Hi. Welcome to our Coursera course.

 
This is the first time we've ever taught 
an online course, and we're very excited about it. 
>> I'm Walter Sinnott-Armstrong from Duke University. 
And my co-teacher is Ram Neta from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 
Say hi, Ram. >> Hi. 
>> Thanks. This is going to be a great course. 
It's going to cover a lot of important 
practical issues, raise some fascinating theoretical questions. 
We'll also try to have some fun, because there're 
lots of wacky examples where people make silly mistakes and 
arguments in everyday life. 
And we'll try to teach you how to avoid those. 
The title of the course is Think Again. How to reason and argue. 
And the title pretty much tells you what the course is about. 
We'll try to teach you to think again about a 
wide range of issues that effect your life in various ways. 
We're not going to try to convert you to our point 
of view or, or teach you to believe what we believe. 
Instead, we want you to think in a new way and 
in a deeper way about the issues that matter to you most.
The subtitle of the course, How to Reason 
and Argue, tells you that we're going to focus on 
a particular type of thinking, namely reasoning, because most 
people don't want to be arbitrary or have unjustified beliefs. 
They want to have reasons for what they think and do. 
But how do you get reasons? 
Well, we're going to approach reasons by way of 
arguments, because arguments are just ways to express reasons.
And if you can understand arguments, you can understand reasons. 
And if you can formulate good arguments, you can have 
good reasons for the ways in which you think and behave.
So that's one way in which it's important to understand arguments, namely to 
get better reasons for your own beliefs and actions. 
But, another way in which it's very 
important to understand arguments, is to avoid mistakes. 
because there's lots of charlatans out there who are 
going to try to convince you to think the way they 
want you to think and to behave the way 
they want you to behave by giving you bad arguments. 
So you need to spot them and avoid them. 
Just think about a used car salesman who tries to convince 
you to buy a, a car, because it looks really cool 
and you'll look even cooler if you're sitting in the car. 
Well, that might be a good reason to buy a car and it might not. 
And you're going to have to figure out which kinds 
of arguments to believe and which kinds not to believe.
Consider another example, say a lawyer in a courtroom, and you're 
sitting in the jury, and they're going to try to convince you 
either to find the defendant guilty or to find the defendant not guilty, 
but either way, you don't want your decision to be like flipping a coin. 
You want to have reasons for what you're thinking. 
And for the verdict that you reach. 
as a member of the jury. 
Or, an evangelist tries to convert you to their religious beliefs 
and to get you to give up your old religious beliefs. 
Well, you don't want to make that kind of a decision 
arbitrarily either because it's so important. 
And then what about your personal life. 
You might have a friend who says let's go for a cross-country trip. 
It'll be great. Well, maybe it will and maybe it won't. 
But you don't want to commit yourself to such 
a big endeavor without having thought it through properly. 
How are we going to study arguments. 
Well, in this course we'll have four parts. 
The first part, 
we'll teach you how to analyze arguments. 
That might seem really simple, you just 
read the passage and hear what they're saying. 
But actually it's quite hard because some passages or some sets of words, 
if we're talking about spoken language, contain arguments and others don't. 
Here's an example. 
Consider a letter to the editor. 
Some letters to the editor don't have arguments at all. 
They just 
say, thank people for having behaved in nice ways or done nice things.
On the other hand, other letters to the editor include arguments. 
They try to convince you. 
To vote for a certain political candidate for example. 
So you need to distinguish which passages 
include arguments and which passages don't include arguments. 
Then, you need to look at those passages and 
figure out which of the words, which parts of those passages contain the argument. 
Then you need to separate out those parts, put 
them in a certain order, which we'll call standard form. 
And, often these arguments will have missing 
parts and you'll have to supply those missing 
parts or suppressed premises in order to get 
a full picture of how the argument works. 
And that's what we'll do in part one. Then in part two, 
once we've got the argument in shape, we can start to evaluate it. 
But evaluations are going to depend a lot on what the purpose of the argument is.
Some arguments try to be valid in a logical way 
and those are deductive arguments. 
So we'll start first by looking at deductive 
arguments and the formal structure of deductive arguments. 
We'll look at propositional logic, then categorical logic. 
That'll be part two of the course. 
Then in part three, we'll look at a different kind of 
argument, inductive arguments that don't even try to be deductively valid.
