Review: Evaluating a Complete Argument

Apply mapping, assumptions, evidence tests, and fallacy detection to one full argument.

This track has given you a toolkit; real arguments require using it all at once. A complete evaluation follows these steps. Map the claim, reasons, and evidence. Surface the unstated assumptions. Test the evidence for relevance, sufficiency, and credibility. Scan for fallacies. Check how counterclaims are handled. Then reach a judgment that is proportionate: an argument with one weak link may still be partly persuasive. Worked example: 'Our town must ban skateboarding downtown. Last month a skateboarder nearly hit an elderly man outside the bakery.

Everyone I've talked to agrees skateboards are a menace. If we don't act now, downtown will become too dangerous for anyone to walk. ' Claim: ban skateboarding. Evidence: one near-miss (hasty generalization). 'Everyone I've talked to' (bandwagon, unrepresentative sample). Final sentence: slippery slope. No counterclaim, such as designated skate areas, is addressed. Verdict: the concern for safety may be legitimate, but the argument as written does not justify a ban.

• 1Map, find assumptions, test evidence, scan for fallacies.
• 2Check how counterclaims are handled.
• 3Reach a proportionate judgment.