The range and number of arguments that have been made, or could be made, is practically infinite. As you would expect, however, within this vast range there are important similarities and differences between arguments, and so we can sort arguments into various types. Some of these types crop up quite often:

    An argument pattern is a common, distinctive structure of reasoning.

Argument patterns can be very helpful in reasoning and critical thinking:

  - Understanding. Recognizing familiar argument patterns helps us follow reasoning more easily, particularly when it gets complicated.

  - Constructing. We can assemble arguments more effectively when building them out of familiar components.

  - Evaluating. We can use our knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses typically found in arguments of a certain pattern to help us rapidly appreciate the quality of a new instance of that pattern.

Example

People very frequently reason along the following lines:

    If the volcano was going to erupt soon, then we’d be detecting earth tremors. There aren’t any tremors, so we are safe for the while at least.

This is an instance of a pattern which is so common and useful it has a Latin name – modus tollens. Using symbols, we can represent the pattern as follows:

    If P were true, then Q would also be true. Q is not true. Therefore, P is not true.

Where P is the claim ‘The volcano will erupt soon,’ and Q is ‘We are detecting earth tremors.’

Arguments fitting the modus tollens pattern have the rather nice feature that they are valid. This means that the premises, if true, guarantee that the contention will be true. Now, suppose you are interested in evaluating the argument, i.e., determining how strong it is. If you have correctly identified the argument as an instance of modus tollens, you know right away that you can put all your efforts into investigating whether or not the premises are in fact true.

Varieties of Argument Patterns

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of argument patterns. These include

  - Simple deductive argument forms, such as modus tollens.

  - Inductive argument patterns, such as the kind of statistical generalization used in political polling.

  - Argument patterns that are characteristic of particular domains, such as legal argument.

  - Fallacies – commonly occurring arguments that are generally poor reasoning. And many others…

Know Thy Patterns

Developing conscious familiarity with a wide range of argument patterns is a key part of acquiring advanced skills in reasoning and critical thinking. There is a direct analogy here with the development of expertise in many other fields. A jazz musician, for example, has, through years of listening and practice, acquired deep familiarity with an extensive collection of melodies, chord sequences, rhythms, etc., enabling her to perform with apparently effortless fluidity on the night. Similarly with reasoning; argument patterns are like the riffs or musical motifs of critical thinking.

See also:

  - Topics Deductive Argument, Inductive Argument, Abductive Argument and Fallacy

  - Rationale Wiki on www.RationaleOnline.com