The Logic of Real Arguments

This new and expanded edition of The Logic of Real Arguments explains a distinctive method for analysing and evaluating arguments.

Alec Fisher (Author)

9780521652414, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 September 2004

236 pages
23.6 x 15.9 x 2 cm, 0.509 kg

"As an introduction to logic which prepares students to use the discipline in future studies, Real Arguments has no serious competitors." Informal Logic

This new and expanded edition of The Logic of Real Arguments explains a distinctive method for analysing and evaluating arguments. It discusses many examples, ranging from newspaper articles to extracts from classic texts, and from easy passages to much more difficult ones. It shows students how to use the question 'What argument or evidence would justify me in believing P?', and also how to deal with suppositional arguments beginning with the phrase 'Suppose that X were the case.' It aims to help students to think critically about the kind of sustained, theoretical arguments which they commonly encounter in the course of their studies, including arguments about the natural world, about society, about policy, and about philosophy. It will be valuable for students and their teachers in a wide range of disciplines including philosophy, law and the social sciences.

Preface to first edition
Preface to second edition
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. A general method of argument analysis
3. A first example - from Thomas Malthus
4. Reasoning about nuclear deterrence
5. An example from John Stuart Mill
6. Arguments about God's existence
7. How do your mind and body interact?
8. Suppose for the sake of argument that ...
9. An example from Karl Marx
10. Evaluating scientific arguments: some initial examples
11. Philosophical assumptions
Appendix: Elementary formal logic
Exercises.

Subject Areas: Philosophy: logic [HPL]