Lecture 3 - What Arguments Are Used For - Justification

Welcome back.
In the previous lecture, we saw a

definition of argument as a connected
series of sentences, statements, or

propositions,
Where some of those sentences, statements,

and propositions are premises and one of
them is a conclusion.

And the premises are intended to give some
kind of reason, for the conclusion.

In this lecture, we're going to look at
the purposes for which people give

arguments, because the purposes are
crucial in determining what an object is.

Take for example an artifact that you
might find at an archaeological site.

You won't be able to figure out whether
it's a really big screwdriver or a really

small spatula, unless you know whether the
people who used it intended it to screw

screws, or to pick up food that they were
cooking.

So to understand arguments we need to
understand the purposes for arguments.

And that means, why does somebody bother
to give an argument instead of just

asserting the conclusion without an
argument?

Well, just think about it.
If you went to a used car lot and the

salesman said, You ought to buy that
Mustang?

Would that convince you?
Not a chance.

But if the salesman said, You ought to buy
that Mustang because it looks really cool,

and it goes really fast, or maybe it has
great gas mileage, or whatever, and gives

you a series of reasons, then you might be
convinced to buy the Mustang.

So that's one purpose of arguments, to try
to convince you to do things, or to

believe things, that you wouldn't
otherwise do or believe.

So this purpose is persuading or
convincing, and if you think about it,

what the salesman's trying to do is he's
trying to change your mental states.

He's trying to make you believe something
that you didn't believe, or do something

that you didn't do.
So he's trying to bring about an effect in

the world.
But that's just one purpose of arguments.

We don't always act like salesmen.
Sometimes, instead of trying to change

people's beliefs, we're simply trying to
give them a reason for their belief or for

our belief.
And to give them a reason is not

necessarily to convince them, or persuade
them, or change their beliefs.

When we're simply trying to give them a
reason to believe the conclusion, we're

going to call that justification.
So imagine that your friend, you're not a

salesman, you're a friend, imagine that
your friend is thinking about buying a car

and he doesn't know which one to buy.
You might say, Well, I think you ought to

buy the Mustang, because it looks really
good, and it goes really fast, and it's

actually got pretty good gas mileage, and
it's quite reliable, or whatever.

You're not necessarily trying to convince
her to buy that car.

It'd be fine with you if she bought any
car she wanted,

any car that would make her happy.
You're trying to talk about the reasons

for buying the car, so that she can make
her own decision.

In that sense, you're trying to justify
that decision, or that belief that the

Mustang is the best car for her to buy and
not necessarily to convince her or

persuade her.
If she comes up with great reasons to the

contrary, you're perfectly happy,
whereas the salesman wouldn't be.

But notice, that you might give exactly
the same reasons that the salesman did.

Exactly the argument that the salesman
did.

The difference lies in the purpose,
because the salesman is trying to convince

her to change her beliefs and actions.
But your goal, with your friend is to

discuss the reasons for her decision or
action.

So you're thinking about justification and
the salesman was thinking about

persuasion.
That really matters whether your goal is

justification or persuasion, because there's a
big difference here.

If you're trying to justify your friend's
belief or your friend's action,

then you're trying to give her good
reasons.

The salesman can convince her or persuade
her with bad reasons.

So it doesn't matter to his purposes
whether the arguments that he gives are

any good or bad, as long as they work to
affect that change in the world,

whereas you care about whether your
arguments and your reasons are good

reasons or arguments,
because you're trying to justify that

belief or that action.
And of course, people can try to do all of

these things at once.
They can mix them together in various ways

and that can get complicated,
so when someone gives you an argument, you

need to ask a series of questions.
The first thing you need to ask is, is

this person trying to change my mind or
change my behavior?

If so, then their goal is persuasion or to
convince you.

Then you need to ask, are they trying to
give reasons for changing my mind or for

believing if I already believed it.
Well, if they're doing that then your goal

is justification.
And if you go down that series of

questions, you'll be able to understand
what the purpose of giving the argument

is, at least for this range of cases.
So let's do a few exercises just to make

sure that you understand justification
before we go on to the next purpose of

argument which will be explanation.