In Epstein ch 4 he talks about repairing arguments. In his guide to repairing arguments Epstein stats "that since the person is supposed to be able to reason well, we can add a premise to his or her argument only if it makes the argument stronger or valid and doesn't beg the question." The Guide to Repairing Arguments: Given an argument that is apparently defective, we are justified in adding a premise or conclusion if it satisfies all three of the following
1. The argument becomes stronger or valid.
2. The premise is plausible and would seem plausible to the other person.
3. The premise is more plausible than the conclusion.
An example would be "Alcohol is bad for pregnant women."
That statement would need to be repaired because it does not state why alcohol is bad for pregnant women and would live the people guessing and trying to understand. For this to be a strong or valid argument you would need to put Alcohol is bad for pregnant women. When pregnant women drink alcohol it can cause birth defects.
Turtle-
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting this blog; it was really helpful. I think you gave good examples because they were clear and easy to understand. You pretty much laid out all the information from the book into your blog and I did not have to once refer back to the text to make sure I completely understood the topic. I also liked your argument and how you defended yourself for the reasons why that the particular statement that pregnant woman should not drink alcohol. You did everything correctly and presented the issue well. Thanks for this post and hope to read again soon!