Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing, 2nd Ed

46 SMART THINKING: SKILLS FOR CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING & WRITING

wrote in exercise 4.2: what framing premises should be added to the premises

you have already written?

a. Theresa is ill today, and as a result, she is off work. I mean, if one is sick,

then one should not come to work.

b. When the voters elect politicians, they are, essentially, placing their trust

in those politicians. Corrupt politicians have abused the public's trust in

them, and when someone abuses your trust, they should be punished.

That is why corrupt politicians should be sent to jail.

c. All human life is worth protecting, and capital punishment involves taking

a human life. Hence we should oppose capital punishment.

Premises that provide a definition

In a dependent chain, we sometimes need to include a premise that provides a defi-

nition. Definitions tell the audience the meaning of a particular word or phrase

found in the other premises and/or conclusion. Definitions are only meaningful in

concert with the other claims in the argument or explanation (the ones that actu-

ally use the term being defined by the definition). There is little value in simply

giving a definition for its own sake; it must be linked in with other premises that

depend on that definition. For example:

1. Australians are likely to win more Academy Awards in future.


2. 'Australians' means actors, writers, directors, and so on who have
   lived and worked in Australia, even if they now live overseas.


3. Australians are increasingly involved in making successful films.


4. Successful films attract the most Academy Award nominations.

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Claim 2 provides the definition. It is necessary to give it in this argument

because many people might imagine that Australians' means people actually living

and working in Australia, whereas the person making this argument is simply

talking about a more general category of Australians (for example, the actor Nicole

Kidman or the director Bruce Beresford). Claim 2 is only meaningful as a defini-

tion because of the way it relates to the other claims.