What art the essential components of a logical argument?
A logical argument is made up of the premise, the inference and the conclusion.The premise is the base in the structure of an argument. Within the boundaries of an argument, it isirriducible, that is, there is nothing more basic than the premise. Because the statements of the premiseare irriducible, they are also called assumptions — the reader is called upon to accept them unquestioning, for the sake of the argument — the reader has to choose not to reduce them.The inference is the set of statements derived from the premise. These statements are reducible —back to the premise.The conclusion is the final statement in the process of inference, and the statement which we are most interested in — it is like the result of an experiment. You may have been taught that an essay has topic statements — these are the conclusions that your argument is trying to reach — the goal of theexperiment, if you will.So, for example,A longer life is a good thing(premise). Science has produced medicines(premise). Medicines prolonglife(premise). Since science has produced medicines to prolong life(inference), science is a good thing(conclusion).Of course, the premise of an argument, though irriducible within that particular argument, could be the conclusion of another argument.But is longer life a good thing? Some people believe that quality is more important than duration(premise / constative statement). If a long life is wracked with suffering(premise / constative statement), then perhapslong life is not always a good thing(conclusion / normative statement).But do medicines always prolong life? etc, etc…An argument-by-assertion, therefore, occurs when an unsupported normative statement is used as thepremise to support the conclusiveness of another normative statement.Two or more unsupported statements trying to hold up one another can only end in tears.Every statement in the premise should, as far as possible, be a constative statement, or anormative statement which has been supported / made acceptable by earlier arguments orprovision of contexts.
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The essential components of a logical argument are the premise, the inference, and the conclusion.
The premise serves as the foundation of the argument and consists of statements or assumptions that are accepted without questioning for the sake of the argument.
The inference is a set of statements derived from the premise and is reducible back to the premise. It shows the logical reasoning or steps taken to reach the conclusion.
The conclusion is the final statement of the argument and is the main focus or goal of the argument. It is like the result of an experiment or the desired outcome.
To construct a logical argument, you start with the premise or assumptions, then make inferences based on those premises, and finally reach a conclusion that is supported by the premises and inferences made.
It is important to note that the premise of one argument could be the conclusion of another argument, and that arguments should ideally consist of constative statements (statements of fact) or normative statements (statements of value) that have been supported or made acceptable by previous arguments or the provision of contexts.
Without proper support and logical reasoning, an argument can become weak or an assertion, where unsupported normative statements are used to support the conclusion, which can lead to a flawed argument.
Overall, logical arguments aim to present a series of interconnected statements that lead to a meaningful and well-supported conclusion.