9 8cH A Pt eR 5 ■ D e e p A n a l y s i sreason, more people will see the force of the first argument (about Franklin)
than the second (about Schwarzenegger). The second argument assumes an
audience with more specialized knowledge.
The argument still has to draw a connection between being born in Austria
and being a natural-born U.S. citizen. So it turns out that the argument has
three stages:
(1) Schwarzenegger was born in Austria.
(2) Austria has never been part of the United States.
∴(3) Schwarzenegger was born outside of the United States. (from 1–2)
(4) Anyone who was born outside of the United States is not a natural-
born U.S. citizen.
∴(5) Schwarzenegger is not a natural-born U.S. citizen. (from 3–4)
(6) Only a natural-born U.S. citizen may become president of the
United States.
∴(7) Schwarzenegger cannot become president of the United States. (from 5–6)
With the addition of suppressed premises (2), (4), and (6), the argument is
technically valid, for, if (1)–(2) are true, (3) must be true; if (3)–(4) are true,
(5) must also be true; and if (5)–(6) are true, then (7) must be true.
The argument is still not sound, however, because some of the suppressed
premises that were added are not true. In particular, there is an exception to
the suppressed premise about who is a natural-born U.S. citizen. This excep-
tion is well known to U.S. citizens who live overseas. People who were born
in Austria are U.S. citizens if their parents were U.S. citizens. They also seem
to count as natural-born citizens, since they are not naturalized. This is not
completely settled, but it does not matter here, as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s
parents were not U.S. citizens when he was born. Thus, the second stage of
the above argument can be reformulated as follows:
(3) Schwarzenegger was born outside of the United States.
(4*) Schwarzenegger’s parents were not U.S. citizens when he was
born.
(4**) Anyone who was born outside of the United States and whose
parents were not U.S. citizens at the time is not a natural-born
U.S. citizen.
∴(5) Schwarzenegger is not a natural-born U.S. citizen. (from 3, 4*, and 4**)
This much of the argument is now sound.
An argument with a single premise has grown to include three stages with
at least four suppressed premises. Some of the added premises are obvious,
but others are less well known, so we cannot assume that the person who gave
the original argument had the more complete argument in mind. Many people
would be convinced by the original argument even without all these added
complexities. Nonetheless, the many suppressed premises are necessary to
make the argument sound. Seeing this brings out the assumptions that must97364_ch05_ptg01_079-110.indd 98 15/11/13 9:53 AM
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