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Definition: The distinction between contingent and necessary statements is one of the oldest in philosophy. A truth is necessary if denying it would entail a contradiction. A truth is contingent, however, if it happens to be true but could have been false. For example:
Cats are mammals.
Cats are reptiles.
Cats have claws.
The first statement is a necessary truth because denying it, as with the second statement, results in a contradiction. Cats are, by definition, mammals - so saying that they are reptiles is a contradiction. The third statement is a contingent truth becuase it is possible that cats could have evolved without claws.
This is similar to the distinction between essential and accidental qualities. Being a mammal is part of a cat's essence, but having claws is an accident.
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What is an Argument?
It helps to know what, exactly, an argument is before you can critique one and tell what is wrong with it. Sometimes, people say they are making arguments when they are not!How do you critique an argument?
Assuming that we have established that we have an actual argument, the next step is to examine it for validity. There are two points on which an argument might fail: its premises or its inferences.
