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1.4 Exercises in Argumentation

Learning to debate is like learning to swim, dance, or play golf–or a thousand other things: you have to practice before you can do it well. That means not only practicing debate but also practicing making and analyzing arguments. This chapter asks you to apply the knowledge that you just gained about deductive and inductive arguments–as well as about identifying fallacies in arguments. Answers to these exercises can be found in the Appendix.

Exercise 1: Making Deductive Arguments

What valid deductive conclusions can you draw from these sets of Major Premises (MP) and minor premises (mp)?

1.MP: All U.S. Presidents must be at least 35 years old.

mp: Donald Trump is a U.S. President.

2.MP: Only residents of States can elect members of Congress.

mp: the District of Columbia is not a State.

3.MP: All federal judges are appointed by the President.

mp: David Barron is a federal judge.

4.MP: Members of the House of Representatives are elected to two-year terms.

mp: Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the House of Representatives.

5.MP: The Constitution prohibits States from impairing contracts.

mp: New York is a State.

Exercise 2: Making Inductive Arguments

What valid inductive conclusions can you draw from conclusions can you draw from these sets of Major Premises (MP) and minor premises (mp)?

1.MP: Americans are most likely to vote for candidates from the party they are aligned with.

mp: More New Yorkers are registered Democrats than registered Republicans.

2.MP: Voter turnout is higher in years where there is a Presidential election.

mp: There is no presidential election in 2026.

3.MP: Voters tend to view the first Congressional election after a new President takes office as an opportunity to voice their approval or disapproval of the President.

mp: Most people are dissatisfied with the President after the first year of his term.

4.MP: Voter turnout goes up when people are dissatisfied with the job the government is doing.

mp: People are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the job the government is doing.

5.MP: Most people under 30 get their news from social media.

mp: Political candidates want to reach as many voters as possible.

Exercise 3: Identifying Flaws in Arguments

1. The last three times I aced the final exam, I ate eggs for breakfast. If I eat eggs before the next exam I will get an A.
2. We need harsh punishments for repeat offenders because they are recidivists.
3. If taking over Greenland were a good idea, the US would have done it before.
4. Ghost guns are a major cause of violent crime.
5. That’s an argument that fascists make whenever they are criticized.
6. Rational argument doesn’t work in the US anymore; you need to make threats if you want to create change.
7. I’ve missed every class this semester since before every class I remember that missing one class won’t hurt my grade in the course.
8. There’s no way to prove the earth’s temperature will never go down, so global warning is just an unprovable theory.
9. I never grant extensions on papers because once you give one extension everyone in the class will want one.
10. There are only two alternatives: My way is the highway and the other way is the road to ruin.

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Debating Justice Copyright © 2025 by Thomas Rozinski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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