty Python says later on, in a
different character,

Argument is an intellectual process.
It's a process not just of asserting your

views, but of giving some kind of reason
for your views.

So, the next definition that Monty Python
gives of an argument is, that an argument

is a connected series of statements to
establish a proposition.

I take it they mean, intended to establish
a certain proposition.

So, that's a pretty cool definition, if
you think about it

because it tells you what an argument is
made of.

It's a series of statements, and
statements are made in language, so

arguments are made of language.
It also tells you what the purpose of

argument is.
The purpose of argument, they say, is to

establish a certain proposition.
So now we have a pretty neat definition of

argument.
This definition gives us a nice contrast

because there are lots of other series of
statements or sentences that don't count

as arguments because they're not intended
to establish a proposition.

Consider for example, a novel which has
statements about what's going on, but it's

not necessarily trying to establish any
particular proposition.

Or a dictionary might have a series of
definitions, but it's not intended to

establish a certain proposition.
Instead, novels and dictionaries order

sentences in a different way.
They order them either chronologically or

alphabetically,
whereas arguments are trying to put

statements into a certain structure that
reflects the order of reasoning in order

to establish the proposition, according to
Monty Python.

But Monty Python, no matter how great they
are, and they are great,

didn't get it quite right because the
purpose of an argument is not always to

establish a proposition because some
propositions are conclusions of

arguments we already knew.
Consider, for example, a mathematical

proof.
If someone tries to prove the Pythagorean

Theorem in geometry, people already
believe the theorem.

They already new that it was true,
so they weren't trying to establish the

proposition.
But the proof does something else.

It shows you how that proposition is
connected to the axioms of the system and

helps you understand why the proposition
is true.

And we'll see that other arguments, like
explanations, do the same thing.

So sometimes, arguments are intended to
establish a proposition, like Monty Python

said.
But in other cases, they're intended to

help us understand the proposition and the
reasons why the proposition is true.

So, we want to distinguish reasons to
believe that the proposition is true from

reasons why the proposition is true.
And arguments can do both of those things.

So, we need a somewhat broader definition
of argument to cover these different kinds

of reasons.
We'll think of an argument as a connected

series of sentences, or statements, or
propositions where some of these sentences

or statements or propositions are premises
and one of them is the conclusion.

And the ones that are premises are
intended to provide some kind of reason

for the one that's the conclusion.
This definition is useful in many ways.

First of all, it tells us what the parts
of the arguments are,

The premises and the conclusion.
Secondly, it tells you what the argument's

made of.
It's made of language because sentences

and statements and propositions are made
in language.

Third, it tells you the purpose of
argument.

To give a reason for the conclusion.
Fourth, a nice feature is that it's very

flexible, because there are lots of
different kinds of reasons.

We don't want our definition to be too
narrow because then it won't cover all the

different kinds of arguments.
And the notion of reason captures the

different kinds of relations between the
premises and the conclusion in different

kinds of arguments.
So, let's do a few quick exercises to make

sure that you understand how this
definition works.