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Cengage Advantage Books: Understanding Arguments: An Introduction to Informal Logic

Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Robert J. Fogelin

Chapter 1

Uses of Arguments - all with Video Answers

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Chapter Questions

Problem 1

Write the best brief argument you can to justify each of the following claims to someone who does not believe them.
1. Nine is not a prime number.
2. Seven is a prime number.
3. A molecule of water has three atoms in it.
4. Water is not made up of carbon.
5. The U.S. president lives in Washington, D.C.
6. The Earth is not flat.
7. Humans have walked on the moon.
8. Most bicycles have two wheels.

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Problem 2

Houses in Indonesia sometimes have their electrical outlets in the middle of the wall rather than at floor level. Why? A beginning of an explanation is that flooding is a danger in the Netherlands. Citing this fact does not help much, however, unless one remembers that Indonesia was formerly a Dutch colony. We can understand why the Dutch might put their electrical outlets above floor level in the Netherlands. It is safer in a country where flooding is a danger. Is flooding, then, a similar danger in Indonesia? Apparently not; so why did the Dutch continue this practice in Indonesia? The answer is that colonial settlers tend to preserve their home customs, practices, and styles. The Dutch continued to build Dutch-style houses with the electrical outlets where (for them) they are normally placed-that is, in the middle of the wall rather than at floor level. Restate this explanation in the form of an argument (that is, specify its premises and conclusion).

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Problem 3

Write a brief argument to explain each of the following. Indicate what facts and what general principles are employed in your explanations. (Do not forget those principles that may seem too obvious to mention.)
1. Why a lighter-than-air balloon rises.
2. Why there is an international date line.
3. Why average temperatures tend to be higher closer to the equator.
4. Why there are usually more college freshmen who plan to go to medical school than there are seniors who still plan to go to medical school.
5. Why almost no textbooks are more than eighteen inches high.
6. Why most cars have four tires (instead of more or fewer).
7. Why paintings by Van Gogh cost so much.
8. Why wages go up when unemployment goes down.

Jennifer Stoner
Jennifer Stoner
Numerade Educator