Reasons supporting a statement are themselves statements.
To lend credence to another claim, these supporting statements may assert something about scientific evidence, expert opinion, relevant examples, or other considerations. In this way they provide reasons for believing that a statement is true, that what is asserted is actual. When this state of affairs exists—when at least one statement attempts to provide reasons for believing another statement—we have an argument. An argument is a group of statements, one of which is supposed to be supported by the rest. An argument in this sense, of course, has nothing to do with the com- mon notion of arguments as shouting matches or vehement quarrels.
In an argument, the supporting statements are known as premises; the statement being sup- ported is known as a conclusion. Consider these arguments:
Argument 1. Capital punishment is morally per- missible because it helps to deter crime.
Argument 2. If John killed Bill in self-defense, he did not commit murder. He did act in self- defense. Therefore, he did not commit murder.
Argument 3. Telling a white lie is morally permis- sible. We should judge the rightness of an act by its impact on human well-being. If an act
increases human well-being, then it is right. Without question, telling a white lie increases human well-being because it spares people’s feelings; that’s what white lies are for.
These arguments are fairly simple. In Argu- ment 1, a single premise (“because it helps to deter crime”) supports a straightforward conclusion— “Capital punishment is morally permissible.” Argument 2 has two premises: “If John killed Bill in self-defense, he did not commit murder” and “He did act in self-defense.” And the conclusion is “Therefore, he did not commit murder.” Argu- ment 3 has three premises: “We should judge the rightness of an act by its impact on human well- being,” “If an act increases human well-being, then it is right,” and “Without question, telling a white lie increases human well-being because it spares people’s feelings.” Its conclusion is “Telling a white lie is morally permissible.”
As you can see, these three arguments have different structures. Argument 1, for example, has just one premise, but Arguments 2 and 3 have two and three premises. In Arguments 1 and 3, the conclusion is stated first; in Argument 2, last. Obvi- ously, arguments can vary dramatically in their number of premises, in the placement of premises and conclusion, and in the wording of each of these parts. But all arguments share a common pattern: at least one premise is intended to support a con- clusion. This pattern is what makes an argument an argument.
Despite the simplicity of this premise-conclusion arrangement, though, arguments are not always easy to identify. They can be embedded in long passages of nonargumentative prose, and nonar- gumentative prose can often look like arguments. Consider:
The number of abortions performed in this state is increasing. More and more women say that they favor greater access to abortion. This is an outrage.