Argument is a term that comes from the Latin word argumentum. It is the reasoning that is used to demonstrate or prove a proposition or to convince another person of what is affirmed or denied.
For example: “Before you get angry, you should listen to my arguments”, “You cannot defend a similar idea without any argument”, “The argument given by the manager to explain the decision did not satisfy anyone”, “Dr. López trusts that his argument will allow to obtain the benefit ”.
According to DigoPaul, the argument is the expression, either oral or written, of reasoning. It allows justifying something as a reasonable action with two possible purposes: persuading another subject (to promote a certain action) or transmitting a content with a sense of truth (promoting understanding).
An argument must be coherent and consistent, without exhibiting contradictions. Only in this way will it achieve its objectives, otherwise it will be contested or rejected by the receiver.
This term that concerns us we have to say that it becomes an element of great value within the judicial sphere. And it is precisely the arguments that will become the key for a lawyer to be able to demonstrate the innocence of his client or, in the contrary case, the guilt of the accused against whom his defendant is going.
In any of the two situations, what is clear is that before the judge the lawyer must present solid and irrefutable arguments that make it clear that what he defends is the absolute truth.
Specifically, among the main arguments that the defense can use to achieve “victory” in the trial are the alibi, the procedural irregularity, the justification ground or the grounds for exemption from criminal liability. This last element is the one in which the accused acknowledges having committed the crime but also the one that was impossible for him to avoid due to a loss of consciousness, to being coerced, to suffering from dementia or to having a decrease in capacity.
For logic, an argument is a set of premises followed by a conclusion. When this conclusion necessarily follows from the premises, we are talking about a deductively valid argument.
Another use of argument is linked to the subject matter or subject matter in a work. When a person narrates the plot of a movie or a book, what he does is expose the main ideas and actions: “It is a very well acted comedy, but with a predictable plot”, “The plot of the filmmaker’s new movie caused a great controversy in the Arab world ”.
In this case, it must be stated that the term argument is often confused with those of synopsis and summary. However, the differentiation that can be made is as follows:
• Argument, with which in a few lines an attempt is made to express what subject the work is about.
• Synopsis, consists of making a brief account of the book or the movie, giving an account of the names of some characters or more specific details.
• Summary, follows the lines of the synopsis but is longer than it.
