ABSTRACT
If one wants to assess an argument's logical structure, they have to reconstruct it. Reconstruction can be straightforward if the author has carefully constructed their argument, showing clearly how premises lead to a conclusion. one evaluative basis of the deconstructive approach proposed in this chapter is the stability of a public sphere argument's cohesion, and thus whether or not the argument is coherent, rather than logically acceptable; identifying the cohesive structure of an argument, as a set of surface features, is usually a much more straightforward business than comprehensively capturing the logical structure of an argument. Lexical cohesion can also operate through use of different lexis from the same semantic field. The software tool, WMatrix can help with this procedure. The chapter discusses some problems experienced with the identification of the logical structure of Hitchens' arguments which, in turn, hinder critical assessment of their acceptability.
