How to argue Philosophically.

I know what you're thinking, “I know how to argue, I've been doing it my whole life” Well I don’t mean that screaming match that you get into with your siblings when you’re fighting over something. I mean a wholesome debate with someone trying to see each side of said argument and come to a final conclusion. What happens when two philosophers conduct a philosophical argument is, they each layout they’re set or premises which will then have to support some sort of conclusion. So, whether you’re a lover of wisdom or just interested in getting a little better at arguing your philosophical point this is how to argue like a philosopher.

The way philosophers argue is mainly through a dialect of ideas called The Socratic Method. The Socratic Method is defined as learning through a dialectic exchange of ideas rather than a passive transmission of information. After all the philosopher doesn’t really want to win the argument, the goal of Philosophers is to discover the truth whether that be winning the argument at all. So now you and your buddy are interlocutors participating in The Socratic Method and you guys want to find the truth but what kind of argument will you use? We have a few different types of reasoning I'll be discussing today being deductive and induction reasoning.

Deductive Reasoning-

Probably the most reliable form of reasoning out of the bunch. Deductive reasoning is a logical reasoning that the premises are intended to guarantee the conclusion. An example that many philosophers use is this deductive argument. All men are mortal (premise), Socrates is a man (premise), therefore Socrates is mortal. These premises guarantee the conclusion because we know all men are mortal. We also know Socrates was a man. So, both premises have truth value which leads us to the conclusion that Socrates is mortal. When constructing your own argument on a philosophical issue, you should try to form your argument through deductive reasoning.

Inductive Reasoning-

Induction Reasoning you will find a lot of in science. Inductive reasoning focuses on drawing from past experiences to form arguments about future predictions. If this sounds like the scientific method, you're not crazy because it's how science proves its conclusions and has been doing so since roughly the 17th century. Induction usually uses past experiences to predict future results. Induction can form swell arguments but will never have a perfect argument it will only make it probable at best. A good example of an induction argument is the chair in the kitchen Is blue (premise). The chair in the living room is blue (premise). So, all the chairs in the house are blue (conclusion). This argument is probable but not guaranteed because there is still a chance there's a different color chair in the house.

Now that you can argue like a philosopher, go out there and challenge your beliefs and everyone else's. Question everything and one day you may just stumble upon the truth.