According to Epstein a good argument must consist of plausible premises, premises that are more plausible than the conclusion, and must be valid or strong. "An argument is valid if there is no possible for its premises to be true and its conclusion false at the same time."(Epstein, 39)Also plausible claims have good reason for the audience to believe they are true.
Last year in one of my English classes, the professor asked us to write a letter to our parents persuading them to let us go on three month excursion in any country we chose during the school year. We had to come up with three good reasons for why they should let us go and the conclusion would be that we should be allowed to go. I told my parents that I was given the opportunity to learn about wildlife conservation and become an ambassador for the endangered species in Borneo, Indonesia. My two reasons were "I have a very good grade point average; Indonesia is part of my heritage since my mother was born and raised there; thirdly this experience would give me the opportunity to grow up and contribute to the world, therefore I am entitled to go even if it means missing part of a semester of my first year of college. The premises of my argument are not necessarily plausible. My grade point average can be checked but my definition of a "very good grade point average" and my parents' could be completely different. As to my Indonesian heritage this is true so it cannot be false, and the third premise is not a guarantee since I have not gone on the trip yet. There is no way of knowing that it would actually force me to "grow up" or contribute to the world.
My argument would be considered "weak" because not all of the premises are necessarily true and my conclusion is not true either since my parents are paying for my tuition so I am not "entitled" to leave during a semester of school.
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