Defending the premises The key to a successful argument

Writing a good argumentative essay To present a series of valid deductive arguments to offer evidence that the premises of your argument are true to defend your argument from cogent objections to put this all into readable prose

Reason and Evidence I. Reason Proper Argument Form E.g. modus ponens IF A then B A Therefore, B II. Evidence Proof that the premises of your argument are true or that it is reasonable to accept them Requires research and creative thinking II is a lot more work than I

P1: All Killing of an Innocent Person is Wrong P2: The Fetus is an Innocent Person C: Killing of fetuses is Wrong

All A are B All Killing of Innocent People is Wrong Defense: ?

All A are B P1: All Killing of Innocent People are Wrong DEFENSE OF P1: The prohibition against killing is perhaps the oldest moral code in existence, adopted by ever civilized nation and respected and honored in all places. Christian, Buddhist and Islamic traditions all outlaw murder.

EVIDENCE Quotes from Christianity, Buddhism, Islamic sources ARGUMENT TYPE: Argument from Example At least three sources

X is a B P2: The fetus is an (innocent ) Person Defense:

X is a B P2: The fetus is an innocent person Defense: A person can be defined as whatever has the genetic code of the human species Evidence: Three sources to provide the definition of what is a person Argument Type: Argument from Example

Outline Premise 1: Defense: Evidence: Argument Type:

Hint: It is often better to change “IF…then” statements to “ALL” Modus Ponens P1: If the fetus is a person it is wrong to kill it P2: the fetus is a person C: it is wrong to kill the fetus Categorical P1: All killing of people is wrong P2: The fetus is a person C: The fetus is wrong

Modus Ponens P1: If there is not an expectation that cloning would be successful, then we should not engage in cloning P2: There is not an expectation that cloning would be successful C: We should not engage in cloning Categorical P1: Only potentially successful medical practices should be engaged P2: There is not an expectation that cloning would be successful C: We should not engage in cloning

The Two parts of your argument THEORETICAL “It is always wrong to kill an innocent human being” Defense requires that you must offer a theory of what makes something right and wrong FACTUAL “The fetus is an innocent human being” Defense requires you specify the factual/scientific criteria for what makes something human

P1: Only potentially successful medical practices should be engaged P2: There is not an expectation that cloning would be successful C: We should not engage in cloning

Theoretical/General P1: Only potentially successful medical practices should be engaged This is a theoretical claim about what sort of medical practices a society would engage in Factual/Specific P2: There is not an expectation that cloning would be successful This is a factual claim about how whether specific instances of cloning have been successful

Exercise 1 Look at your argument and identify Theoretical Claim Factual Claim

Student Example P1: All things that cause unnecessary suffering are unjustifiable P2:Animal experimentation causes unnecessary suffering C: All animal experimentation is unjustifiable

Theoretical/General All things that cause unnecessary suffering are unjustifiable Factual/Specific Animal experimentation causes unnecessary suffering

Theoretical/General All things that cause unnecessary suffering are unjustifiable Defense: Evidence: Argument type (examples/authority/causal) Factual/Specific Animal experimentation causes unnecessary suffering Defense Evidence: Argument type (examples/authority/causal)

Theoretical P1: All things that cause unnecessary suffering are unjustifiable Defense: John Stuart Mill’s philosophy of Utilitarianism, which argues that the good is what brings about the greatest happiness for the greatest number Evidence: Text from Mill’s book Argument type: Argument from authority

Factual/Specific P2: Animal experimentation causes unnecessary suffering Defense: Look at a number of specific examples of animal experiments to demonstrate they cause unnecessary suffering Evidence: Newspaper articles, academic journals where such experiments are reported Argument type: Argument from examples

Exercise 2 Review your premises with your partner and discuss 1. How you would defend your premises? 2. What evidence would you use? 3. What argument type?

Next Step: For each of your premises, sketch out a defense of each of your premises, suggest what evidence you would provide and what type of argument you will use

Premise 1 Defense Evidence Argument Type: Premise 2 Defense Evidence Argument Type: