It is likely that anyone who has read this far will be interested in the extent to which formal logic can help in extracting and evaluating arguments. There is no doubt that traditional formal logic contains many ideas and insights which are useful if one is to understand and evaluate arguments. On the other hand it is clearly difficult to apply it to real arguments – to arguments of the kind one finds for example in newspapers, magazines and learned journals.

Elementary classical logic articulates a very clear theory and one which is quite easy to understand. This Appendix is addressed to the reader who knows little or no formal logic but who would like a brief introduction to the subject so that he or she may begin to consider what help logic can give in argument analysis. There are scores of elementary logic texts which develop carefully and clearly the material which we review very briefly here.

What is argument?

Reasoning, or arguing a case, consists in giving reasons for some conclusion: the reasons are put forward in order to establish, support, justify, prove or demonstrate the conclusion.