The Art of Argument (Classical Academic Press)

The Art of Argument is a Classical Academic Press (CAP) text subtitled An Introduction to the Informal Fallacies. CAP's student edition page says the revised edition marks the text's 20th anniversary and teaches 28 fallacies, and its FAQ calls the book its introductory logic text.

Last updated: 2026-10-15 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Classical, subject-specialist, dialectic-stage logic (Every Homeschool classification). CAP's series page labels the level "Dialectic & Rhetoric"
Worldview	Christian · Ecumenical is Every Homeschool's classification. The text's Note to Teachers says its examples are not meant to show the authors' preference for one side of any issue and that readers will find arguments from liberals, conservatives, and various religious points of view. In its own words, CAP serves both Christian classical schools and homeschools, and its materials are used in classical charter schools that are not religious
Grades	Grades 7-8 on CAP's series page and logic page. The Teacher's Edition page says the text introduces students as young as 7th grade to logic, and Scholé Academy's course page says its course is geared toward rising 7th-12th graders
Formats	Paperback Student Edition (296 pages; CAP's page calls it a consumable item) and Teacher's Edition (416 pages); video as streaming or a 5-DVD set; flashcards, a poster, and PDF schedule and test packets; a live yearlong course at Scholé Academy
Cost tier	Standard (Every Homeschool classification). Student Edition $28.95, Teacher's Edition $29.95, and Program $132.95 with streaming video, retrieved October 2026
Parent intensity	3 (Every Homeschool rating)
ESA-common	Not verified
Accredited	Not applicable: a curriculum product. Scholé Academy, which teaches a live course on the text, states that its courses are not accredited by an external agency
Established	The Student Edition page says the revised edition marks the text's 20th anniversary, and the Look Inside sample shows a 2022 copyright (Edition 2.0)
Website	classicalacademicpress.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	4	In our assessment, a full pass through 28 fallacies in three units, with definitions, chapter reviews, and cumulative worksheets listed in the sample's table of contents
Ease of teaching	4	The Teacher's Edition contains the student text plus additional explanations, answers, and chapter and unit tests, per CAP's product page
Content quality	5	In our assessment, the sample's Socrates dialogue and fallacy trees are a clear way to introduce the subject; we read the Look Inside sample (its contents, the letter to students, and the "What Is Logic?" chapter through page 31), not the fallacy chapters or the advertisements
Flexibility	4	Sold as text only, with a Teacher's Edition, with streaming video or DVDs, or as a live Scholé Academy course
Value for money	4	Student Edition $28.95 and Teacher's Edition $29.95; video adds $63.95 as streaming (retrieved October 2026)
Worldview scope	4	The publisher's notes say examples come from several political and religious viewpoints; in our assessment, the sample we read has little devotional content
Visual/design	3	In our assessment, a consistent layout with fallacy trees and illustrations of Socrates and the student characters; the score reflects the Look Inside sample
Support resources	4	Streaming video, flashcards, a poster, free suggested schedules, a 32-week teaching schedule, a test and quiz packet, and an "Ask the Magister" resource where, per that page, homeschooling parents, students, and teachers can ask a question of a teacher

Who the publisher is

The Art of Argument is published by Classical Academic Press. CAP's Our Story page says the company was founded in 2001; see our CAP review for more on the company. The Student Edition page lists three contributors as authors: Joelle Hodge, Christopher Perrin, and Aaron G. Larsen, who is also listed as volume editor. The Look Inside sample's title page names the same three people.

CAP's page on Christopher Perrin says he cofounded the company and serves as its CEO and publisher.

Every Homeschool classifies the text as Christian · Ecumenical. The letter to students in the Look Inside sample says fallacies are present on the political left and right and in the arguments of people of all kinds of political, religious, and cultural viewpoints. The Student Edition page says the revised edition adds a more explicit call for students and teachers to be truth seekers and opportunities to practice the virtue of prudence.

The core pedagogy

The Student Edition page says the revised edition adds fresh examples, enhanced explanations, a refreshed design, several new dialogues with Socrates, and taxonomic fallacy trees. In the Look Inside sample, the 28 fallacies fall into three units: relevance (fourteen fallacies), presumption (eleven), and clarity (three), across six chapters. The chapters are Ad Fontem Arguments, Appeals to Emotion, Red Herrings, Fallacies of Presupposition, Fallacies of Induction, and Fallacies of Clarity. The sample's letter says each unit begins with a page of definitions.

The sample's table of contents lists a chapter review for each of the six chapters, a cumulative fallacy worksheet after the review for chapters 2 through 6, and a "Fallacy Discussion" section after several fallacies.

The sample's letter to students says the text includes written arguments and magazine advertisements that each contain one of the 28 fallacies, that CAP created the advertisements itself and the products in them are imaginary, and that a series of ongoing dialogues has Socrates talking with two college students named Tiffany and Nathan. CAP's pages give different counts for the advertisements: the program page says nearly 60, the series page says more than 60, and the Look Inside sample's letter says sixty-five. The sample's appendices list a play, "Bill and Ted's Excellent Election," and Max Shulman's short story "Love Is a Fallacy."

CAP's FAQ says The Art of Argument focuses on the inductive side of logic and on evaluating the arguments of others, and calls it a full logic course. It offers two next steps: The Discovery of Deduction and then The Argument Builder, or The Argument Builder directly.

The video page describes 3 experienced logic teachers and 4 students discussing the 28 fallacies, with one fallacy per segment of approximately 15 minutes, 28 videos in all, and more than 8 hours of content.

