Home / Before you start...	Previous | Up | Next
About These Tutorials

What they cover

These tutorials cover the basics of argument mapping.  More precisely, they cover two related topics:

• The basic structure of reasoning and argument in ordinary language.  This is the fundamental stuff everyone should know about how arguments are constructed. 
   
• How to produce diagrams (maps) of that structure.  Argument mapping is a helpful technique for understanding the structure. 

These two topics are heavily interdependent.  It is very difficult to get clear about the structure - either the general principles, or the detailed structure in particular cases - without an effective technique such as argument mapping.  Conversely, you can't produce good argument maps unless you have a good grip on the fundamentals of the structure.

There are two large topics which are not treated in these tutorials, even though they are very important:

• Evaluation. These tutorials say almost nothing about how to tell if reasoning is any good.  They are concerned with structure, not quality.  However clarity about structure is essential if you want to make sound judgments about quality.
   
• Identifying arguments.  One of the hardest parts of argument mapping - indeed, one of the hardest of all intellectual tasks - is figuring out the reasoning buried in what somebody says or writes.  A lot can be said on this topic; indeed, there could easily be another six tutorials on that topic alone.  In these tutorials, many of the examples and exercises involve reasoning as presented in written prose.  However the focus is always on the essentials of argument structure, rather than the myriad issues involved in interpreting the prose.  Very often, the prose has been modified so as to make interpretation easier. 

How they work

Each tutorial has two main parts:

• Theory, covering key principles and concepts
   
• Exercises, including a quiz. 

Argument mapping is a complex skill, and these tutorials are designed to help you become proficient in that skill.  Thus, the exercises are crucial.  Don't make the mistake of reading the theory, and then just skimming over the exercises assuming that you've already got the idea.  Do the exercises properly, and be sure to make your best attempt on each exercise before looking at the model answers.  When doing the exercises, feel free to refer back to the theory pages whenever you feel like it.

In the theory part, central principles are wherever possible presented using a diagram, with a minimum of accompanying text.  The basic idea is that you should be able to look at the diagram at the top part of each theory page and get the essential idea.  Further down the page you will find some discussion which may help you understand the principle better.

The tutorials are progressive.  That is, each tutorial builds on the previous one.  You should try to master the material in one tutorial before moving on to the next one.

Created by...

The tutorials were created by Austhink.  Please contact us at info@austhink.com if you have suggestions, requests or queries.

 Last updated 29-Nov-2006