Assess The Difference Between Deep And Branching Arguments

Arguments come in many different shapes and sizes. In its simplest form, an argument is nothing more than a conclusion supported by at least one premise. However, most arguments consist of much more than that. In order for an argument to be valid, there must be no imaginable scenario where the premise(s) are true, yet the conclusion is false. This constitutes an invalid argument and cannot be sound. In addition, arguments that consist of more than one premise can be broken down even further into different structural forms. The structure of an argument is determined by how the premises come together to reach the conclusion, and can be labeled as linear, branching, or joint. Before one can distinguish the differences and similarities between

The main difference between the branching structure and joint structure is that the branching structure draws from two unrelated premises to support the conclusion, unlike the joint structure which contains premises that must build upon one another in order to properly support the argument. Each type of structure can be used interchangeably; however there are cases where one structure is better suited for the situation than the other. Joint structure arguments can sometimes be more convincing than branching arguments, because the premises mesh together and can make a strong case for the conclusion. On the other hand, branching arguments can be equally convincing because of their ability to pull multiple different premises together that don’t relate, yet all support the same conclusion. Whether one should use a branching structure or a joint structure largely depends on the conclusion at hand and the given premises. When using the joint structure, one must be certain that all of the related premises are true, because if one premise happens to be false, then it negates the other premises. Branching statements allow for a larger margin of error, because if one premise is false, then an argument can still be made by the other premise. When these structures are used properly with substantial information and proper organization, they have the ability to produce valid and sound