Discussion Question #7: Page 225

For the first discussion question, I'm choosing to write about Exercise #1 from page 225.

1) My neighbor should be forced to get rid of all the cars in his yard. People do not like living next door to such a mess. He never drives any of them. They all look old and beat up and leak oil all over the place. It is bad for the neighborhood, and it will decrease property values.

Argument? Yes, there is an argument. This individual is arguing that their neighbor needs to get rid of cars parked in his yard.

Conclusion: His old cars are bad for the neighborhood as they decrease property values.

Additional Premises Needed? Several premises need to be added and made clearer in this argument. The individual should include certain laws within the area that focus on hazardous waste (abundances of oil), parking multiple cars in a yard, and the options neighbors have to file a complaint to the city.

Identify any subargument: I wouldn't really label anything as a "subargument" as I would irrelevant. This argument isn't very specific and it makes observations, instead of giving factual evidence as to why their neighbor shouldn't be allowed to have their cars all over their yard. "He never drives them" and "People don't like the look" don't really support the argument as well as something like "Dormant, old cars possess several health risks to the environment due to rust, leaking battery acid, and oil" would.

Good argument? This argument isn't a very good argument as I've stated previously. It's not very specific, it doesn't really have a clear point, and is generally too wordy. This argument needs to be rewritten with a better format that flows from point to point. For example:

"A city ordinance prevents the parking/storage of cars in yards. Dormant, old cars possess several health risks to the environment due to rust, leaking battery acid, and oil. Leaving them strewn about a yard causes the surrounding plant life, such as grass, to die. Unsightly lawns and yards have been proven to bring down property values for the whole neighborhood. Therefore, our neighbor is required to remove his old cars from his yard."

This was good practice in breaking down and analyzing each section of an argument. The more you do something, the easier it becomes. Doing simple exercises like these and breaking each part down will make you that much better at analyzing any arguments you might encounter on a daily basis.