How to Argue - Philosophical Reasoning: Crash Course Philosophy #2

Before we dive into the big questions of philosophy, you need to know how to argue properly. We’ll start with an overview of philosophical reasoning and breakdown of how deductive arguments work (and sometimes don’t work).

--

Images and video via VideoBlocks or Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons by 4.0:

--

Crash Course Philosophy is sponsored by Squarespace.

--

Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?

[shawofit]

It's hard to win an argument with a smart person, but it's damn near
impossible to win an argument with a stupid person.
―KoreTen

[IslaDrummond]

Something that I've seen in internet arguments quite a lot is: "Person's opinion" + "True (enough) premise" = Conclusion. Then the person refuses to back down because they know their reasoning is right, but they won't acknowledge that one of their premises was just something they believe to be true, and not something that is widely accepted to be true.

[omi_cha]

i hold so much adoration for whoever composed the intro music for this series. it's ethereal

[sassywells]

you can never lose an argument if you say 'shut up nerd' at the end

[danielbat]

What do you call a group of philosophers?
A "disagreement".

[mormegil]

Just to be precise. The original Aristotle quote is: Φύσει μέν ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ζῷον πολιτικόν. Which translates: to The Human is a political animal...It was just translated in the past by many scholars as "Man is a rational animal". So he was not that sexist...His translators were.

[chiragdevlia]

Can I just say how grateful I am to be in this time and age where this knowledge is right at my finger tips. Thank you so much for these videos i’m so grateful for you!

[sfgiantsmatt]

Premise 1: Cheese has holes
Premise 2: More cheese = more holes
Premise 3: More holes = less cheese
Conclusion: More cheese = less cheese

[Intu]

I think you explaining deduction really well. Bonus points for being the first explanation of it I've seen that didn't use that Sherlock Holmes trivia

[AlexBermann]

The sad part is that many people can't be persuaded by arguments - especially in comment sections such as this one. Generally, people are surprised when I concede that my opponent in aa discussion was right and that I was wrong. This should not be that surprising.
Schopenhauer was on point when he wrote a book about Sophisms and called it "the art of being right" This is because people are naturally inclined towards Sophism. Plato knew that and was very frustrated about the success demagogues and lawyers had because of that. I believe tht this is part of the reason of the politeia - Plato desired that the leaders would be in a different mode - a mode which actually was interested in truth except in winning arguments. This is the most important virtue for Plato.

I still see philosophical approaches when people actually don't fully try to oppose a statement but agree inn general but just want to inquire on some points or add something to it.

Aristotles Logic is a very powerful tool to deal with conflicts without resorting to Sophism since it can actually disprove something. This is the true power of logic: true contradictory statements can't both be true. Unfortunatelly, in a court of law, in a parliament or in other places where decisions have to be made, logic is not nearly enough to resolve the conflicts.

What I strife for is not becoming more convincing. I want to become wiser, I want to avoid convincing people to do mistakes or believe in my mistakes. I believe Logic helped me on that endeavor, but I'm not there yet.

[Fearofthemonster]

There used to be a subject called "logic" in school. They don't teach it anymore.

[jaysans]

Hank, this is exactly what I wanted out of this course. People need more philosophy in their lives, especially since education doesn't really value it as much as it should anymore. Having a meme-guy such as yourself present it in such a smart way will definitely do the world good.

[Rizerr]

Most people who take part in the Youtube comments cannot be persuaded, no matter how good your argument.
So, your argument is in salad.

[TheMABExperience]

"All cats are mammals. I'm a mammal, therefore, I'm a cat." - Facebook Commenters

[dafuqmr]

1. I have a pen
2. I have an apple
-Ugh (?), applepen

[Xidnaf]

Is anyone else really confused by the barber paradox?
Video: "No matter what the barber does, he'll wind up breaking the rules."
Me: "Yeah, ok, I'm with you so far."
Video: "Therefor all groups must be members of themselves, otherwise the logic that supports the group's existence doesn't hold up."
Me: "what the fuck are you even talking about"

[seredahawke]

Personally I am a big fan of Socrates' method of arguing, getting someone to argue with themselves and then walk off laughing to yourself.

[patriciamcgeorge]

I LOVE CRASH COURSE! I teach with it, almost always learn with it times better than school!) and even enjoy learning with it! I EVEN BINGE-WATCH crash course, sometimes even re-watching episodes. Ever heard of an education platform having a fandom? Surprise! Thanks, Greens & co.

[LazerLord]

I can't hear squarespace without a part of my brain saying _Build it beautiful._

[jimsluder]

To all of the Crash Course staff and to Hank and John, thanks for all of your creativity! As one of your older, and I do mean the material you guys put out helps me to understand the younger generation considerably more than I would without your library of great material. I learn a great deal and have material reinforced that I thought I once knew. Or as Don Hendley put more eloquently, "All the things I thought I'd figured out, I have to learn again." The Nerdfighter Network has given me a great insight into what the likes, dislikes, and challenges are of my college-age grandchildren as well as my younger grandchildren. Enjoying the new "Philosophy" series and looking forward to more videos about the subject. Thanks again for all of the great material and your dedication to educating the world!