First Year Seminar Test 2

what is an argument?

• the combination of claims- a claim supposedly giving reasons for accepting another claim

• claims provide support for another claim

• reasons supporting a claim

definition of premises

claims (or reasons) intended to support another claim

definition of conclusion

the claim that the premises are intended to support

common conclusion indicator words

• thus

• so

• consequently

• it follows that

• which means that

• hence

• therefore

• as a result

• we can conclude that

  • which implies

common premise indicatory words

• since

• the reason being

• assuming that

• for the reason that

• for

• because

• in view of the fact

• given that

• as indicated by

• due to the fact that

difference between argument and persuasion?

• through various persuasive ploys, fancy rhetoric, emotional appeals, deception, coercion you can influence people to accept a conclusion

• the conclusion is not worthy of acceptance

  • a good argument can be forceful but they are different

what is a deductive argument

if the premises are true, conclusion must be true

what is an inductive argument

• weak support (probably support but not conclusive)

when reading a passage (steps)

• is it an argument?

• analyze/understand the argument

  • identify the premises and conclusion

  • fill in unstated part of the argument

• evaluation

what is the principle of charity?

• interpret arguments in a way that makes them look as reasonable as you can

valid definition

• a deductive argument that succeeds in providing conclusive support

• refers to the structure of the argument

  • argument structure guarantees the truth of the conclusion if the premises are true

invalid definition

a deductive argument that fails to provide such support

an inductive argument that succeeds in giving probable support to its conclusion

said to be strong

an inductive argument that fails to give probable support

weak

sound argument

deductively valid argument with true premises

cogent argument

good argument which provides good reasons for accepting the conclusion

if premises are true, the conclusion must also be true

deductive validity

probable support

inductive validity

conditional statement

• compound statement consisting of two constituent statements (assigned letters p and q)

• if-then statement

• statement following the if is called the antecedent

  • statement after the then is called the consequent

modus ponens

affirming the antecedent

if p then q

p

therefore q

VALID NO MATTER WHAT

what can a valid argument have

• false premises and a false conclusion

• false premises and a true conclusion

• true premises and a true conclusion

what can’t a valid argument have

true premise and a false conclusion

modus tollens

• denying the consequent

  if p then q

  not q

  not p

hypothetical syllogism

if p then q

if q then r

therefore, if p then r

disjunctive syllogism

either p or q

not p

therefore q

two invalid forms

• affirming the consequent

• denying the antecedent

what is affirming the consequent

if p then q

q

so p

what is denying the antecedent

if p then q

not p

not q

three types of inductive arguments

• enumerative

• analogical

• hypothetical

what is enumerative induction

• generalizing based on small sample

• counting up the # of objects that have some feature

• x percent of observed have property p, therefore x percent of whole group have property p

sample definition

observed members of the target group

population definition

the group under study or the entire class of individuals we’re interested in

relevant property definition

the characteristic we’re studing

importance of samples

• large enough

  • need to be representative

what is self-selecting bias

• when the survey is on a specific website so the users are already narrowed down

• people willingly choose to take the surveys meaning they might already have a special interest

margin of error

• 74 plus or minus percent because surveys might have bias and be wrong

• discrepancy between the poll results and the ideal results

why is the phrasing for survey questions important?

the phrasing can often influence people to answer in a specific way

what is analogical induction

• when you compare one thing to another based on similarities

  Object A has properties F, G, H, etc., as well as the property Z

  Object B has properties F, G, H, etc.

