The Logic of Real Arguments
Cambridge University Press
Edition: 2, 9/23/2004
EAN 9780521654814, ISBN10: 0521654815
Paperback, 236 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm
Language: English
This new and expanded edition of The Logic of Real Arguments explains a distinctive method for analysing and evaluating arguments. It discusses many examples, ranging from newspaper articles to extracts from classic texts, and from easy passages to much more difficult ones. It shows students how to use the question 'What argument or evidence would justify me in believing P?', and also how to deal with suppositional arguments beginning with the phrase 'Suppose that X were the case.' It aims to help students to think critically about the kind of sustained, theoretical arguments which they commonly encounter in the course of their studies, including arguments about the natural world, about society, about policy, and about philosophy. It will be valuable for students and their teachers in a wide range of disciplines including philosophy, law and the social sciences.
Preface to first edition
Preface to second edition
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. A general method of argument analysis
3. A first example - from Thomas Malthus
4. Reasoning about nuclear deterrence
5. An example from John Stuart Mill
6. Arguments about God's existence
7. How do your mind and body interact?
8. Suppose for the sake of argument that ...
9. An example from Karl Marx
10. Evaluating scientific arguments
some initial examples
11. Philosophical assumptions
Appendix
Elementary formal logic
Exercises.