Chapter 8: Objectives

Following are the main learning objectives from the chapter.  To help you coordinate your studies, these objectives are organized into sub-sections (8-1, 8-2, etc.) and listed with the relevant page numbers from the textbook.  These sub-section identifiers are utilized throughout this Web site.  

8-1 (pgs. 326-238).
Identify the claims in an argument as premises and conclusions.

• Distinguish premises and conclusions from argument window dressing. 

• Identify any unstated or implied premises and conclusions.

8-2 (pgs. 238-239). 
Determine whether premises are independent or dependent.

8-3 (pgs. 244-248). 
Understand argument evaluation criteria and how to apply them.

• Use the terms, "good" and "bad" only as general indicators of how well the premises support the conclusion.

• Use the terms, "valid" and "invalid" only when evaluating deductive arguments.

• Use the terms "strong" and "weak" only when evaluating inductive arguments.

8-4 (pgs. 250-253). 
Identify and then evaluate unstated claims in an argument.

• Base your evaluation on the criteria for a good argument.

8-5 (pgs. 255-260). 
Analyze the structure arguments in order to understand and evaluate them.

• Evaluate each premise to determine how reasonable (likely to be true) it is.

• Use argument diagrams to analyze the relationships between premises and conclusions.

• Evaluate how well the premises support the conclusion.