Structures of Arguments

Exercise #2:

1) I’m on my way to school. 2) I left five minutes late. 3) Traffic is heavy. 4) Therefore, I’ll be late for class. 5) So I might as well stop and get breakfast.

Argument: Yes

Conclusion: I’m late for class anyway, might as well stop and get breakfast.

Additional Premises Needed: I think to fully understand why the person decides to stop and get breakfast instead of heading straight to class; there should be a connecting premise between 4 and 5. Something like “Even if I’m only a minute late for class the teacher will still deduct 5 points anyway,” will help elaborate the argument. By adding another premise, the argument’s conclusion which is 5 would make more sense.  

Subargument: Sentences 1, 2, and 3 are the subarguments. The 4^th sentence is the result of the first three, while 5 is the conclusion.

Good Argument: The argument is good if the person would add on another premise between 4 and 5 to explain the conclusion. However, it was weak when only left with how it was given in the exercise. After adding the extra premise the argument became stronger and clearer to understand how it came about to the conclusion.

This exercise helped me break down the statement and fully understand what is missing to make the argument more credible. It also showed how one premise can change the strength of an argument. I am definitely going to use what I learned from this exercise to make stronger arguments in my research papers.