Repairing Arguments

Week 6, Post 1

When an argument needs repairing, in chapter 4 of the book it says often times it lacks an unstated premise or an unstated conclusion. In order to repair an argument, The Guide to Repairing Arguments providing some guidelines to follow:

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.
If the argument is then valid or strong, we may delete a premise if doing so doesn't make the argument worse.


Jane is a ballerina. So, Jane is a good dancer.

The conclusion is Jane is a good dancer. However, there is nothing to support it but with the given information that she is a ballerina. To repair the argument another premise is needed to make the argument stronger and valid.

Jane is a ballerina. Jane has been practicing 3 hours of ballet everyday for 15 years. So, Jane is a good dancer.

Without another premises we can only assume other people know what we are discussing. When one more premise is added in the argument, we made the argument valid. Both the premises are plausible and it is more plausible than the conclusion. Jane is a dancer, she practices for 3 hours a day which is believable. Both of the premises lead up to the conclusion that she is a good dancer.