what is the best way to identify assumptions in arguments?

carrotlmao

going through the weakening/strengthening sections, i've noticed that the reason why i have a hard time with them is because i can't identity the assumption(s) or i can't identify the assumption(s) in time. any tips on how to spot out assumptions for questions like these?

thanks!

fin..501

Weakening/strengthening questions aren't necessarily assumption focused. Usually you need to figure out the premise, the conclusion, and why the speaker thinks the conclusion follows from the premises. Typically, the strengthen or weaken will target something in the "why" space, either fortifying it or undermining it, so the premise still stands, but has a stronger/weaker relationship with the conclusion. It wouldn't usually matter if there was a specific assumption required by the argument. If by assumption you mean the "why," it might help you to ask yourself, "what do you have to tell me about to change how I evaluate this argument?" Not a specific fact or something, just generally is there some category of information that could influence your evaluation. Often, that's going to be where strengthen/weaken Q's focus.

For ex.
Most kids eat more sugar than most adults.
Most kids have cavities more frequently than most adults.
Therefore, eating more sugar causes kids to have cavities more frequently than most adults.

Ask yourself what you'd like to know about to change your evaluation of the argument. It should be something like "is there anything else that could cause cavities?" Or even "does sugar cause cavities?"

Strengthen answer: there is nothing other than sugar that causes cavities.
Weaken answer: Children brush their teeth much less often than adults.