Your Soundness Checklist

Run any argument through these steps:

• Map the structure — name the premises and the conclusion
• Check validity — does the conclusion have to follow from those premises?
• Check truth — are the premises actually true, and what backs them up?
• Hunt hidden premises — many arguments skip a step that only seems obvious

Call it sound only if every check passes. This one habit — separating validity from truth — is your best defense against slick reasoning that sounds right and isn't.