ARGUS3 — User Guide

What is ARGUS?

ARGUS is an open protocol for the critical analysis of argumentative texts, designed to be used with an artificial intelligence (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or any other language model). It dissects the mechanics of a text — its logic, rhetoric, presuppositions, and implicit strategies — without being fooled by its persuasive power.

What does the acronym mean?

ARGUS = Analytical Rigor Guided by a Universal and Systematic protocol.

The name also evokes Argus, the hundred-eyed giant of Greek mythology: a multiple, vigilant gaze that misses nothing.

Key terms explained

• Framing (or opening device) : the way a text begins — its title, first sentences, first paragraph — imposes a framework that determines what can be said or thought, and what is excluded from debate.
• Undemonstrated presupposition : a claim the text treats as true without ever proving it.
• Straw man : an opposing position constructed by the author in a simplified form to be easily refuted.
• Falsifiability : the capacity of a thesis to be contradicted by facts.
• Methodological perimeter : ARGUS analyzes the text from within, without verifying facts against external sources (except in limited framed cases).
• Implicit strategic function : what the text does without explicitly saying so.
• Performative contradiction : when the text does the opposite of what it says.
• Confidence level : assessment of a hypothesis’s strength (strong, medium, weak).

How to use ARGUS

1. Get the protocol (downloadable from this site).
2. Open a conversation with the AI of your choice.
3. Provide the protocol to the AI :
   • If the AI accepts attachments, attach the .docx file directly.
   • Otherwise, copy and paste the full protocol text.
4. Add the text to be analyzed, by pasting or attaching it.
5. Give a simple instruction : “Analyze this text using the ARGUS V2.1.3 protocol.”
6. The AI will apply Step 0 (relevance and genre), then the eight steps.
7. For a quicker analysis, ask: “Use ARGUS Light.”
8. To activate the empty signifier analysis: “Use ARGUS with Appendix 2.”

Analysis reliability: the AI is not infallible. Reread the analysis critically and check the key points (announced steps, mandatory sections, consistency of the judgment).

Analyzing multiple texts : ARGUS is optimized for one text at a time. To compare several texts, analyze them separately, then request a comparative synthesis.

Analysing a corpus of related texts: ARGUS has a dedicated appendix (Appendix 3 — ARGUS-Corpus) for the coordinated analysis of several texts. It covers the corpus declaration, cross-text consistency checking, and the precautions needed before drawing a transversal synthesis. This appendix is used in addition to the base protocol, applied text by text.

Adding external documents : if you attach reports or data, specify whether you want a strict internal analysis (default) or a confrontation with these documents. In the latter case, the AI will apply ARGUS then compare with the provided elements.

Important : ARGUS is designed for argumentative texts (op-eds, essays, speeches, manifestos). It is not suitable for purely literary or documentary texts.