Further Discussion: Refuting an Argument

One section that I don't think we covered enough was in Chapter 7 of the Epstein text, discussing refuting an argument. Basically, refuting an argument is when one hears an argument and makes a counter argument, indicating that the original argument is not strong or valid. There are two ways to present a counter-argument: directly and indirectly. In order to directly refute an argument, it needs to be shown that one of the premises is uncertain, that the argument is not valid or strong, or that the conclusion is false (Epstein, 149). Refuting an argument indirectly is a bit more challenging, as finding the imperfections in the original argument is more difficult. In this instance, if one knows that something is wrong with one of the premises, they need to refute indirectly. I found this section important to what we've learned over the semester. While we learn to make stronger arguments, we also need to learn how to correctly indicate when an argument is not at its strongest, therefore making our understanding and recognition of good arguments and bad arguments alot stronger.