USE OF ARGUMENTS & LANGUAGE
Why Arguments ?
An argument is a statement or set of statements based on
evidence which is presented to show that a decision is true before we come to
the conclusion. Arguments help to justify our ideas regarding something. In
order to that we have to prove them logically. Arguments help us to look at a
problem clearly and with full understanding, and support us to resolve our
problems in every way.
In
considering the arguments, the language is the
most important part of it. Language is used to exchange our ideas. We can't
communicate our ideas correctly, without knowing language. In arguments, we
exchange our statements by using language. Without understanding of language,
we can't make arguments.
Practice of Justification
These are two main purposes of arguments. Both these things
try to give reasons in different ways. The act of justifying is the reason about why we
are right, or probably right, to adopt one theory rather than another or one
proposal for action rather than another.
For example, in schools or
universities, when teachers accuse some students about cheating while they were
in tests or quizzes, students can prove their whole task was done by themselves
by saying to check their answers and to find any similarities, or to seek their
positions where they had sat in the examination hall. After that, the teacher
can justify whether the relevant students right or wrong, and take suitable
action for that.
Explanation
The explanation is a kind of theory about why something
happened or why we should do one thing rather than another. In other words the
act or process of describing a situation or something very clearly. Sometimes,
explanations may contribute to making a better act of justifications for
positive conclusions.
For
example, assume you have to find mathematically whether the number seven is a
prime number or not. Let’s see how we can solve this question step by step. If
we divide 7 by any value, we can notice that 7 can only be divided by 1 and 7
without any remainders. This means 1 and 7 are the factors of seven. Prime
numbers are the numbers that have only two factors. Therefore, we can
mathematically prove and say that seven is a prime number. When someone does
not believe in that kind of situations, we can make appropriate arguments with
the help of the methods of justification and explanation, and prove the actual
way that happens.
Language & Convention
Languages
help us to communicate with each other. Understanding language is essential for
arguments to work properly. Otherwise, we cannot get the correct results of the
argument. Accordingly, it seems that it is essential to understand the language
correctly.
Misunderstanding
the conventional nature of the language will allow people too many difficulties.
Sometimes it will be caused to conflicts. If we can only understand the words
in a language, it's not enough to make a good argument. We should understand
the conventional nature of the language. For
instance, in a convention, one person says "all the junk food have too
many calories, gaining that food will cause to become obese." But another
person can't understand how that gain of calories causes us to become obese.
Therefore, he never accepts that junk foods cause obesity.
Arguments in Standard Form
The standard form of an argument is a way of presenting the
argument which makes clear which propositions are premises, how many premises
there are and which proposition is the conclusion. In standard form, the
conclusion of the argument is listed last.
In standard form, an argument is presented like this:
P1 - Premise 1
P2 - Premise 2
C - Conclusion
For example:
"If this liquid is acidic, the litmus paper would have turned red. But it hasn't, so the liquid is not acidic."
P1 - If the liquid is acidic, the litmus paper would have turned red.
P2 - The litmus paper has not turned red.
C - The liquid is not acidic.
In presenting an argument in the standard format the premises and the conclusion are clearly identified.
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