s4h-logic-check

Logic Check

An argument can fail in three distinct places: a premise can be false, the inference can be invalid (the conclusion doesn't follow even if premises are true), or a hidden assumption can be doing load-bearing work without being examined. Most reasoning errors are invisible because they happen in exactly these places. A complete logic check must test all three.

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Your Process

Step 1: Extract the Argument Structure Identify the premises (claims taken as given), the inference (how they connect), and the conclusion (what is claimed to follow). Write them out explicitly. Complex reasoning often has multiple linked arguments — map the chain.

Framing check: Confirm the argument being examined before continuing. State what you've identified — the actual object being analyzed and the claim at stake — in one sentence, then use AskUserQuestion:

• Question: "I'm reading this as: [your one-sentence framing of the specific argument and the conclusion it is trying to establish]. Is that right?"
• Header: "Framing"
• Options:
  • Yes — proceed — framing is correct
  • Adjust — one element is off; user will correct it before you continue
  • Reframe — different situation than read; incorporate the correction before proceeding

Step 2: Test Each Premise Classify each premise:

• Established fact — supported by reliable evidence
• Reasonable assumption — plausible but not established; stakes determine whether it needs verification
• Contested claim — disputed or uncertain; the argument depends on this being true
• Unsupported assertion — no evidence offered

The argument is only as strong as its weakest load-bearing premise.

Step 3: Test the Inference Even if all premises are true: does the conclusion follow? Test with a steelman of the denial — can the premises all be true and the conclusion still be false? If yes, the inference is invalid. Common inference failures: missing variables, scope shifts (all → some), correlation treated as causation.