Discussion Question #14: Chapter 7

Chapter 7 discusses the concept of "counter-arguments". So far, we've learned how to effectively evaluate claims, premises, and the strength of arguments. Now, we're focusing on how to reason with arguments we might encounter on a day-to-day basis.

Raising Objections:
Arguments are claims that are supposed to convince others. Counter-arguments are a tool listeners of the argument have to point out that an argument is "bad" or "weak". We can do this by "raising objections" to a specific argument.

Raising objections function as a "mini-argument" to the main argument of the other person. When person A is stating his/her claims, an objection can be made by person B against that claim. Person A must now respond to the objection, requiring person B to make another objection or bow out of the argument.

For example:
Person A: "I want to get an older muscle car"
    Person B: (Objection) "But you already have a brand new car"
Person A: "Yeah, but muscle cars are faster" (Answer)
    Person B: (Objection) "Yeah, but muscle cars also get much less MPG. You'll be spending more money on gas"

Arguments with objections can go on forever, but the main point is that objections are used as a counter-argument to argue the strength of the original argument.

Refuting an Argument:
Refuting an argument is another way of saying "proving an argument to be false". There are many different ways to do this, but the main three ways of refuting an argument are:

1) Show that at least one of the premises is dubious.
2) Show that the argument isn't valid or strong.
3) Show that  the conclusion is false.

For example:
"Video games are a waste of time. Video games are often bad influences on youth. People should stop playing video games".

Here's an example of how to refute the above argument:

A) You can point out that how people allocate their time is subjective. One person might enjoy video games while another might enjoy reading a book. There are a lot of jobs out there that are focused on creating, designing, and playing video games. Are those jobs a "waste of time too"?

You can refute an argument in a number of different ways, but they all share the same concept of effectively responding to an argument.