Isaiah Jones - Causal Arguments

A causal argument is a type of argument that tries to show how one event brings about another. The three typical kinds of causal argument are speculations about possible causes, arguments for an unexpected or surprising cause, and predictions of consequences. An example of speculations about possible causes is the causes of the Columbine High School shooting. Arguments for an unexpected or surprising cause is persuading readers to see the plausibility of the cause. An example of this is violent video games was the cause of the Columbine shooting. Predictions of consequences is when the consequences of current, planned, or proposed actions or events are predicted.

Violent video games and movies may have been a contributing cause to school shootings because playing and watching violent media can make violence seem enjoyable.

An increase in nonsmoking advertisements can cause less teens to smoke because they don’t want to end up like the people in the commercials.

Induction is inferring a general conclusion based on limited a number of specific cases. An example of this is you got sick after drinking pink lemonade but not after drinking regular lemonade. Another example is not going to fast food restaurants anymore because you got food poisoning after eating McDonalds.