A day in the life

The publisher's materials describe the following schedule options:

• The free Suggested Schedules PDF, linked from CAP's series page, offers four schedules: 5 classes per week for 9 weeks, 4 per week for 12 weeks, 3 per week for 18 weeks, and 2 per week for 22 weeks. It says the two-per-week schedule will probably spill over into a second semester.
• The Full Teaching Schedule & Lesson Plan is a PDF based on a 32-week school year, organized by session and divided into work to complete in class and required homework due the following session. Its Look Inside sample recommends teaching the text a minimum of 2 days per week, for 64 sessions in a year, and says sessions can be skipped to reduce the total to as few as 46. The product page adds optional extension exercises and a possible end-of-year project.
• The video has one segment per fallacy of approximately 15 minutes. The page says homeschoolers keep streaming access for the life of the product.
• Scholé Academy's course page says students complete the entire text, learning all 28+ fallacies and identifying, defining, and creating them, and write approximately four short essays of 4-5 paragraphs. Its shop listing gives a yearlong 2026-27 course meeting twice a week for 60-75 minutes, for grades 7-12. The course page lists a writing prerequisite that includes compare-and-contrast essays, thesis statements with evidence, and MLA formatting.

What they do exceptionally well

A visible structure. The sample divides the 28 fallacies into three units and six chapters, starts each unit with a definitions page, and adds fallacy trees. In our assessment, a student can see where each fallacy sits and how the groups relate.

A teaching apparatus around the text. CAP sells a Teacher's Edition with additional explanations, answers, and chapter and unit tests, a test and quiz packet, flashcards, a poster, a teaching schedule, and video. In our assessment, a parent or co-op teacher who has not taught logic has several supports to draw on.

Dialogues and fictional advertisements. The sample's letter to students says the text gives practice with written arguments and with magazine advertisements CAP created, and includes ongoing dialogues with Socrates. The sample we read does not include the fallacy chapters or the advertisements, so we have not judged how well they work.

Examples from several viewpoints. The Note to Teachers says the examples are not meant to show the authors' preference for one side of any issue. In our assessment, this lets families with different convictions use the book.

What they do poorly

Informal logic only. CAP's Student Edition page calls the text an informal logic text, and its FAQ defines informal logic as the study of everyday types of reasoning. A student who wants formal logic would move to The Discovery of Deduction, which CAP's FAQ describes as the formal, deductive study.

Video adds cost. The streaming video is $63.95 and the DVD set is $85.95, compared with $28.95 for the Student Edition (retrieved October 2026). CAP offers the video as part of the $132.95 Program (streaming), which also includes the Student Edition and Teacher's Edition, per its product page.

Edition and test caveats. The Teacher's Edition page says the revised version is not compatible with the older version, and that the Teacher's Edition does not include a chapter 2 test. The same page says CAP supplies a downloadable PDF packet of the tests and quizzes with the purchase of the Teacher's Edition.

Figures differ from page to page. CAP's pages give different advertisement counts (see above) and different grade ranges (grades 7-8 on the series page, "as young as 7th grade" on the Teacher's Edition page, and rising 7th-12th graders on the Scholé Academy course page).

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick The Art of Argument if: you want an introduction to informal fallacies for students in the grades CAP lists; you want a Teacher's Edition, tests, and optional video; you want a live online class on the same text; you are comfortable with a text from a publisher that serves Christian classical schools and homeschools.

• Skip The Art of Argument if: you want formal logic as a first course, since CAP offers The Discovery of Deduction for that; you want a text with no teacher's materials or video cost; your student is outside the grade range on CAP's pages and you have not confirmed placement with the publisher.

Cost honest assessment

All prices below are CAP's, retrieved October 2026.

• Student Edition: $28.95. Teacher's Edition: $29.95. Together, $58.90 (our arithmetic).
• Video: $63.95 digital online or $85.95 on DVD.
• Program: $132.95 with streaming video or $151.95 with DVDs. The page's "Full program includes" text names the Student Edition, Teacher's Edition, and video, while its bundle list also names Flashcards and a Poster, so confirm what is in the bundle before buying. The page adds free access to the General Course Overview and Pacing in My Library.
• Add-ons: Flashcards $12.95, Poster $10.95, Full Teaching Schedule & Lesson Plan $12.99 (PDF), and Test & Quiz Packet $11.95 (PDF).
• Scholé Academy's shop lists the yearlong 2026-27 course at $710. Per Scholé's FAQ, books are sold separately and a $75 deposit is built into the cost of each course.

CAP's FAQ says it does not regularly offer discounts or coupons.

ESA eligibility notes

Every Homeschool has not confirmed whether any state ESA marketplace lists The Art of Argument or Scholé Academy tuition. Scholé Academy's state funding page lists programs for which its students may qualify. Families should confirm with their program administrator that the specific items they plan to buy are eligible and whether the program applies restrictions to religious curriculum.

Alternatives

• The Discovery of Deduction, a family would choose CAP's formal logic text if they want the deductive study that CAP's FAQ describes as one path after The Art of Argument.
• The Argument Builder, a family would choose it if they want the pre-rhetoric text that CAP's FAQ offers as the other path after The Art of Argument.
• Memoria Press Traditional Logic I, a family would compare it if they want a different publisher's logic text; the publisher states its own scope and prices on its site.
• The Fallacy Detective, a family would compare it if they want a different publisher's introduction to fallacies; the publisher states its own scope and price on its site.