Here there are just a lot of different kinds. 
So we'll look at statistical generalizations, 
applying generalizations down to particular cases. 
We'll look at inference to the best explanation and arguments from analogy. 
We'll look at causal reasoning and probability and decision making. 
So it'll be a lot of different types of inductive arguments covered in part three.
Then in part four, we'll look at fallacies. 
These are common. 
The very tempting ways to make 
mistakes in arguments. Some of them have to do with vaugeness. 
Others have to do with ambiguity. 
Some of them are irrelevance, like arguments 
ad hominem and appeals to ignorance and we'll 
also look at a major fallacy called begging 
the question that people commit all the time. 
And in the end, we'll teach you a 
general method for spotting and avoiding these common mistakes. 
So that'll be part four. 
And at the end of each part, we'll have a 
short quiz with some questions to make sure you understood. 
So we're very glad to have you in this course, and 
we're very honored that there's so many students in this course. 
But that raises one problem. 
Namely, we cannot answer emails from students. 
So please do not email us individually.
There will be discussion forums 
where you can go and talk to other students about the material in the course. 
And I bet that if you go to those forums, 
not only will you get your questions answered, but if you 
go to those forums and help answer other people's questions, everybody 
will learn more and that's what this course is all about. 
So, thanks very much for joining us on this adventure and we hope you stick with 
it because we've got a lot of fun and a lot of important things to cover. 
One final recommendation. 
We've done these lectures so that you can just watch the 
lectures by themselves and do the exercises and take the quizzes. 
However, if you're listening to a lecture and you're 
having a little trouble understanding it, or if you're 
really fascinated and you want to get more detail, 
then there is an accompanying textbook called, Understanding Arguments.
by myself and Robert Fogelin. Many, many, many of the best ideas 
in this course come from him, he's been a leader in this field of understanding 
arguments for many decades and I owe awful lot to him and I really appreciate that. 
So, I want to do a little shout out to thanks to 
Robert Fogelin before we get started on this course and the next lecture.

Well I hope the first lecture convinced you that arguments really matter. 
Of course, they're not the only things that 
matters, there's more to life than reason and arguments. 
but they are something that matters and they matter a lot. 
So, we need to understand arguments. 
Now, the first step in understanding arguments 
is to figure out what arguments are. 
And the first step in understanding what arguments are 
is to figure out what arguments are not. 
Because we want to distinguish arguments from all 
of those things that don't count as arguing. 
And the best source of information about what 
arguments are not, is, of course, Monty Python. 
Well, that was pretty silly wasn't it? 
But in the midst of all that silliness we find some truth 
because after all, many members of 
the Monty Python troupe were philosophy majors. 
So each room represents a kind of 
thing that we need to distinguish from arguments. 
[INAUDIBLE] 
So let's think first about getting hit on the head lessons. 
[NOISE] 
. Arguments are not like hitting people on 
the head, you hit poeple on the head when you wrestle. 
[NOISE]. 
The point is that arguments are not fights you 
don't win an argument by hitting somebody on the head. 
Sometimes little children say that their parents are 
arguing, when they're really having a verbal fight. 
>>All this fighting I might as well be back with my parents. 
Dammit George, I told you if you didn't quit drinking I'd leave you. 
Well, I guess that makes you a liar 
because I'm drunk as hell and you're still here. 
>> But 
you can not win an argument just by yelling at someone.
That doesn't make the argument any better because that's not the point of arguing. 
Another room in the Monty Python skit involves abuse. 
>> Don't give me that you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings. 
>> Now abuse is one of the things you 
do with language, but it's not the same as arguing. 
You cannot win an argument simply by calling your opponent a stupid git. 
>> Stupid git. 
>> And the point of this course is not to teach you 
to go back and abuse your roommate by calling them nasty names. 
That will not help you win any argument. 
It also won't help you win any friends. 
And another room in the skit has to do with complaining. 
>> 
>> But all those complaints don't amount to an argument either. 
They're just expressing your emotion about the situation. 
Arguing is something different from all of those rooms. 
So what is arguing? 
Well, at one point one of the character says. 
>> Well argument is not the same as contradiction. 
>>Can be. 
>> No, it can't. 
>> So what do they mean by a contradiction? 
