1 00:00:02,220 --> 00:00:06,049 Well, I hope the first lecture convinced you that arguments really matter. 2 00:00:06,049 --> 00:00:08,672 Of course, they're not the only thing that matters, 3 00:00:08,672 --> 00:00:12,606 there's more to life than reason and arguments. But, they are something that 4 00:00:12,606 --> 00:00:16,490 matters, and they matter a lot. So, we need to understand arguments. 5 00:00:16,490 --> 00:00:21,375 And the first step in understanding arguments is to figure out what arguments 6 00:00:21,375 --> 00:00:24,345 are. And the first step in understanding what 7 00:00:24,345 --> 00:00:29,164 arguments are is to figure out what arguments are not because we want to 8 00:00:29,164 --> 00:00:33,917 distinguish arguments from all those things that don't count as arguing. 9 00:00:33,917 --> 00:00:39,461 And the best source of information about what arguments are not is, of course, 10 00:00:39,461 --> 00:00:42,756 Monty Python. Well, that was pretty silly wasn't it? 11 00:00:42,756 --> 00:00:47,299 But it in the midst of all that silliness, we find some truth because, 12 00:00:47,299 --> 00:00:52,105 after all, many members of the Monty Python troupe were philosophy majors. 13 00:00:52,105 --> 00:00:56,911 So, each room represents a kind of thing that we need to distinguish from 14 00:00:56,911 --> 00:01:01,074 arguments. So, let's think first bout getting hit on 15 00:01:01,074 --> 00:01:03,211 the head lessons. Oh. 16 00:01:03,211 --> 00:01:07,485 [LAUGH] Arguments are not like hitting people on the head. 17 00:01:07,485 --> 00:01:11,930 You hit people on the head when you wrestle [SOUND] This is for [INAUDIBLE] 18 00:01:11,930 --> 00:01:14,056 in a. [SOUND] The point is that arguments are 19 00:01:14,056 --> 00:01:17,095 not fights. you don't win a argument by hitting 20 00:01:17,095 --> 00:01:20,863 somebody on the head. Sometimes, little children say that their 21 00:01:20,863 --> 00:01:24,631 parents are arguing when they're really having a verbal fight. 22 00:01:24,631 --> 00:01:28,338 [LAUGH] All this fighting, I might as well be back with my parents. 23 00:01:28,338 --> 00:01:32,470 Damn it, George, I told you if you didn't quit drinking I'd leave you. 24 00:01:32,470 --> 00:01:37,150 Well, guess that makes you a liar because I'm drunk as hell and you're still here. 25 00:01:37,150 --> 00:01:42,620 [LAUGH] But, you cannot win an argument just by yelling at someone. 26 00:01:42,620 --> 00:01:48,494 That doesn't make the argument any better, because that's not the point of 27 00:01:48,494 --> 00:01:51,824 arguing. Another room in the Monty Python skit 28 00:01:51,824 --> 00:01:55,703 involves abuse. Don't give me that, you snotty-faced heap 29 00:01:55,703 --> 00:01:59,975 of parrot droppings. [LAUGH] Now, abuse is one of the things 30 00:01:59,975 --> 00:02:03,525 you do with language, but it's not the same as arguing. 31 00:02:03,525 --> 00:02:08,455 You cannot win an argument simply by calling your opponent a stupid git. 32 00:02:08,455 --> 00:02:11,938 Stupid git. And the point of this course is not to 33 00:02:11,938 --> 00:02:16,737 teach you to go back and abuse your roommate by calling them nasty names, 34 00:02:16,737 --> 00:02:22,067 that will not help you win any argument. It also won't help you win any friends. 35 00:02:22,067 --> 00:02:25,333 And another room in the skit has to do with complaining. 36 00:02:25,333 --> 00:02:29,196 Nothing happens, you might just as well not bother, and my back hurts, and we'll 37 00:02:29,196 --> 00:02:31,634 never have a fine day. But all those complaints don't amount to 38 00:02:31,634 --> 00:02:34,210 an argument either, they're just expressing your emotion 39 00:02:34,210 --> 00:02:37,819 about the situation. Arguing is something different from all 40 00:02:37,819 --> 00:02:39,945 of those rooms. So, what is arguing? 41 00:02:39,945 --> 00:02:42,947 Well, at one point, one of the characters says, 42 00:02:42,947 --> 00:02:46,012 well, arguing is not the same as contradiction. 43 00:02:46,012 --> 00:02:47,763 It can be. No, it can't. 44 00:02:47,763 --> 00:02:51,515 So, what do they mean by a contradiction? In British English, to say a 45 00:02:51,515 --> 00:02:56,081 contradiction, is just to deny the person, or contradict what they said. 46 00:02:56,081 --> 00:03:00,834 but contradicting what the person said, that is denying it, is not arguing. 47 00:03:00,834 --> 00:03:03,720 I can say, what do you think is the best flavor of 48 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,280 ice-cream in the world? Well, I have my favorite. I know what the 49 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,105 best flavor is. The best flavor is Ben and Jerry's 50 00:03:10,105 --> 00:03:13,440 Coconut Almond Fudge Chip ice cream, there's nothing better. 51 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:19,255 And then, you say, no it isn't. Well, you have an argue that it isn't and 52 00:03:19,255 --> 00:03:23,547 I have an argue that it is. We're just disagreeing with each other. 53 00:03:23,547 --> 00:03:28,488 We haven't given any reason for any of the positions that we've adopted yet. 54 00:03:28,488 --> 00:03:32,260 So, as Monty Python says later on, in a different character. 55 00:03:32,260 --> 00:03:38,271 Argument is an intellectual process. It's a process not just of asserting your 56 00:03:38,271 --> 00:03:42,510 views, but of giving some kind of reason for your views. 