Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A general method of argument analysis
- 3 A first example – from Thomas Malthus
- 4 Reasoning about nuclear deterrence
- 5 An example from John Stuart Mill
- 6 Arguments about God's existence
- 7 How do your mind and body interact?
- 8 Suppose for the sake of argument that …
- 9 An example from Karl Marx
- 10 Evaluating ‘scientific’ arguments. Some initial examples
- 11 Philosophical assumptions
- Appendix: Elementary formal logic
- Exercises
- Bibliography
- List of further reading
- Index
Exercises
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A general method of argument analysis
- 3 A first example – from Thomas Malthus
- 4 Reasoning about nuclear deterrence
- 5 An example from John Stuart Mill
- 6 Arguments about God's existence
- 7 How do your mind and body interact?
- 8 Suppose for the sake of argument that …
- 9 An example from Karl Marx
- 10 Evaluating ‘scientific’ arguments. Some initial examples
- 11 Philosophical assumptions
- Appendix: Elementary formal logic
- Exercises
- Bibliography
- List of further reading
- Index
Summary
The following passages are provided so that the reader can try out the approach of this book to see if it is helpful. The exercise in each case is the same: it is to extract the argument and to evaluate it using the methods and principles explained in the preceding pages. The author's experience is that students have difficulty in being clear-headed about these and similar (theoretical and argumentative), passages, but that the methods expounded earlier are a genuine help. The teacher will no doubt wish to supply further exercises which are particularly suited to his or her students: the following examples are provided only as a starting point.
An argument is considered in Chapter 1 which relates to this exercise (see p. 13). The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) campaigns for unilateral nuclear disarmament for Britain. It does so on various grounds and the ‘nuclear winter’ evidence has been used widely by CND in support of its campaign. However, the following appeared in the Eastern Daily Press newspaper in October 1984. A similar position was taken by some prominent politicians.
The ‘nuclear winter’ conclusions undermine the unilateral nuclear disarmament case in Britain. If the scientists are right the population of this country would be virtually eliminated in a nuclear war between the super powers even if no nuclear weapons were situated on our territory. We might escape a direct nuclear attack, but in addition to the radioactive fall-out we would also suffer the darkness, the sub-freezing temperatures and the starvation of a nuclear winter.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Logic of Real Arguments , pp. 188 - 218Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004