Critical Thinking

Presenting Cogent Arguments

Using analysis and evaluation to present cogent arguments

After the extreme wordiness of the last lesson, you’ll be pleased to know this is the last lesson of the unit!

In A level courses, you may at any time be required to respond to questions concerning claims, arguments and issues by presenting your own arguments clearly and concisely. In so doing, you will be expected to:

give a clear statement of your conclusion;
clearly state the main supporting reasons;
where necessary support the main reasons with sub-arguments;
introduce examples and evidence (where appropriate);
cite general principles in support of your arguments and
consider counter-arguments, possible objections, etc., and offer a response to these.

A significant amount of marks are available for doing this in some subjects, so it is a skill well worth honing.

Example:

We shall use a deliberately banal example so that, at this stage, you can focus on the general construction of an argument, rather than dealing with a particular content. Let us then, imagine (sidestepping the obvious absurdity!) that you have been asked to come to a reasoned decision as to whether sandy beaches are preferable to stony ones. Here there would be three positions that could be argued for (this will be the case for all examples). Either:

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Sandy beaches are preferable to stony ones;
Stony beaches are preferable to sandy ones;
Both sandy and stony beaches are of equal or similar merit.

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If we were to argue for position 1 (although the same structure applies equally to all three) we might appeal to the following types of reason in support of the inference, remembering that there is no such thing as an exhaustive list of relevant reasons here, nor a definitively ‘correct’ conclusion. What is important rather, is that your reasoning is pertinent and your position convincing:

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The superiority in comfort of sandy beaches over stony ones
The superiority in attractiveness of sandy beaches over stony ones

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Each of which could be supported by a sub-argument:

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You can only hobble over stony beaches, whereas you can run over sandy ones
Sandy beaches have a lovely colour that contrasts with the blue of the sea.

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We could also appeal to evidence in support of the main inference (remember, in the exam, you may well be able to extract most, if not all of the evidence you will need from the documents you will be analysing), for example:

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2. In a recent survey, 72% of those people polled expressed a preference for sand, rather than stone, as a favoured ‘beach-filler’. (!)

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Coupled with relevant examples or analogies:

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3. Lying on a stony beach is like lying on a bed of nails

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Possible counter-examples should be considered:

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4. However, some might argue that this fails to account for the tiresomeness of getting sand out of hair and clothing when spending any amount of time on such beaches.

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Which should be responded to:

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5. Nevertheless, this is surely a price worth paying when contrasted with the pain and embarrassment of having to ‘walk’ down a stony beach in order to get to the sea.

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And finally we draw the inference that:

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Sandy beaches are indeed preferable to stony ones.

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And the argument is complete.

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