An argument is a series of sentences, statements or propositions some of which are called premises and one is the conclusion. The purpose of an argument is to give reasons for one's conclusion via justification, explanation, and/or persuasion.
Arguments are intended to determine or show the degree of truth or acceptability of another statement called a conclusion. Arguments can be studied from three main perspectives: the logical, the dialectical and the rhetorical perspective.
In logic, an argument is usually expressed not in natural language but in a symbolic formal language, and it can be defined as any group of propositions of which one is claimed to follow from the others through deductively valid inferences that preserve truth from the premises to the conclusion. This logical perspective on argument is relevant for scientific fields such as mathematics and computer science. Logic is the study of the forms of reasoning in arguments and the development of standards and criteria to evaluate arguments. Deductive arguments can be valid, and the valid ones can be sound: in a valid argument, premisses necessitate the conclusion, even if one or more of the premises is false and the conclusion is false; in a sound argument, true premises necessitate a true conclusion. Inductive arguments, by contrast, can have different degrees of logical strength: the stronger or more cogent the argument, the greater the probability that the conclusion is true, the weaker the argument, the lesser that probability. The standards for evaluating non-deductive arguments may rest on different or additional criteria than truth—for example, the persuasiveness of so-called "indispensability claims" in transcendental arguments, the quality of hypotheses in retroduction, or even the disclosure of new possibilities for thinking and acting.
In dialectics, and also in a more colloquial sense, an argument can be conceived as a social and verbal means of trying to resolve, or at least contend with, a conflict or difference of opinion that has arisen or exists between two or more parties.
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Discrete mathematics is a discipline with applications to almost all areas of study. It provides a set of indispensable tools to computer science in particular. This course reviews (familiar) topics a
This course will develop logical reasoning and argumentation skills to enable you to influence decision making. You will achieve this by learning how to represent and communicate your reasoning as ar
The workshop will equip participants with practical skills necessary to make thesis writing smoother and better organized. Main issues
covered are: getting started, structure and argumentation, time m
In the most general terms, a reason is a consideration which justifies or explains an action, a belief, an attitude, or a fact. Normative reasons are what people appeal to when making arguments about what people should do or believe. For example, that a doctor's patient is grimacing is a reason to believe the patient is in pain. That the patient is in pain is a reason for the doctor to do things to alleviate the pain. Explanatory reasons are explanations of why things happened.
Argumentation theory, or argumentation, is the interdisciplinary study of how conclusions can be supported or undermined by premises through logical reasoning. With historical origins in logic, dialectic, and rhetoric, argumentation theory includes the arts and sciences of civil debate, dialogue, conversation, and persuasion. It studies rules of inference, logic, and procedural rules in both artificial and real-world settings. Argumentation includes various forms of dialogue such as deliberation and negotiation which are concerned with collaborative decision-making procedures.
In logic and philosophy, a formal fallacy, deductive fallacy, logical fallacy or non sequitur (ˌnɒn_ˈsɛkwɪtər; Latin for "[it] does not follow") is a pattern of reasoning rendered invalid by a flaw in its logical structure that can neatly be expressed in a standard logic system, for example propositional logic. It is defined as a deductive argument that is invalid. The argument itself could have true premises, but still have a false conclusion. Thus, a formal fallacy is a fallacy where deduction goes wrong, and is no longer a logical process.
This course explains the mathematical and computational models that are used in the field of theoretical neuroscience to analyze the collective dynamics of thousands of interacting neurons.
This course explains the mathematical and computational models that are used in the field of theoretical neuroscience to analyze the collective dynamics of thousands of interacting neurons.
Le contenu de ce cours correspond à celui du cours d'Analyse I, comme il est enseigné pour les étudiantes et les étudiants de l'EPFL pendant leur premier semestre. Chaque chapitre du cours correspond
We develop techniques to study the phase transition for planar Gaussian percolation models that are not (necessarily) positively correlated. These models lack the property of positive associations (also known as the 'FKG inequality'), and hence many classi ...
The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dmPFC/dACC) is a brain area subject to many theories and debates over its function(s). Even its precise anatomical borders are subject to much controversy. In the past decades, the dmPFC/d ...
Gruber et al. (2022) offered a framework how to explain "Physical time within human time", solving the 'two times problem: Here, I am asking whether such a problem exists at all. To question the question, I will appeal to neurobiological, evolutionary, and ...