If we never step back from a text that we are reading and ask whether the author s perspective is right or wrong, then we are really not reading in an active way. In this case, we are just taking for granted that what the author says is true, when, in fact, this could be far from the case. A philosophical work will be made up of many interdependent arguments that are used by an author to advance his thesis. Some of these arguments will be stronger than others, and it is your job as a reader to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the various arguments that an author presents to you.
Abortion is the unjustified taking of an innocent human life.
Therefore, abortion is murder. If it is in fact true that murder is the unjustified taking of a human life, and if it is also true that abortion is the unjustified taking of a human life, then it is quite logical to argue that abortion is indeed murder. For one thing, we could argue that unlike murder abortion is justified, since a woman has the right to determine what she wants to do with her own body, and the fetus is part of her body. We could also argue against the truthfulness of premise two that the fetus may be a life, but it is not a human life. If they do, then you will probably feel compelled to agree with the author s position.