Everything's an Argument Chapter 11 Summary

In Chapter 11, we read about casual arguments. Here, we learn how to understand casual arguments, how to characterize casual arguments and how to develop casual arguments. To understand casual arguments better, we separate it into three major categories. They are, arguments that state a cause and then examine its effects, arguments that state an effect and then trace the effect back to its causes and arguments that move through a series of links. Also, casual arguments tend to share several characteristics. Casual arguments are often part of other arguments. Also, they are almost always complex. One reason that casual arguments are complex is that they often depend on careful definitions. Therefore, another characteristic would be that they are often definition based. The last characteristic is that they usually yield probable rather than absolute conclusions.

The next part of the chapter teaches us how to develop casual arguments. First, one must formulate a claim. To write a strong casual claim, one must try listing some of the effects-events or phenomena- that one like to know the causes of. Or, one may move the opposite direction and list some phenomena or causes one is interested in and the n hypothesizing what kinds of effect they may produce. Once one drafted a clai, one could explore the cause-and-effect relationships, drawing out reasons, warrants, and evidence that can support the claim most effectively. Also, to develop the argument further, one may use strategies such as analogies or using personal experience.

Key features of Casual Arguments:

* Thoroughly question every cause and effect relationship in the argument

* Show that causes and effects are highly probable and backed with evidence

* Assess any link between casual relationships

* Show that explanations of any casual chains are accurate or where links in a casual chain break down

* Show that plausible cause and effect explanations haven't been ignored