Y
ou got laid off from your job two months ago. You’ve been looking for another job but haven’t had
much luck. But the company you interviewed with yesterday just made you an offer. The pay isn’t
that good, but you’re thinking about taking the job anyway; you need the money. Your friend, how-
ever, tells you not to take it: “The pay is lousy, the hours are terrible, and there are no benefits,” he says. “Don’t
do it.” Should you listen to your friend? Has he made a good argument? How can you tell?
You already know what a deductive argument is. You know how to separate the conclusion from the evidence.
And you know how to evaluate the evidence. These are essential steps in analyzing a deductive argument. But in
order to determine the overall strength of an argument, there are several other criteria to take into consideration.
Specifically, in a good deductive argument:
■
The conclusion and premises are clear and complete.
■
The conclusion and premises are free of excessive subtle persuasion.
■
The premises are credible and reasonable.
■
The premises are sufficient and substantive.
■
The argument considers the other side.
LESSON
Recognizing a
Good Argument
LESSON SUMMARY
There are many components of a good argument—one that is con-
vincing for good reason. This lesson will show you how to recognize
and make a strong deductive argument.
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You should already be familiar with the first three
criteria, so we’ll just take a moment to review them

persuade you with language rather than reason
because he or she lacks evidence. Excessive use of sub-
tle persuasion can also indicate that the arguer is
biased about the issue.

Credible and Reasonable
Premises
As discussed in the previous lesson, the two criteria for
good evidence are credibility and reasonableness.Evi-
dence is credible when it is free of bias and when the
sources have a respectable level of expertise. Evidence
is reasonable when it is logical, drawn from evidence or
common sense.

Sufficient and Substantive
Premises
You ask a coworker about the restaurant that recently
opened down the street. He tells you, “The Hot Tamale
Café? Don’t eat there. The service is lousy.”
Has he given you a good argument? Well, the
conclusion, “Don’t eat there,” is clear and complete. The
premise that supports the conclusion, “The service is
lousy,” is also clear and complete. The premise and
conclusion are free from subtle persuasion. The prem-
ise is reasonable, and we don’t have any reason to
doubt credibility—he’s given good recommendations
about places to eat before. But is this a good argument?
Not really.
Though all of the other criteria check out, this
argument has a very important weakness: It simply

detail that supports that premise. Here’s how this
argument maps out:
Conclusion: Don’t eat at that restaurant.
Major premise: The service is lousy.
Minor premise: They messed up our orders.
Minor premise: We had to wait 15 minutes even
though there were empty tables.
Major premise: The food is overpriced.
Minor premise: A plain hamburger is $12.50!
Major premise: The place is dirty.
Minor premise: We had to wipe our table down
twice with napkins .
Minor premise: I saw a dead cockroach in the
corner.
Major premise: There is no décor.
Minor premise: just bright blue walls and a
poster of Hawaii in the corner,
even though it’s a Mexican
restaurant.
Practice
1. Take the following argument and make it sub-
stantial. Provide more evidence by adding major
and minor supporting premises:
Public school students should wear uniforms just
like private school students do. Uniforms will create
a stronger sense of community.
Stronger argument:
Answer
Your answer will vary depending upon what premises
you chose to support this argument. At any rate, your

Here’s his argument again to refresh your memory:
“The pay is lousy, the hours are terrible, and there
are no benefits,” he says. “Don’t do it.”
Well, his argument is reasonable, credible, free of
subtle persuasion, and he offers three different rea-
sons, though they could be supported with specific
details (minor premises). Still, this argument lacks one
criterion of a good argument; it does not consider
counterarguments.
Counterarguments are those arguments that
might be offered by someone arguing for the other
side. That is, if you are arguing that it’s better to live in
the city than in the country, you need to keep in mind
what someone arguing that living in the country is
better than living in the city might think. By consid-
ering counterarguments, you show your critical
thinking skills—whatever your opinion, you have
considered all sides of the issue. And this helps
demonstrate your credibility, too; it shows that you’ve
done your homework, that you obviously know
something about the issue.
For example, when you hear your friend’s argu-
ment, what thoughts might go through your mind?
You might come up with the following reasons to take
the job rather than reject it:
■
You really need the money.
■
You can advance quickly.
■

minutes a day worth it?
Notice two things that your friend does here. First, he
systematically and carefully acknowledges each of your
concerns. Second, he counters each of those concerns
with a reasonable premise. Furthermore, he improved
his argument by adding specific minor premises, like
the fact that the pay is three dollars less per hour.
Now it’s your turn.
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RECOGNIZING A GOOD ARGUMENT
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Practice
The school uniform argument is reprinted below. Play
devil’s advocate and make a list of counterarguments.
Then rewrite the argument to make it stronger.
Public school students should wear uniforms just
like private school students do. For one thing, uni-
forms will create a stronger sense of community.
It’s important for children to feel like they belong,
and uniforms are a powerful physical and psycho-
logical way to create that sense of belonging. Uni-
forms also improve discipline. According to the
Department of Education, private schools across
the country have fewer discipline problems than
public schools, and the handful of public schools
that have experimented with uniforms have found
that their discipline problems decreased sharply.
Furthermore, uniforms can help increase the self-
esteem of children from low-income families.If

Department of Education, private schools across the
country have fewer discipline problems than public
schools, and the handful of public schools that have
experimented with uniforms have found that their
discipline problems decreased sharply. This demon-
strates that uniforms alone can have a profound
affect on discipline. Furthermore, uniforms can
help increase the self-esteem of children from low-
income families. If everyone wears the same clothes,
they don’t have to come to school ashamed of their
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RECOGNIZING A GOOD ARGUMENT
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