Example 2

Suppose someone objects to the premise of the previous argument, the claim that history is the most important subject, by giving the following argument of her own.

2) “History is not the most important subject because some other subject is at least as important as history.”

Identifying the Parts of the Argument

Let’s practice identifying the parts of an argument some more. For each of the underlined sentences in the argument, determine whether it’s the ultimate conclusion, a premise, or a subconclusion in the argument. Rest the mouse over your answer to see if you’re right.

“History is not the most important subject” is

the ultimate conclusion of this argument.

a premise in this argument.

is a subconclusion in argument.

“Some other subject is at least as important as history” is

the ultimate conclusion of this argument.

a premise in this argument.

a subconclusion in argument.

Now let’s see how we can diagram this argument.