Types of Argument

• Deduction is taking a set of statements (premises), and drawing an inescapable conclusion from them.
• If the premises are true then the conclusion must be true.
• Deductive arguments are usually used for logical/mathematical reasoning.

E.g:
Premise: Birmingham is a city in the West Midlands. The West Midlands is a region in England.
Conclusion: Therefore, Birmingham is a city in England. (true)

E.g:
Premise: Butterflies have wings. Birds have wings.
Conclusion: Butterflies are birds. (not true)

• It develops conclusions from particular observations.
• The premises are seemed to provide reasons for supporting the probable truth of a conclusion.
• It is seen as the cornerstone of the scientific world.

E.g: 
Argument: For the past 50 years is hase rained on April 1st in the Lake District. Therefore it will rain in the Lake District on April 1st next year.
Evaluation: The conclusion cannot be certain, but it may be very likely.

• These are seen as arguments from an 'expert' in a subject.
• Regarded as a weak form of argument as any two experts may disagree.
• An 'authority' may be biased or not representative of most experts in the field.
• Arguments can be described as a fallacy (an error in reasoning, i.e. it cannot be supported)
• It is NOT a factual error.

• The most deceptive kind of argument.
• They depend on situations appearing to be the same.
• You then conclude that the causes of those situations are the same.
• These arguments are popular in everyday life.
• The conclusion from these arguments can only ever be 'possibly true'.

E.g: 

• Political arguments
• Religious arguments
• Cultural arguments

• This is a weak form of argument.
• It claims that one thing happens as a direct cause of something which occured previously.
• Often it is only a correlation between the two events and they can have two very different causes.

E.g: 

• Smoking causes cancer.