⬅️ Back to 60.10 Argumentation · Sister MOCs: Debate Playbook (MOC) · Fallacies & Bad Faith (MOC) · Rhetoric & Persuasion (MOC) · Psychology of Belief (MOC) · Argumentation Library (MOC)
What an argument is made of, before anyone starts winning one. Formal machinery lives next door in Logic & Reasoning (MOC) · Logic MOC.
The Parts
- Argument Structure — the master note
- Argument Structure > RULES FOR IDENTIFYING PREMISES AND CONCLUSIONS — find the conclusion first
- The Art of Deception > WHAT IS AN ARGUMENT? (Page 15) · The Art of Deception > WHEN IS AN ARGUMENT ACCEPTABLE? (Page 17)
- The Practice of Argumentation - Effective Reasoning > Chapter 2: What Arguments Look Like (Page 40) — diagramming simple and complex arguments
Kinds of Inference
- Argument Structure > Deductive & Inductive · Argument Structure > Additional Types of Reasoning
- Argument Structure > Summary of Logical Structures
- Cross-folder → Deductive & Inductive Reasoning · Bayes’ theorem · Logical Consequence - Entailment
Syllogisms & Validity
- Argument Structure > Syllogisms · Argument Structure > Categorical Syllogisms
- Argument Structure > The Four Standard Forms (AEIO) · Argument Structure > Venn Diagrams
- Argument Structure > Rules for Valid Syllogisms
- The Practice of Argumentation - Effective Reasoning > Chapter 5: Argument Schemes (Page 115) — validity beyond formal validity
Argument Schemes
- Argumentation Scheme — the catalogue (sign, cause, analogy, authority, example, dissociation)
- The Practice of Argumentation - Effective Reasoning > Chapter 5: Argument Schemes (Page 115)
- Each scheme has its own critical questions — the fastest route to a rebuttal → Attacking An Argument > Anatomy of Refutation
Mapping & Diagramming
- Debate - Argument Tree — the C / R / O / RR grammar and the reusable template
- The blank template
- Trunk & branches — how to hold a tree in your head
- Recall in layers
- Worked example → Logic and God as Ground of Logic (C1 vs. C2, with the Euthyphro dilemma as the hinge)
Evidence
- Chapter 4 Evidence in Argumentation (Page 95)
- Win Every Argument - Medhi Hasan > 3 SHOW YOUR RECEIPTS (Page 53)
- Presenting Your Case > Presenting the Facts
- Statistics, in and out → Attacking An Argument > Refutation of Statistics · Defending Your Case > Statistics
Evaluating an Argument
- Critical Thinking — the master method note
- Critical Thinking > The Paul-Elder Framework (The "Gold Standard") — 8 elements, 9 standards, 8 virtues
- Critical Thinking > The Step-by-Step Procedure (do this in order) · Critical Thinking > A copy-and-paste “worksheet” you can use
- Critical Thinking > The RED Model (Professional Application) · Critical Thinking > The Critical Reading Checklist
- Internal Critique — immanent critique: judge it by its own standards
- Socratic Questioning — the question set that exposes structure
Vagueness & Boundary Problems
- Soritès Paradox — where “how many grains make a heap” breaks a premise
- Threshold Fallacy — “my one vote doesn’t matter” and its relatives
- Attacking An Argument > Refutation of Definition · Defending Your Case > In Defense of Definitions
- Debate Pervertry — see “The Webster Warrior”: the dictionary as a substitute for an argument
Base index
Argumentation.base (file not included in this release)