The Purpose of Arguments
Why study
A in A?
A good philosopher is able to offer a number of helpful reasons in support of a belief.
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An argument that does not have good reasons to support it is not a convincing argument and as philosophers we should always seek to give convincing arguments.
We are faced with arguments that try to persuade us to think or act in a certain way every day in our ordinary lives. If we can't tell the difference between a good argument and a bad argument then how do we know we are not being persuaded to act or think in a way that is wrong?
Let's look at the example below:
Example
'Have you ever heard the saying, 'sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me'? What is means is that words are essentially harmlesss. Racism, sexism and sectarianism are just words too, so they are essentially harmless.'
This is an example of a bad argument.
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Task 1
Why do you think this is a bad argument?
Try to answer before looking at the answer below...
Aristotle
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Answer
The argument seems to suggest that racism, sexism and sectarianism don't do any harm and even gives a reason to support this idea. Imagine if someone didn't know how to recognise bad arguments and started to act in racist or sexist ways because they had heard this argument and thought they were harmless. This is why learning about arguments is so important.
Arguments
Good philosophers don't just have ideas about important topics. They have he skill to be able to look at the arguments for and against their ideas and decide if those opinions are justified.
They can also use these arguments to convince others of their ideas.
Philosophers
Philosophers are just as concerned with why we believe something as they are with what we believe.
Read over the following discussion between two famous philosophers, David Hume and Rene Descartes:
Descartes
You are so wrong! You are an idiot and your hair style is just ridiculous!
We gain knowledge through our senses. Empiricism is the best approach to knowledge!
Hume
Task 2
What do you think is wrong with Descartes' argument?
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Answer before revealing the answer in the box below.
Answer
Descartes isn't showing any philosophical skills here.
If he wants to prove Hume wrong he has to use what he knows about arguments. He needs to engage with what Hume says and respond to it.
How Descartes should have responded...
"Our senses can be tricked. A mountain can look close but in reality it is very far away. Therefore, true knowledge has to come from using our reason."
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Here Descartes has engaged and responded appropriately using his philosophical skill set.