Counter-Premise

[LateBloomer]

P. 56 of the LR bible has a passage pertaining to tests and whether or not the mid or final exam will be cancelled.

"If Ameer is correct, either the midterm is cancelled or the final is cancelled. But the professor said in class last week that she is considering cancelling both tests and instead having students submit a term paper."

The book answer states that the second sentence is a PREMISE.

My question is why is it not a COUNTER-PREMISE?....it seems to me that this sentence is attempting to disregard the first sentence.
I guess I am having trouble putting in words the difference between a 'contradictory premise' (such as in sentence two) and a 'counter-premise'......Can someone draw out the logic of this?

[LateBloomer]

------ I understand why the book said it was a premise bc the argument was weak. But if every author thinks that there argument is sound from their perspective......than wouldn't this just be a weak counter-premise that the author used, from my perspective???

Obviously I have a train wreck of logic, please help lol

[Adam Tyson]

Good question, LateBloomer, and I see your confusion here. There's a good discussion of the role of counter-premises earlier in the LR Bible (in my 2016 edition it's on p. 33) that may help you. Basically, a counter-premise is one that goes against the main thrust of the author's argument. Usually it's something the author is acknowledging but then dismissing - "while it's true that in some cases X doesn't happen, in this type of case it always does". The statement in question here doesn't run counter to our author's argument, but directly supports it, and that's why it's just a premise and not a counter-premise.

Strength and weakness of the argument have little to do with analyzing the role of a given statement. The only question is what the claim was intended to do within the structure of that argument (so in that sense you do need to put yourself in the shoes of the author, and not view it from an outside perspective). If the author intended for the reader to accept the statement as true, and if he appears to believe that his conclusion rests upon or follows from that statement, then the statement is a premise. It may be a good one, or it may be junk, but whether it is a premise or not is solely a question of the argument's structure.

Double check that earlier section on counter-premises and this should all get much clearer. Good luck!