Final answer:
To determine if an argument is good or bad, one must conduct both truth and logical analysis of the premises and how they support the conclusion, looking out for logical fallacies and ensuring the premises are not only logically connected but also factually correct.
Step-by-step explanation:
Methods and Principles for Evaluating Arguments
To determine whether an argument is good or bad, we must focus on both its logical structure and the truthfulness of its premises. Good arguments have premises that logically support the conclusion. The process of truth analysis involves evaluating whether the statements within the argument are true or false. Meanwhile, logical analysis ascertains whether the premises sufficiently support the conclusion, often through the inference process which should guarantee the truth of the conclusion when the premises are true.
An argument might be logically strong, meaning it has a good deductive inference, but if its premises are false, then the conclusion will not be supported by facts. When assessing arguments, particularly empirical or moral ones, one needs to be mindful of potential fallacies like the strawman fallacy, false dichotomy, or circular reasoning. Testing the principles on real or hypothetical cases can reveal whether they hold up in practice, or if they yield further complications.
It's important to recognize that humans can be prone to motivated reasoning, selecting evidence that supports their preconceived notions while dismissing evidence to the contrary. Thus, a good evaluator of arguments will objectively assess the empirical evidence and logical coherence to form a well-reasoned judgment on the argument's merit.