Assignment 42 for practical work in media lab: Diagramming Extended Arguments For the Departments of Media Studies by Prof Dr Sohail Ansari

Diagramming Extended Arguments

As you are surely aware, most of the arguments you encounter in your daily life do not look like the ones you encountered in the first five exercises of this course. To make the things you'll be learning throughout the course more applicable you'll need some practice manipulating and examining extended arguments. This lesson will only give you a little taste of analyzing extended arguments--many logic courses make natural language or "practical" logic a focus, but ours doesn't really.
It's a rare person who utters neat syllogisms with two clearly true premises and one conclusion, containing exactly three terms, each repeated twice. If you were to encounter someone who spoke this way, it would probably be a philosopher who had been teaching too long. (!) Most people give tangled mixtures of premises and conclusions, backing up the premises they think are shaky and throwing in as much impressive evidence as they can, sometimes even if its relevance is questionable.
People also tend to use emotionally charged examples and language, to persuade the reader/listener rather than convince her, and this can make your job hard as well.
Most importantly, people very often leave important assumptions (premises) unstated. Sometimes this is because they really do think the assumption is so obvious it goes without saying, and sometimes because they know that it doesn't, and to state their assumption explicitly would be to show that the argument stands on shaky ground. We will be looking at more closely at assumptions in the lesson on enthymemes, but they will keep you on your toes in this lesson, so you should notice and be aware of them.
Keep in mind that diagramming arguments is as much "art" as "science" It will sometimes take some creative imagination to get a diagram that makes sense. Your diagram may be a little different from someone else’s.
The first step when diagramming an argument is to number the statements, if they aren't already numbered. Then you need merely write the numbers in your diagram, rather than writing out the whole statement. (As you already know, statements are sentences or phrases that can be judged to be true or false.)
Next, using numbers to represent statements, along with arrows and braces draw your diagram. (Refer to the text to see example diagrams.)
· Decide which statement is the main conclusion and write its number at the bottom of your diagram. Remember that there may be two or more different main conclusions in a complexly intertwined passage, and they may share at least some premises. Hurley tells you to draw such conclusions as Conjoint in your diagram. I prefer for you to draw two separate diagrams, repeating the numbers of the premises that provide support for both conclusions.
· The statements which offer direct support for this conclusion are represented above it, with arrows indicating the support.
Vertical pattern or "chained" arguments are strings of arguments in which a sub-conclusion operates as a premise in another, more basic, argument, the conclusion of which may well be a premise in yet another argument in turn.
Horizontal pattern or "scatter-gun" arguments have several premises all supporting the same conclusion.
Complex arguments may very likely mix these two main patterns.
· Some or all of these premises may be conjoint. That is, they may operate together in providing the support for the conclusion, while neither stands on its own. (Premises in deductive arguments are conjoint, though purely deductive arguments are rare in extended arguments) Indicate conjoint premises with a brace and only one arrow pointing from the joined premises to the conclusion.
When diagramming an extended, ordinary language argument you may be bugged by assumptions that are affecting the argument, but aren't stated, and therefore can't be numbered. If you think they really should go into your diagram, you may write them out and give them a number on your own. Just, please, be explicit about what you are doing.
ASSIGNMENT 1:

Diagram the following arguments, using the numbers of the statements provided. (20 points each)
(1) We need a National service program for young college grads that would return the money spent for college. (2) By the end of college, many grads have thousands of dollars worth of loans to pay back, and no job. (3) A national service program could satisfy that obligation. (4) Also, recent grads could acquire valuable experience in an area in which they could get a job. (5) there are other reasons. (6) We face awful social problems today: crime, urban strife, drugs, and racial and class conflicts. (7) A national service problem could help solve those problems.

(1) Constantly being plugged into electronic media impairs creativity. (2) This is so because creativity depends on ideas, (3) and these ideas must flow freely and steadily. (4) The barrage of news views and videos interrupts the flow of thought. (5) Also ideas need quiet time to emerge and grow, (6) and being plugged in destroys the quiet. (7) Remember, Newton discovered the law of gravity while sitting under an apple tree. (8) If he had been wearing his Walkman, he would have missed the real impact of the apple's fall.

(1) We should not build more nuclear power plants in the United States. (2) Nuclear power is a dangerous technology: (3) we have already experienced several nuclear accidents. (4) More accidents are likely in the future. (5) It is unlikely that all operators are well trained and follow all safety procedures, but even if they did, (6) nuclear power plants can be targets of terrorist strikes. Furthermore, (7) nuclear power places an unfair burden on future generations. (8) While we gain the benefit of the electricity produced, (9) we leave for future generations the legacy of dangerously radioactive spent nuclear fuel. (10) It is selfish and unfair to use a technology which benefits the present at the expense of future generations. Finally, (11) we do not really need the power which nuclear power plants generate. (12) Through careful conservation of energy--including stricter requirements for energy efficient appliances, equipment, automobiles and houses, we could eliminate some power requirements and, (13) through the use of solar and hydroelectric and wind power we could substantially increase our supply of energy.

ASSIGNMENT 2: (40 points)
Find an extended argument and diagram it. Simple enough?
The op-ed section in the newspaper is a good place to look, but you may use any argument you find anywhere. Don't be discouraged if you can't find something suitable right away, just notice and marvel at how much bad argumentation there is out there. (!) You will find something if you keep looking.
Keep in mind that the more carefully written the passage you are diagramming, the easier it will be to diagram. But clarity of argumentation is not the same as shortness. Since this assignment is worth 40 points, make sure you choose a passage that gives you a chance to show off what you can do. It should be at least as complex as the final passage in assignment 1, otherwise you won't be able to convince me that you deserve to receive full credit.