Guidelines for Causal Argument Portfolio

In this assignment, you will come up with 3 original examples of cogent Causal Arguments, to show that you know how to use them correctly.

Make sure that you use a different one of Mill’s methods in each of the arguments (one should use the method of correlation), that the content of the arguments is as different from one another as possible, and that each of the premises is uncontroversially true. (The conclusion doesn’t have to be controversial.)

Example:

1. My landline phone goes dead quite frequently, and it might be caused by a short in the cord, a malfunction in the phone’s electronics, or a problem in the phone company’s circuits or cables.

2. The effect happens whenever I pull on the cord, and there is no other relevant factor that is common to all of these cases. (Method of agreement)

3. A short in the cord is the sort of thing that could cause a phone to go dead by cutting off the signal entering the phone. (Explanation)

4. Therefore, a short in the cord is probably the cause of my phone going dead.

General Form of a Causal Argument:

1. The description of an effect and an exhaustive list of its possible causes.

2. (A) Only one of these causes satisfies Mill’s method of agreement, difference, or the joint method; or (B) One of the causes is highly correlated with the effect and is more highly correlated than the other causes.

3. An explanation of the relationship between this cause and the effect.

4. Therefore, this cause is probably the cause of the effect.

Grammar and Spelling: Make sure that your papers are clearly written – i.e., that the meaning is clear enough that any other student would be able to understand it. Papers will be downgraded for spelling, grammatical, and stylistic errors if there are more than 2 per page.

Sources: You shouldn’t use any outside sources since your arguments are supposed to be original.

Format: Typed, 12 point type, 1-1.5 inch margins, number and staple pages if more than one page.