Session 1 - Arguments Flashcards
(17 cards)
How are arguments used?
- used to convince not persuade or manipulate
- transparent in its aims
- discloses all relevant information
- makes assumptions explicit
Argumentation vs/and persuasion
Argumentation
- aims to convince people of something: justify one’s own claims transparently
- has a certain form (premises, conclusion)
- not used to deceive, lie, withhold information –> persuasion
Persuasion
- aims to convince people of something: something is the case but not justify one’s own claim transparently
- not (necessarily) transparent in its aims
- withhold important information
- appeal to un verifiable claims
- applies pressues, appeals to emotions
- use the form of an argument
What are arguments?
- central method in philosophical text but not exclusively used in philosophical texts only
- subject of the investigation
- have a certain structure: premises (assumptions) + conclusion (claim)
Basic structure of arguments
- premises (assumptions) and conclusions (claims): typically propositions
- premises must be chosen in a way to support the conlcusion
- convincing: supporting relationship between the premises and the conclusion + premises are plausible
- usually start with the conclusion: then present suitable premises to support it –> draw the conclusion
- either P and C or premises and Frege’s Schlussstrich (=’therefore’) to separate the conclusion from the premises
Force of conclusion
If deductibely valid:
- thesis is what is argued for (conclusion/claim)
- premises (assumptions) support thesis/conclusion/claim
- conclusion has to follow logically from premises
Validity
valid if:
- the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the conclusion
- conclusion is entailed by premises
- conclusion cannot be false if the premises are true
- premises and conclusion are in a direct logical relationship
Soundness
sound iff:
- only sound if also valid
- premises need to be true (truth value)
Deduction and deductive arguments
- deductive reasoning serves to make relationships explicit
- premises of deductive arguments entail their conclusions
Support relation:
- truth of premises guarantees the truth of the conclusion
- conclusion is entailed by premises
- conlcusion cannot be false if the premises are true
–> difference to inductive argument is not that one infers from general to particular or vice versa: wrong!
Induction and inductive arguments
= non-deductive arguments
- go beyond what is stated in the premises in their conclusions
- particularly relevant to empirical sciences bc it allows to extend our knowledge of the world beyond what is already known
- inductive proofs in mathematics are deductively valid
Support relation:
- the truth of the premises increase the likelihood of the truth of the conclusion –> the premise makes the conclusion more probable
- the conclusion can be false even if the premises are true
Weak and strong iductive arguments
- can be evaluated according to the degree to which the truth of the premises make the conclusion probable
- quantifying expressions: almost all, practically all, most, many, often, rather, some, sometimes, etc.
- premises are true or false, only conlcusions are probable
Abduction
= third form of reasoning, also known as inference to the best explanation (IBE)
- something is observed: there are different explanations –> choose the best one
- disputed whether abduction/IBE truly constitutes a genuinely distinct form of inference
- IBE often described as special form of inductive reasoning –> not always easily classified as inductive reasoning
- frequently used in philosophical and scientific reasoning
What is a claim/thesis/conclusion?
= assertions that must be further substantiated
- central concern is to convince people of the conclusion
- ideally, thesis is conclusion of a successfull argument
- claim, thesis is start of argument, conclusion is end
≠assumption, author assumes thesis A
What is a premise/assumption?
= assertions that are assumed to be true for the sake of the argument
- reflect commonly shared beliefs, self-evident truths, definitions
- have already been justified elsewhere
- are hypotheses whose consequences are to be tested
≠claim, author claims A
Signal words: asssumptions/premises
- it is plausible, there is no doubt, it is generally agreed
- obvious, as everyone knows
- evident, it will be assumed
- clear
- resonable
- credible, it is supposed, presumed, supposed
Signal words: claim/thesis
- my claim is
- I aim at showing
- I aim at defending
- I contend
- I argue for
Signal words: Justification/reasons
- because
- since
Signal words: conclusions
- therefore, so, thus
- subsequently, it follows that
- for this reason, as a consequence
- this implies, this leads to, this entails
