An argument is not a fight

About this video

The word "argument" has two meanings. In everyday talk it is a quarrel: two people disagreeing angrily, each trying to win. In logic it is something calm: a set of claims where some of them, the reasons, are given to support another one, the conclusion. Logicians call the reasons premises. Nobody has to be angry, and one person can make an argument alone in a notebook.

This short animation follows Leila at a bus stop. She knows that the bus comes every 20 minutes and that the last bus left 19 minutes ago, so she concludes that the next bus will come in about a minute. Drawn as an argument map, her two reasons sit in boxes at the top with arrows down to the conclusion. Neither reason is enough alone: they work together.

Then the video shows what a quarrel often adds instead: saying it louder, saying it again, insisting. "IT WILL RAIN! I'M SURE!" draws as a conclusion with nothing above it. The way back is the question "Why do you think so?", which asks for a reason. This video goes with the Reasons and a Conclusion, An Argument Is Not a Fight and Why Do You Think So? lessons of Logic Level 1 on Knaph.

Transcript

1. 0:00Yes it is! No it isn't! Is that an argument?
2. 0:04In logic, an argument is reasons given for a conclusion.
3. 0:08So the next bus comes in a minute.
4. 0:11Neither reason is enough alone. They work together.
5. 0:16Shouting, repeating, insisting. However loud, they add no reasons.
6. 0:22So ask, why do you think so? Dark clouds. Now there's a reason.
7. 0:28An argument is reasons given for a conclusion.