FALLIBLE FOX

Differentiating Arguments From Non-arguments (Arguments & Claims Part 2)

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When you're reading a piece of writing or listening to speech, it's not always easy to find the argument when one's being made. First, there might not be an argument present at all. For instance, what you're reading may be a report of research findings or recent events (e.g., news sites are filled with basic reports of events). A reporting author might, for example, be conveying scientific findings that researchers had previously published in a peer-reviewed journal. In reports, the writer is providing a stream of information about recent events or findings.

 

A report might refer to, or even discuss at length, an argument made by someone else, but that's very different from the author making the argument themselves. Knowing precisely who's making the argument is important to your ability to evaluate the piece. For example, we wouldn't assume that a report is of poor quality because it refers to someone else's weak argument. 

 

A story, fictional or not, also differs from an argument—like a report, however, it may contain an argument within it. For example, in a Winnie-the-Pooh story, Piglet, in conversation with Tiger, might make a claim and support it with reasons (i.e., set forth an argument). However, this wouldn't mean that the author, A. A. Milne, is making an argument—it's just part of the story. One wouldn't generally want to assume A. A. Milne made a weak argument, just because one of his characters voiced one.

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There are other times when you may be reading or hearing an explanation rather than an argument. This is often substantially more difficult to distinguish, so ensure to take a minute getting your head wrapped around this difference! Whereas arguments offer reasons that something is true, explanations give reasons why something is true.

 

That is, in an explanation, the author is generally taking a statement as true and assuming that the audience also believes it's true. They're trying to communicate to the audience why it's true. Like this:

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• I have a cold because because my daughter has been sick for the past week and she passed it along to me.

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• My hat is sticky because my son put marmalade in it.

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As you can see, the thing that is being explained (e.g., "my hat is sticky") is assumed to be true and the author is trying to explain why it's true. In an argument, by contrast, the conclusion is not assumed—rather, the author is trying to convince you that it's true. Try this: which one of the following is an argument and which is an explanation?

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• Dinosaurs are extinct because an astroid struck the Earth millions of years ago.

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• I don't see a single dinosaur when I look out my bedroom window and my Dad said there aren't any dinosaurs left on the planet. Therefore, dinosaurs are extinct.

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The first one is an explanation. The author takes it as fact that dinosaurs are extinct and is providing a reason why they're extinct. The second is an argument. The author is offering evidence (though not very good evidence!) that the audience should believe dinosaurs are extinct. It's a bad argument, but it's an argument nonetheless.

 

There is, of course, lots of critical thinking to do when you encounter an explanation. The thing being explained (the explanandum) may not actually be true. Alternatively, there may be problems with an explanatory statement (explanans). For instance, a proponent of unproven alternative medicines like homeopathic remedies may start with the assumption that a homeopathic treatment works and then try to explain to clients or the general public why it works. This assumption of the treatment's efficacy is problematic because there isn't good scientific evidence to support homeopathy's efficacy and there is much good reason to doubt its efficacy. Without good reason to believe the explanandum, the larger explanation doesn't have much going for it. That is, it doesn't do us much good to try to explain something that is not either (a) established fact or (b) at least quite likely to be true. 

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So, sometimes there is no argument—a piece of media might be doing something else entirely, like explaining something or reporting recent events. The second issue with finding an argument is that it may be quite complex and/or not be explicitly stated. This can sometimes be because an author's writing lacks clarity, but at other times the argument is developed over the course of a longer presentation or piece of writing. Sometimes the author is responsible for having made the argument hard to pin down. At other times, though, the reader just needs practice breaking down complex works.

 

The former possibility—poor articulation of an argument—warrants at least some negative evaluation (see section on evaluating arguments). Perhaps the author isn't a very good writer or speaker, has put their ideas out into the world hastily, or has purposefully obscured what they're trying to say (it happens!). While those reasons clearly create communication problems, there might still be something good to take from the argument—thus, you may not want to complete dismiss the work.

 

However, sometimes an argument is hard to pin down despite being stated as clearly as possible. It could simply be a complex argument in its simplest form, for example.

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When you want to analyze somewhat to very complex arguments, Bassham and colleagues (2019) suggest rewriting them without any superfluous content and in an organizing fashion. Realistically, however, this is rarely something you're going to do in practice (though you might be required to do so as part of a critical thinking course). Nevertheless, searching for arguments more deliberately, even when doing casual reading, can have a big payoff in terms of your understanding. Just keeping the idea of argument in mind and thinking about what the author is trying to do can help you get more out of what you read.

 

In short, what is the author's aim? Consider whether the piece definitely makes an argument, might be making an argument, or is doing something else entirely. Are they trying to convince you that something is true (argument)? Are the reporting something someone else has said, did, or discovered (report)? Are they trying to explain why something is true (explanation)?

 

One final thing to consider. Perhaps, as is often the case in short social media posts, the author is merely expressing some view they hold without presenting any reasons for their view. This is referred to as an unsupported assertion. Such as these:

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• There's more police brutality in places with more guns.

• Men who wear hats are less trustworthy.

• Extroverted people are likely to have more friends.

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These are all statements or claims that could be a conclusion in an argument, but when they're stated on their own, they're just unsupported assertions. We shouldn't be swayed in one way or the other unless the author backs them up with good reasons (i.e., is making a decent argument).

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If the author is indeed expressing an argument—trying to convince the audience of a conclusion with reasons (premises)—there's lots more to consider. For example, we want to know whether we should be convinced or at least swayed by the argument (i.e., is it a good argument?). Going a step further, we might want to develop our thinking on how to counter-argue if we choose to or believe that doing so is necessary.