Solution Manual for Accounting Information Systems, 9th Edition James A. Hall

CHAPTER 1 What Is an Argument? (And What Is Not?) The most important ideas in this chapter are: (1) Arguments can be given for our beliefs, and the fact that we have opinions and 'have a right to our opinions' does not preclude giving such arguments. (2) These arguments can be better or worse and we can reach informed judgments about what makes them better or worse. (3) To offer an argument for a claim, C, is to put forward other claims, PI, P2, etc, as reasons supporting C. (4) The premises are supposed to support the conclusion; the idea is that one reasons from the premises to the conclusion. Obstacles frequently encountered in connection with this material are: (1) General relativism; (2) Relativism supported by cliches such as "it's all a matter of opinion," "isn't it just a matter of opinion?", "that's just his opinion," "everyone has a right to his opinion," and so on; (3) Relativism supported by the idea that it would be rude to disagree with someone else; (3) An inability to pick out arguments; (4) A tendency to reverse the direction in arguments or not understand that there should be any direction and, thus, to confuse the conclusion with the premises; (5) A tendency to think that every passage must contain either an argument or an explanation. If feasible, one might conduct a general discussion on the opinion/relativism issues. With regard to argument structure, if students are having trouble with this, one might provide extra examples and recommend some strategy such as underlining all conclusions in red and all premises in green. One could really emphasize indicator words and, if providing extra examples, make sure these contain many of these words. Exercise 1 1. There is no argument here. The first sentence is a factual statement and the second offers an informal definition. 2. Answer in text. 3. This passage does contain an argument. The conclusion is that no one can know any claim with certainty. The other three sentences are premises, put forward to support that conclusion. 4. Answer in text. 5. This passage does not contain an argument. There is merely a statement that one person is a better tennis player than another. No support is provided for the claim made. 6. Answer in text. 7. This passage contains an argument. The indicator word "so" precedes the conclusion, which is that no atheist can demonstrate his loyalty to the state. Note: in identifying this