1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,940 Welcome back. In the previous lecture, we saw a 2 00:00:05,940 --> 00:00:11,106 definition of argument as a connected series of sentences, statements, or 3 00:00:11,106 --> 00:00:14,192 propositions, where some of those sentences, 4 00:00:14,192 --> 00:00:19,429 statements, and propositions are premises and one of them is a conclusion. 5 00:00:19,429 --> 00:00:25,170 And the premises are intended to give some kind of reason, for the conclusion. 6 00:00:25,170 --> 00:00:30,421 In this lecture, we're going to look at the purposes for which people give 7 00:00:30,421 --> 00:00:36,027 arguments, because the purposes are crucial in determining what an object is. 8 00:00:36,027 --> 00:00:41,562 Take for example an artifact that you might find at an archaeological site. 9 00:00:41,562 --> 00:00:47,381 You won't be able to figure out whether it's a really big screwdriver or a really 10 00:00:47,381 --> 00:00:52,987 small spatula, unless you know whether the people who used it intended it to 11 00:00:52,987 --> 00:00:56,890 screw screws, or to pick up food that they were cooking. 12 00:00:56,890 --> 00:01:01,728 So to understand arguments we need to understand the purposes for arguments. 13 00:01:01,728 --> 00:01:06,566 And that means, why does somebody bother to give an argument instead of just 14 00:01:06,566 --> 00:01:09,431 asserting the conclusion without an argument? 15 00:01:09,431 --> 00:01:13,442 Well, just think about it. If you went to a used car lot and the 16 00:01:13,442 --> 00:01:16,600 salesman said, you want to buy that Mustang? 17 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,331 Would that convince you? Not a chance. 18 00:01:19,331 --> 00:01:24,941 But if the salesman said, you want to buy that Mustang because it looks really 19 00:01:24,941 --> 00:01:30,477 cool, and it goes really fast, or maybe it has great gas mileage, or whatever, 20 00:01:30,477 --> 00:01:36,087 and gives you a series of reasons, then you might be convinced to buy the 21 00:01:36,087 --> 00:01:39,483 Mustang. So that's one purpose of arguments, to 22 00:01:39,483 --> 00:01:44,798 try to convince you to do things, or to believe things, that you wouldn't 23 00:01:44,798 --> 00:01:48,649 otherwise do or believe. So this purpose is persuading or 24 00:01:48,649 --> 00:01:53,565 convincing, and if you think about it, what the salesman's trying to do is he's 25 00:01:53,565 --> 00:01:58,481 trying to change your mental states. He's trying to make you believe something 26 00:01:58,481 --> 00:02:02,389 that you didn't believe, or do something that you didn't do. 27 00:02:02,389 --> 00:02:05,730 So he's trying to bring about an effect in the world. 28 00:02:05,730 --> 00:02:10,697 But that's just one purpose of arguments. We don't always act like salesmen. 29 00:02:10,697 --> 00:02:15,863 Sometimes, instead of trying to change people's beliefs, we're simply trying to 30 00:02:15,863 --> 00:02:20,440 give them a reason for their belief or for our belief. 31 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:25,454 And to give them a reason is not necessarily to convince them, or persuade 32 00:02:25,454 --> 00:02:30,150 them, or change their beliefs. When we're simply trying to give them a 33 00:02:30,150 --> 00:02:34,378 reason to believe the conclusion, we're going to call that justification. 34 00:02:34,378 --> 00:02:39,219 So imagine that your friend, you're not a salesman, you're a friend, imagine that 35 00:02:39,219 --> 00:02:43,876 your friend is thinking about buying a car and he doesn't know which one to buy. 36 00:02:43,876 --> 00:02:48,778 You might say, well, I think you ought to buy the Mustang, because it looks really 37 00:02:48,778 --> 00:02:53,619 good, and it goes really fast, and it's actually got pretty good gas mileage, and 38 00:02:53,619 --> 00:02:58,455 it's quite reliable, or whatever. You're not necessarily trying to convince 39 00:02:58,455 --> 00:03:02,105 her to buy that car. It'd be fine with you if she bought any 40 00:03:02,105 --> 00:03:05,087 car she wanted, any car that would make her happy. 41 00:03:05,087 --> 00:03:09,954 You're trying to talk about the reasons for buying the car, so that she can make 42 00:03:09,954 --> 00:03:13,361 her own decision. In that sense, you're trying to justify 43 00:03:13,361 --> 00:03:18,046 that decision, or that belief that the Mustang is the best car for her to buy 44 00:03:18,046 --> 00:03:21,209 and not necessarily to convince her or persuade her. 45 00:03:21,209 --> 00:03:25,712 If she comes up with great reasons to the contrary, you're perfectly happy, 46 00:03:25,712 --> 00:03:30,060 whereas the salesman wouldn't be. But notice, that you might give exactly 47 00:03:30,060 --> 00:03:34,742 the same reasons that the salesman did. Exactly the argument that the salesman 48 00:03:34,742 --> 00:03:37,083 did. The difference lies in the purpose, 49 00:03:37,083 --> 00:03:41,464 because the salesman is trying to convince her to change her beliefs and 50 00:03:41,464 --> 00:03:44,165 actions. But your goal, with your friend is to 51 00:03:44,165 --> 00:03:46,986 discuss the reasons for her decision or action. 52 00:03:46,986 --> 00:03:51,487 So you're thinking about justification and the salesman was thinking about 53 00:03:51,487 --> 00:03:54,488 persuasion. That really matters whether your goal is 54 00:03:54,488 --> 00:03:58,210 justification or persuasion, because there's a big difference here. 55 00:03:58,210 --> 00:04:03,723 If you're trying to justify your friend's belief or your friend's action, 56 00:04:03,723 --> 00:04:06,523 then you're trying to give her good reasons. 57 00:04:06,523 --> 00:04:10,532 The salesman can convince her or persuade her with bad reasons. 58 00:04:10,532 --> 00:04:15,432 So it doesn't matter to his purposes whether the arguments that he gives are 59 00:04:15,432 --> 00:04:20,013 any good or bad, as long as they work to affect that change in the world, 60 00:04:20,013 --> 00:04:24,595 whereas, you care about whether your arguments and your reasons are good 61 00:04:24,595 --> 00:04:28,350 reasons or arguments, because you're trying to justify that 62 00:04:28,350 --> 00:04:32,737 belief or that action. And of course, people can try to do all 63 00:04:32,737 --> 00:04:37,487 of these things at once. They can mix them together in various 64 00:04:37,487 --> 00:04:43,003 ways and that can get complicated, so when someone gives you an argument, 65 00:04:43,003 --> 00:04:48,826 you need to ask a series of questions. The first thing you need to ask is, is 66 00:04:48,826 --> 00:04:53,346 this person trying to change my mind or change my behavior? 67 00:04:53,346 --> 00:04:57,560 If so, then their goal is persuasion or to convince you. 68 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:03,746 Then you need to ask, are they trying to give reasons for changing my mind or for 69 00:05:03,746 --> 00:05:09,462 believing if I already believed it. Well, if they're doing that then your 70 00:05:09,462 --> 00:05:13,119 goal is justification. And if you go down that series of 71 00:05:13,119 --> 00:05:18,676 questions, you'll be able to understand what the purpose of giving the argument 72 00:05:18,676 --> 00:05:24,092 is, at least for this range of cases. So let's do a few exercises just to make 73 00:05:24,092 --> 00:05:29,578 sure that you understand justification before we go on to the next purpose of 74 00:05:29,578 --> 00:05:32,040 argument which will be explanation.