The Language of Argument

8 6

cH A Pt eR 5 ■ D e e p A n a l y s i s

form a chain of simpler arguments that culminate in the ultimate conclusion,

but only after some intermediate steps. Consider this argument:

There’s no way I can finish my paper before the 9 o’clock show, since I have

to do the reading first, so I won’t even start writing until at least 9 o’clock.

It might seem tempting to put this argument into standard form as:

(1) I have to do the reading first.

(2) I won’t even start writing until at least 9 o’clock.

∴(3) I can’t finish my paper before the 9 o’clock show. (from 1–2)

This reformulation does include all three parts of the original argument, but it

fails to indicate the correct role for each part. The two argument markers in the

original argument indicate that there are really two conclusions. The word “since”

indicates that what precedes it is a conclusion, and the word “so” indicates that

what follows it is also a conclusion. We cannot represent this as a single argu-

ment in standard form, because each argument in standard form can have only

one conclusion. Thus, the original sentence must have included two arguments.

The relationship between these arguments should be clear: The conclusion of the

first argument functions as a premise or reason in the second argument. To repre-

sent this, we let the two arguments form a chain. This is the first argument:

(1) I have to do the reading first.

∴(2) I won’t even start writing until at least 9 o’clock. (from 1)

This is the second argument:

(2) I won’t even start writing until at least 9 o’clock.

∴(3) I can’t finish my paper before the 9 o’clock show. (from 2)

If we want to, we can then write these two arguments in a chain like this:

(1) I have to do the reading first.

∴(2) I won’t even start writing until at least 9 o’clock. (from 1)

∴(3) I can’t finish my paper before the 9 o’clock show. (from 2)

This chain of reasoning can also be diagrammed like this:

(1)

(2)

(3)

The arrows indicate which claims are supposed to provide reasons for which

other claims. Because these premises and arrows all fall on a single line, it is

natural to call this structure linear.

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