Arguments and Conclusions

Argument Reconstruction

Argument reconstruction is the process of identifying and organizing an argument's premises, intermediate claims, and conclusion so that the reasoning being presented can be evaluated clearly and accurately.

Argument-Level Diagnosis

Argument-level diagnosis is the process of identifying the level at which a disagreement actually occurs, such as a disagreement about facts, definitions, causal explanations, conceptual frameworks, policies, or normative judgments.

Internal Consistency

Internal consistency is the property of an argument or position whose claims, principles, and reasoning do not contradict one another and are applied consistently across relevantly similar cases.

Scope of Conclusion

Scope of conclusion is the range of cases, people, events, places, or circumstances to which a conclusion can reasonably apply given the evidence and reasoning supporting it. A narrowly supported argument does not automatically justify a broader conclusion.

The Burden of Proof

The responsibility to provide evidence sufficient to justify a claim. The stronger, broader, or more universal a claim is, the stronger the evidence generally needs to be; a person making a claim cannot simply require others to disprove it.

Straw Man

A distorted, weakened, or oversimplified version of another person's actual argument or position that is easier to attack. Avoiding a straw man requires reconstructing the position accurately before criticizing it.