Philosophy and Logic Lecture Review

Flashcards covering the branches of philosophy, types of logical terms, propositional structures, fallacies, and the components of categorical syllogisms.

Ethics

The moral principle of deciding whether an action is right or wrong.

Metaphysics

The branch of philosophy that studies the cosmos and its content, the nature of the soul, and questions like “What is ultimately real?” and “What is time?”

Epistemology

The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and extent of human knowledge, asking questions such as “What is truth?” and “Is knowledge possible?”

Aesthetics

The branch of philosophy that studies beauty, what appeals to the eyes and ears, and evaluates the philosophy of film, music, literature, and art.

Logic

The study of the methods and principles used to distinguish correct from incorrect reasoning, including the evaluation of arguments and syllogisms.

Axiology

A branch of philosophy where aesthetics and ethics are sometimes grouped together.

Empiricism

The belief that knowledge can be obtained only through the senses.

Rationalism

The belief that knowledge can be obtained only through reason.

Concepts

Considered as the building blocks of knowledge.

Concrete term

A term referring to physical objects, such as a house, car, book, notebook, pencil, or refrigerator.

Abstract term

A term referring to non-physical qualities or ideas, such as wisdom, bravery, patience, courage, confidence, or friendship.

Singular term

A term that refers to one specific individual or entity, such as “The Sun,” “The Nile River,” or “The Great Wall of China.”

Particular term

A term that refers to some members of a group, typically indicated by the word “some.”

Universal term

A term that refers to the entire membership of a class, such as “All planets” or “All students.”

Univocal term

A term used in exactly the same sense in different contexts, such as “tree in the forest and tree in the garden.”

Equivocal term

A term that has two or more completely different meanings, such as “bank for saving money” and “bank of a river.”

Analogous term

A term that has meanings which are partly the same and partly different, such as “health of a person” and “health of a nation.”

Subject-Copula-Predicate Form

The correct logical structure of a proposition, such as “Bees are nectar collectors” or “Stars are luminous objects.”

Proposition

A statement that affirms or denies something and can be evaluated as true or false.

Argument

Any group of propositions in which one is claimed to follow logically from the others.

Simple Apprehension

An act of the mind wherein it understands the general meaning of a thing without affirming or denying anything about it.

Ad Hominem

A fallacy where an argument is rejected based on a personal attack against the speaker (e.g., “You are wrong because you didn’t graduate on time”).

Appeal to Pity

A fallacy that attempts to win support for an argument or idea by exploiting the opponent’s feelings of pity or guilt.

Strawman Fallacy

A fallacy that misrepresents an opponent’s position to make it easier to attack (e.g., claiming critics of a law “just dislike progress”).

Appeal to Unqualified Authority

A fallacy occurring when an authority cited is not an expert on the subject at hand.

Slippery Slope

A fallacy that claims a single step will inevitably lead to a chain of related negative events.

Suppressed Evidence

A fallacy where evidence that contradicts a conclusion is conveniently left out of a report.

False Dichotomy

A fallacy that presents only two alternatives when more exist (e.g., “Either you are with the policy completely, or you are selfish”).

Composition

A fallacy that assumes what is true of the parts must be true of the whole (e.g., “The shoes are heavy, therefore the box is heavy”).

Division

A fallacy that assumes what is true of the whole must be true of its parts (e.g., “The team won, so each player must have won”).

Appeal to People

A fallacy that uses the popularity of a belief or behavior as a reason to support it.

Appeal to Ignorance

A fallacy claiming something is true simply because it has not been proven false.

Begging the Question

A fallacy where the conclusion is assumed in one of the premises (e.g., “Reading improves the mind because it makes you smarter”).

Amphiboly

A fallacy resulting from ambiguous grammatical structure that allows for multiple interpretations.

A Proposition

A Universal Affirmative categorical proposition (e.g., “All roses are flowers”).

E Proposition

A Universal Negative categorical proposition (e.g., “No triangles are circles”).

I Proposition

A Particular Affirmative categorical proposition (e.g., “Some teachers are patient”).

O Proposition

A Particular Negative categorical proposition (e.g., “Some foods are not healthy”).

Major Term

In a syllogism, it is the predicate of the conclusion.

Minor Term

In a syllogism, it is the subject of the conclusion.

Middle Term

The term that appears in both premises but does not appear in the conclusion of a syllogism.