Date of Award
2012
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
Philosophy
Keywords
Argumentation, Evaluation, Informal Logic, Linked Convergent, Premise, Weight
Supervisor
Hans V. Hansen
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
An essential step to evaluating arguments is moving from the weight of individual premises to the weight of the conclusion. In order to perform this step, one must understand the relationship between the premises in the argument. In the past, analyzing premise relations in informal logic has been limited primarily to the linked-convergent distinction. This distinction has failed to resolve some of the basic problems in finding a definition because it has underestimated the degree to which premises interact with each other in some complicated way. Embracing concepts from holistic epistemology, I argue that evaluating a premise involves considering a wide set of presuppositions and implications that that premise, if accepted, carries. I call this wide set the premise/world. The relationship between premises is then essentially just the relationship between these two premise/worlds.
Recommended Citation
Stevens, Matthew Alexander, "Evaluating Premise Relations" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5528.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/5528