Chapter 1 Flashcards
(81 cards)
1
Q
Argument
A
A group of statements, one or more of which (the premises) are claimed to provide support for, or reasons to believe, one of the others (the conclusion).
2
Q
Good arguments
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Those in which the premises really do support the conclusion
3
Q
Bad arguments
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Those in which the premises do not support the conclusion
4
Q
Statement
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A sentence that is either true or false. An argument is a group of these.
5
Q
What are the truth values of a statement
A
Truth and falsity
6
Q
Premises
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The statements that set forth the reasons or evidence.
7
Q
Conclusion
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The statement that the evidence is claimed to support or imply.
8
Q
List 15 conclusion indicators
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therefore wherefore thus consequently We may infer accordingly We may conclude it must be that whence so entails that hence it follows that implies that as a result
9
Q
What are conclusion indicators?
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Indicator words that provide clues in identifying the conclusion.
10
Q
List 12 premise indicators
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since as indicated by because for in that may be inferred from as given that seeing that for the reason that inasmuch as owing to
11
Q
What are premise indicators?
A
Indicator words that provide clues in identifying the premises.
12
Q
Inference
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The reasoning process expressed by an argument.
13
Q
Proposition
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The meaning or information content of a statement.
14
Q
Logic
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It may be defined as the science that evaluates arguments. Its aim is to develop a system of methods and principles that we mayuseascriteria for evaluating the arguments of others and asguidesinconstructing arguments of our own.
15
Q
When does a passage purport to prove something?
A
(1) At least one of the statements must claim to present evidence or reasons. (2) There must be a claim that the alleged evidence or reasons supports or implies something—that is, a claim that something follows from the alleged evidence.
16
Q
When does a passage contain an argument?
A
If it purports to prove something
17
Q
inferential claim
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The inferential claim is simply the claim that the passage expresses a certain kind of reasoning process—that something supports or implies something or that something follows from something
18
Q
factual claim
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to present evidence or reasons
19
Q
explicit inferential claim
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is usually asserted by premise or conclusion indicator words such as: (‘‘thus,’’ ‘‘since,’’ ‘‘because,’’ ‘‘hence,’’ ‘‘therefore,’’ and so on).
20
Q
Implicit inferential claim
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if there is an inferential relationship between the statements in a passage.
21
Q
What are some simple noninferential passages?
A
Warning, piece of advice, statement of belief or opinion, loosely associated statements, reports
22
Q
warning
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a form of expression that is intended to put someone on guard against a dangerous or detrimental situation.
23
Q
Piece of advice
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a form of expression that makes a recommendation about some future decision or course of conduct
24
Q
Statement of belief or opinion
A
an expression about what someone happens to believe or think at a certain time.
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Loosely associated statements
may be about the same general subject, but they lack a claim that one of them is proved by the others
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report
consists of a group of statements that convey information about some topic or event.
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expository passage
a kind of discourse that begins with a topic sentence followed by one or more sentences that develop the topic sentence. If the objective is not to prove the topic sentence but only to expand it or elaborate it, then there is no argument.
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When is an expository passage an argument?
If the purpose of the subsequent sentences in the passage is not only to flesh out the topic sentence but also to prove it,
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illustration
consists of a statement about a certain subject combined with a reference to one or more specific instances intended to exemplify that statement. Illustrations are often confused with arguments because many of them contain indicator words such as ‘‘thus.’’
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When is an illustration an argument?
arguments from example. If the examples that are cited can be interpreted as providing evidence
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explanation
Oneof the most important kinds of nonargument. It's a group of statements that purports to shed light on some event or phenomenon.
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What are explanations composed of?
The explanandum is the statement that describes the event or phenomenon to be explained, and the explanans is the statement or groupofstatementsthat purports to do the explaining.
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Explanation vs premise
the purposeofthe explanans is to show why something is the case, while in an argument, the purposeof the premises is to prove that something is the case.
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conditional statement
It is an ‘‘if...then...’’statement; for example:
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What are the two component statements of conditional statements?
The component statement immediately following the ‘‘if’’ is called the antecedent, and the one following the ‘‘then’’ is called the consequent.
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What is the relation between conditional statements and arguments?
1. A single conditional statement is not an argument.
2. Aconditional statement may serve as either the premise or the conclusion(orboth) of an argument. 3. The inferential content of a conditional statement may be reexpressed to form an argument.
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deductive argument
an argument in which the premises are claimed to support the conclusion in such a way that it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false. In such arguments the conclusion is claimed to follow necessarily from the premises.
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inductive argument
an argument in which the premises are claimed to support the conclusion in such a way that it is improbablethat the premises be true and the conclusion false. In these arguments the conclusion is claimed to follow only probably from the premises.
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List five examples of argumentation that are typically deductive.
* arguments based on mathematics
* arguments from definition
* categorical
* hypothetical
* disjunctive syllogisms
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argument based on mathematics
argument in which the conclusion depends on some purely arithmetic or geometric computation or measurement
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argument from definition
an argument in which the conclusion is claimed to depend merely upon the definition of some word or phrase used in the premise or conclusion
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syllogism
an argument consisting of exactly two premises and one conclusion
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categorical syllogism
a syllogism in which each statement begins with one of the words ‘‘all,’’ ‘‘no,’’ or ‘‘some.’’