In British English to say a contradiction 
is just to deny the person or contradict what they said. 
but contradicting what the person said, that is denying it, is not arguing. 
I can say, what do you think the best flavor of ice cream in the world? 
Well I have my favorite. 
I know what the best flavor is. 
The best flavor is Ben and Jerry's Coconut 
Almond Fudge Chip ice cream, There's nothing better. 
And then you say, no it isn't. 
Well you haven't argued that it isn't and I haven't 
argued that it is, we're just disagreeing with each other. 
We haven't given any reason for any of the positions that we've adopted yet. 
So, as Monty Python says later on, 
in different character, argument is an intellectual process. 
It's a process not just of asserting your views, but of giving some kind of 
reason for your views.
So the next definition that Monty Python gives of an argument, is 
that an argument is a connected series of statements to establish a proposition. 
I take it they mean intended to establish a certain proposition. 
So that's a pretty cool definition, if you think about 
it, because it tells you what an argument is made of. 
It's a series of statements, and statements are made in language, 
so arguments are made of language. 
It also tells you what the purpose of argument is. 
The purpose of argument, they say, is to establish a certain proposition. 
So now we have a pretty unique definition of argument.
This definition gives us a nice contrast. 
Because there are lots of other series of statements or sentences that 
don't count as arguments because they're not intended to establish a proposition. 
Consider for example 
a novel, which has statements about what's going on, 
but it's not necessarily trying to establish any particular proposition. 
Or a dictionary might have a series of definitions, 
but it's not intended to establish a certain proposition. 
Instead, novels and dictionaries order sentences in a different way. 
They order them either chronologically or alphabetically whereas, 
arguments are trying to put statements into a certain structure that reflects the 
order of reasoning in order to establish the proposition according to Monty Python. 
But Monty Python, no matter how great they are, and they are great, didn't get it 
quite right because the purpose of an argument 
is not always to establish a proposition because 
some propositions that are conclusions of arguments, we already knew.
Consider for example a mathematical proof.
If someone tries to prove the Pythagorean theorem in geometry. 
People already believe the theorem.
They already knew that it was true. 
So they weren't trying to establish the proposition. 
But the proof does something else, it shows you how that proposition 
is connected to the axioms of the system. 
It helps you understand why the proposition is true. 
And, we'll see that other arguments, like explanations, do the same thing. 
So sometimes arguments are intended to establish a 
proposition, like Monty Python said, but in other 
cases they're intended to help us understand the 
proposition and the reasons why the proposition is true. 
So we want to distinguish reasons to believe that the proposition 
is true, from reasons why the proposition is true. 
and arguments can do both of those things. 
So, we need a somewhat broader definition of 
argument to cover these different kinds of reasons.
Play video starting at 6 minutes 26 seconds and follow transcript6:26
We'll think of an argument as a connected series of sentences 
or statements or propositions, where some of these sentences or statements or 
propositions or premises and one of them is the conclusion and 
the one's that are premises are intended to provide some kind of reason 
for the one that's the conclusion. This definition is useful in many ways. 
First of all, it tells us what the parts 
of the arguments are, the premises and the conclusion. 
Secondly, it tells you what the argument's made of. 
It's made up of language because sentences 
and statements and propositions are made in language.
Play video starting at 7 minutes 9 seconds and follow transcript7:09
Third, it tells you the purpose of 
argument, to give a reason for the conclusion.
Fourth, a nice feature is that it's very flexible 
because there are lots of different kinds of reasons. 
We don't want our definition to be too narrow 
because then it won't cover all the different kinds 
of arguments, and the notion of reason captures the different kinds of 
relations between the premises and the 
conclusion in different kinds of arguments.
So let's do a few quick exercises to 
make sure that you understand how this definition works.

Welcome back. 
In the previous lecture, we saw a definition of 
argument as a connected series of sentences, statements or propositions. 
Where some of those sentences, statements, propositions are 
premises and one of them is a conclusion. 
And the premises are intended to give some kind of reason for the conclusion. 
In this lecture we're going to look 
at the purposes for, which people give arguments because 
the purposes are crucial in determining what an object is. 
Take for example an artifact that you might find in an archeological site. 
You won't be able to figure out whether it's a really big screwdriver or a really 
small spatula unless you know whether the people who used it intended it to screw 
screws or to pick up food that they were cooking.
