ABSTRACT
As it is used in everyday speech, the term argument often refers to a verbal disagreement. In that sense, an argument is something that contentious people enjoy but that agreeable people attempt to avoid. In the context of deductive logic, however, an argument is a sequence of assertions, some of which are premises and one of which is called the conclusion. If the reasoning is logically valid, the conclusion follows from the premises. If the reasoning is not logically valid the conclusion does not follow from the premises. Here, the term argument will be given a somewhat broader connotation than its strictly deductive one. It will be used to connote any set of assertions that is intended to support some conclusion or influence a person's beliefs.