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hypothetical syllogism
a syllogism having a conditional statement for one or both of its premises
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disjunctive syllogism
a syllogism having a disjunctive statement (i.e., an ‘‘either...or...’’ statement) for one of its premises
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List several inductive forms of argumentation
* predictions about the future
* arguments from analogy
* inductive generalizations
* arguments from authority
* arguments based on signs
* causal inferences
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prediction
* the premises deal with some known event in the present or past
* the conclusion moves beyond this event to some event in the relative future
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argument from analogy
an argument that depends on the existence of an analogy or similarity between two things or states of affairs.
Because of the existence of this analogy, a certain condition that affects the better-known thing or situation is concluded to affect the similar, lesser-known thing or situation.
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inductive generalization
an argument that proceeds from the knowledge of a selected sample to some claim about the whole group
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argument from authority
an argument in which the conclusion rests upon a statement made by some presumed authority or witness
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argument based on signs
an argument that proceeds from the knowledge of a certain sign to a knowledge of the thing or situation that the sign symbolizes
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causal inference
underlies arguments that proceed from knowledge of a cause to knowledge of the effect or conversely, from knowledge of an effect to knowledge of a cause.
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particular statement
is one that makes a claim about one or more particular members of a class
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general statement
makes a claim about all the members of a class
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valid deductive argument
an argument such that it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false.
the conclusion follows with strict necessity from the premises.
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invalid deductive argument
a deductive argument such that it is possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false
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How is an argument tested for validity?
* assume that all premises are true
| * determine if it is possible for the conclusion to be false
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How is validity determined?
validity is something that is determined by the relationship between premises and conclusion
the question is not whether premises and conclusion are true or false, but whether the premises support the conclusion
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Any deductive argument having actually true premises and an actually false conclusion is ________.
invalid
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sound argument
deductive argument that is valid and has all true premises
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What is required for an argument to be unsound?
the false premise or premises must actually be needed to support the conclusion.
An argument with a conclusion that is validly supported by true premises but with a superfluous false premise would still be sound
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strong inductive argument
inductive argument such that it is improbable that the premises be true and the conclusion false.
the conclusion follows probably from the premises.
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weak inductive argument
an inductive argument such that the conclusion does not follow probably from the premises, even though it is claimed to
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Inductive arguments in which there are true premises and probably false conclusion are: _______.
weak
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How can an inductive argument be strengthened or weakened?
By incorporating additional premises.
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cogent argument
an inductive argument that is strong and has all true premises;
if either condition is missing, the argument is uncogent.
an uncogent argument is an inductive argument that is weak, has one or more false premises, or both.
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What is the difference between sound and cogent arguments in regard to the true-premise requirement.
In a sound argument it is only necessary that the premises be true and nothing more.
Given such premises and good reasoning, a true conclusion is guaranteed.
In a cogent argument the premises must not only be true, they must also not ignore some important piece of evidence that outweighs the given evidence and entails a quite different conclusion.
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How is argument validity determined?
by the argument form
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What is an example of an argument form?
all A are B
all B are C
————-
all A are C
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substitution instance of a form
Any argument that is produced by uniformly substituting terms or statements in place of the letters in an argument form
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Give an example of an argument form in which the premises are true and the conclusion false.
all A are B
all C are B
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all A are C
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counterexample method
A substitution instance having true premises and a false conclusion
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What does the word "some" mean in logic?
at least one
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What is the form of a hypothetical syllogism?
if G not P
not G
---------
not P
this argument is invalid
75
if it should turn out that the conclusion is a conditional statement, what is one sure way of producing a false conditional statement?
by joining a true antecedent with a false consequent.
For example, the conditional statement ‘‘If Lassie is a dog, then Lassie is a cat’’ is clearly false.
76
Explain how to reduce an argument to its form.
leave the form words as they are, and replace the content words with letters
for categorical syllogisms the words "all, no, some, are, not" are form words
for hypothetical syllogisms the words "if, then, not" are form words
additional form words for other types of arguments are "either, or, both, and"
77
How to make an argument form explicit?
making it explicit requires an analysis of the meaning of the language.
This figure is a square.
------------------------
Therefore, this figure has four sides.
a premise must be added stating the definition of square:
This figure is a square.
All squares have four sides.
----------------------------
Therefore, this figure has four sides.
78
What are two patterns of argumentation in extended arguments?
Horizontal pattern and vertical pattern
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vertical pattern
consists of a series of arguments in which a conclusion of a logically prior argument becomes a premise of a subsequent argument
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Horizontal pattern
consists of a single argument in which two or more premises provide independent support for a single conclusion
If one of the premises were omitted, the other(s) would continue to support the conclusion in the same way.
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When do the two variations on the horizontal and vertical patterns occur?
when two or more premises support a conclusion conjointly,
and when one or more premises supports multiple conclusions.