Play video starting at 57 seconds and follow transcript0:57
So, to understand arguments we need to understand the purposes for arguments. 
And that means, why does somebody bother to give an 
argument instead of just asserting the conclusion without an argument? 
Well, just think about it. 
If you went to a used car lot and 
the salesman said, you ought to buy that Mustang.
Play video starting at 1 minute 16 seconds and follow transcript1:16
Would that convince you? 
Not a chance. 
But if the salesman said you ought to buy that Mustang 
because it looks really cool and it goes really fast. 
Or maybe it has great gas mileage or whatever, and gives you 
a series of reasons, then you might be convinced to buy the Mustang. 
So, that's one purpose of arguments to try to 
convince you to do things or believe things that 
you wouldn't otherwise do or believe. 
So, this purpose is persuading or convincing. 
And if you think about it what the salesman's trying 
to do is he's trying to change your mental states. 
He's trying to make you believe something that you 
didn't believe or do something that you didn't do. 
So he's trying to bring about an effect in the world.
Play video starting at 2 minutes 6 seconds and follow transcript2:06
But that's just one purpose of arguments. 
We don't 
always act like salesmen. 
Sometimes, instead of trying to change people's beliefs, we're simply trying 
to give them a reason for their belief or for our belief.
Play video starting at 2 minutes 20 seconds and follow transcript2:20
And to give them a reason is not necessarily 
to convince them or persuade them or change their beliefs.
Play video starting at 2 minutes 28 seconds and follow transcript2:28
When we're simply trying to give them a reason 
to believe the conclusion we're going to call that justification. 
So, imagine that your friend, you're not a salesman, you're a 
friend, imagine that your friend is thinking about buying a car. 
He doesn't know which one to buy. You might say. 
Well, I think you ought to buy the Mustang. 
Because it looks really good and it goes really fast and its 
actually got pretty good gas mileage and its quiet reliable or whatever.
Play video starting at 2 minutes 56 seconds and follow transcript2:56
You're not necessarily trying to convince her to buy that car. 
It'd be fine with you if she bought any 
car she wanted, any car that would make her happy. 
You're trying to talk about the reasons for buying 
the car so that you can make your own decision. 
And that says you're trying to justify 
that decision or that belief that Mustang is the best car for her to buy.
Play video starting at 3 minutes 16 seconds and follow transcript3:16
And not necessarily to convince her or persuade her, if she 
comes up with great reason to the contrary you're perfect happy. 
Whereas the salesman wouldn't be.
Play video starting at 3 minutes 28 seconds and follow transcript3:28
But notice, that you might give exactly the same reasons that the salesman did. 
Exactly the same argument that the salesman did. 
The difference lies in the purpose 
because the salesman is trying to convince her to change her beliefs and actions, but 
your goal with your friend is to discuss the reasons for her decision or action. 
So, you're thinking about justification and 
the salesman was thinking about persuasion. 
Now, it really matters whether your goal is 
justification or persuasion because there's a big difference here.
Play video starting at 3 minutes 58 seconds and follow transcript3:58
If you're trying to justify your friend's belief or 
your friend's action. 
Then you try to give her good reasons, the 
salesman can convince her or persuade her with bad reasons. 
So, it doesn't matter to his purposes 
whether the arguments that he gives are any 
good or bad, as long as they work to affect that change in the world. 
Whereas you care about whether your arguments and your reasons 
are good reasons or arguments because, you're trying to justify that 
belief or that action.
Play video starting at 4 minutes 30 seconds and follow transcript4:30
And ,of course, people can try to do all of these things at once. 
They can mix them together in various ways. 
And that can get complicated. 
So, when someone gives you an argument, you need to ask a series of questions. 
The first thing you need to ask is, is this person trying to change my mind? 
Or change my behavior? If so, then their 
goal is persuasion or to convince you.
Play video starting at 4 minutes 58 seconds and follow transcript4:58
Then you need to ask, are they trying to give reasons to change my mind? 
Or for believing, if I already believed it. 
Well, if they're doing that then their goal is justification. 
And if you go down that series of questions 
you'll be able to understand what the purpose of giving 
the argument is, at least for this range of cases. 
So, let's do a few exercises just to make sure that you understand justification 
before we go on to the next purpose of argument, which will be explanation.