Chapter 5: Soundness and Cogency

We have so far been talking about the structure of arguments: that is, the connection between the premises and the conclusion. However, a good argument needs more than just a strong connection between the premises and the conclusion. In order for it to be an argument we should be persuaded by, it also needs to have premises that are true, or that we have good reason to accept.

A sound argument is a valid argument with true premises. A cogent argument is a strong argument with true premises. In this chapter we discuss how to assess the truth of premises.

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How to Think Critically Copyright © 2024 by Stephanie Gibbons and Justine Kingsbury is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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