What is an Argument?

In logic we talk about arguments. We don't mean arguments in the sense of a fight. We mean a piece of reasoning. Think of an argument as an isolated molecule of reasoning: We have narrowed reasoning down into its smallest possible size: An individual unit of reasoning.

So what is an argument? It is a series of sentences, called premises, that are intended to support the truth of another sentence, called a conclusion. To make things super clear, we like to put arguments into standard form, in which we list the premises above the conclusion. Here's an example:

Argument in Standard Form:

Premise 1: Socrates is a man.

Premise 2: All men are mortal.

Conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

In case you were wondering whether Socrates was going to die, this argument would strongly support that conclusion.

Here is a funny video that jokes about the two conflicting interpretations of what an argument is (see if you can find the real definition in there):