57 00:03:42,510 --> 00:03:47,834 So, the next definition that Monty Python gives of an argument is, that an argument 58 00:03:47,834 --> 00:03:51,780 is a connected series of statements to establish a proposition. 59 00:03:51,780 --> 00:03:55,790 I take it they mean, intended to establish a certain proposition. 60 00:03:55,790 --> 00:03:59,172 So, that's a pretty cool definition, if you think about it. 61 00:03:59,172 --> 00:04:02,079 Because it tells you what an argument is made of. 62 00:04:02,079 --> 00:04:06,055 It's a series of statements, and statements are made in language, so 63 00:04:06,055 --> 00:04:10,149 arguments are made of language. It also tells you what the purpose of 64 00:04:10,149 --> 00:04:13,175 argument is. The purpose of argument, they say, is to 65 00:04:13,175 --> 00:04:17,447 establish a certain proposition. So now we have a pretty neat definition 66 00:04:17,447 --> 00:04:21,253 of argument. This definition gives us a nice contrast 67 00:04:21,253 --> 00:04:26,382 because there are lots of other series of statements or sentences that don't count 68 00:04:26,382 --> 00:04:30,646 as arguments because they're not intended to establish a proposition. 69 00:04:30,646 --> 00:04:35,343 Consider for example, a novel which has statements about what's going on, but 70 00:04:35,343 --> 00:04:39,545 it's not necessarily trying to establish any particular proposition. 71 00:04:39,545 --> 00:04:44,242 Or a dictionary might have a series of definitions, but it's not intended to 72 00:04:44,242 --> 00:04:48,764 establish a certain proposition. Instead, novels and dictionaries order 73 00:04:48,764 --> 00:04:53,519 sentences in a different way. They order them either chronologically or 74 00:04:53,519 --> 00:04:56,934 alphabetically. Whereas, arguments are trying to put 75 00:04:56,934 --> 00:05:02,626 statements into a certain structure that reflects the order of reasoning in order 76 00:05:02,626 --> 00:05:06,310 to establish the proposition, according to Monty Python. 77 00:05:06,310 --> 00:05:11,560 But Monty Python, no matter how great they are, and they are great. 78 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:17,722 Didn't get it quite right because the purpose of an argument is not always to 79 00:05:17,722 --> 00:05:23,568 establish a proposition because some propositions that are conclusions of 80 00:05:23,568 --> 00:05:28,466 arguments we already knew. Consider, for example, a mathematical 81 00:05:28,466 --> 00:05:32,269 proof. If someone tries to prove the Pythagorean 82 00:05:32,269 --> 00:05:36,290 theorem in geometry, people already believe the theorem. 83 00:05:36,290 --> 00:05:41,626 They already new that it was true, so they weren't trying to establish the 84 00:05:41,626 --> 00:05:44,373 proposition. But the proof does something else. 85 00:05:44,373 --> 00:05:49,000 It shows you how that proposition is connected to the axioms of the system and 86 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,063 helps you understand why the proposition is true. 87 00:05:52,063 --> 00:05:56,501 And we'll see that other arguments, like explanations, do the same thing. 88 00:05:56,501 --> 00:06:01,128 So sometimes, arguments are intended to establish a proposition, like Monty 89 00:06:01,128 --> 00:06:04,316 Python said. But in other cases, they're intended to 90 00:06:04,316 --> 00:06:09,255 help us understand the proposition and the reasons why the proposition is true. 91 00:06:09,255 --> 00:06:14,193 So, we want to distinguish reasons to believe that the proposition is true from 92 00:06:14,193 --> 00:06:18,632 reasons why the proposition is true. And arguments can do both of those 93 00:06:18,632 --> 00:06:22,030 things. So, we need a somewhat broader definition 94 00:06:22,030 --> 00:06:25,930 of argument to cover these different kinds of reasons. 95 00:06:25,930 --> 00:06:32,304 We'll think of an argument as a connected series of sentences, or statements, or 96 00:06:32,304 --> 00:06:38,193 propositions where some of these sentences or statements or propositions 97 00:06:38,193 --> 00:06:41,905 or premises and one of them is the conclusion. 98 00:06:41,905 --> 00:06:47,956 And the ones that are premises are intended to provide some kind of reason 99 00:06:47,956 --> 00:06:53,448 for the one that's the conclusion. This definition is useful in many ways. 100 00:06:53,448 --> 00:06:57,747 First of all, it tells us what the parts of the arguments are, 101 00:06:57,747 --> 00:07:02,186 the premises and the conclusion. Secondly, it tells you what the 102 00:07:02,186 --> 00:07:06,414 argument's made of. It's made of language because sentences 103 00:07:06,414 --> 00:07:10,149 and statements and propositions are made in language. 104 00:07:10,149 --> 00:07:13,180 Third, it tells you the purpose of argument. 105 00:07:13,180 --> 00:07:17,780 To give a reason for the conclusion. Fourth, a nice feature is that it's very 106 00:07:17,780 --> 00:07:21,411 flexible, because there's lots of different kinds of reasons. 107 00:07:21,411 --> 00:07:25,830 We don't want our definition to be too narrow because then it won't cover all 108 00:07:25,830 --> 00:07:30,127 the different kinds of arguments. And the notion of reason captures the 109 00:07:30,127 --> 00:07:35,090 different kinds of relations between the premises and the conclusion in different 110 00:07:35,090 --> 00:07:38,480 kinds of arguments. So, let's do a few quick exercises to 111 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,870 make sure that you understand how this definition works.