  Therefore, object B probably has property Z

what is hypothetical induction

Phenomena p

Hypothesis h explains p

No other hypothesis explains p as well as h

Therefore, it’s probable that h is true

• Sherlock Holmes passage where he tries to make assumption about Dr

• identify which among all the possible explanations is the best

• goodness of the explanation is determined by the amount of understanding it produces

what are the 3 general criteria for argument evaluation

• relevance

  • no bearing on the truth of the conclusion

• sufficiency

  • do not establish the conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt

• acceptability

  • they are at least as dubious as the claim they are supposed to support

what is a fallacy?

a fallacious argument is a bogus one, for it fails to do what it purports to do which is to provide a good reason for accepting the claim

what is begging the question

• its conclusion is used as one of its premises

• You should believe in the Bible because God wrote it

  • assuming what they are trying to prove (God exists)

what are the fallacies of unacceptability

• begging the question

  • false dilemma

what is false dilemma

• presumes that only two alternatives exist when in actuality there are more than two

• either science can explain how she was cured or it was a miracle

  • possible she was cured by a natural thing that the doctors don’t understand

what are the fallacies of irrelevance

• equivocation

• composition

• division

• appeal to the person

• genetic fallacy

• appeal to authority

• appeal to the masses

• appeal to tradition

• appeal to ignorance

• appeal to fear

• straw man

equivocation

• word is used in two different senses of an argument

  only man is rational

  no woman is a man

  therefore, woman is not rational

what is composition

• may claim that what is true of the parts is also true of the whole

  subatomic particles are lifeless

• therefore anything made out of them is lifeless

emergent property: a property had by its whole but not by its parts (wetness)

what is division

• one assumes that what is true of a whole is also true of its parts

  we are alive and we are made out of subatomic particles

  they must be alive too

what is appeal to the person (ad hominem)

• when someone tries to rebut an argument by criticizing or denigrating its presenter rather than by dealing with the argument itself

• if the critique itself is relevant to the claim

what is genetic fallacy

• to argue that a claim is true or false on the basis of its origin is to commit the genetic fallacy

• jane got the message from a ouiji board

what is appeal to authority

• supporting our views by citing experts

  • perfectly valid provided that the person cited really is an expert in the field in question

what is appeal to the masses

• must be true bc everyone does it

• are you going to jump off a cliff if your friends do

what is appeal to tradition

• something is true because it is a part of an established tradition

• astrology has been around for a long time so there must be something to it

what is appeal to ignorance

• using an opponent’s inability to disprove a conclusion as proof of the conclusion’s correctness and using an opponent’s inability to prove conclusion as proof of its correctness

• can’t prove something so you are something else

what is appeal to fear

to use the threat of harm to advance one’s position

believe in God or you will go to hell

what is straw man

• misrepresent someone’s claim to make it easier to dismiss or reject

• senator brown wants gun control

  • she wants to take away everyone’s guns and their second amendment right

what are the fallacies of insufficiency

• hasty generalization

• faulty analogy

• false cause

• slippery slope

what is hasty generalization

draw a general conclusion about all things of a certain type on the basis of evidence concerning only a few things of that type

• every medium that’s been investigated has turned out to be a fraud

what is faulty analogy

• claims that things that resemble one another in certain respects resemble one another in further respects

• the dissimilarities are too grand for two things to be alike

• Earth, mars

• the greater the dissimilarities the weaker the analogy

what is false cause

• post hoc fallacy

• assuming that what happens first bust be a cause of what happens after

• coincidence no causal relation

what is slippery slope

performing a specific action will lead to an additional bad action

• legitimate if there is good reason to believe that the chain of actions must happen as alleged

what are misleading averages

• 3 modes of averages

  • mean- add the numbers and divide by the number of numbers

  • median- middle number of sequence

  • mode- most frequently appearing value

• don’t specify which one

• president promises mean tax savings of 10,000

• rich people drive up the average

• would be more beneficial to use median or mode since it more accurately describes most of the population

statistical fallacies

• misleading averages

• missing values

• hazy comparisons

what are missing values

• fail to distinguish between relative and absolute statistical values

  75 percent is the relative (muggings have increased)

  absolute number the percentage is based on

  400 muggings last year or just 4

what are hazy comparisons

• people use statistics that are vague or incomplete

  super pain eraser reduces headaches 50 percent faster

  fast energy protein drinks can boost your performance by 30 percent

  get twice the mileage when exxon hi-grade gasoling