Philosophy: Arguments and Logic

These flashcards cover key terms and definitions related to arguments and logic in philosophy, including concepts from the ontological and cosmological arguments.

Argument

A structured set of statements—premises and a conclusion—intended to provide reasons or evidence for a claim.

Premises

The starting points that give reasons or evidence in an argument.

Conclusion

The statement being argued for in an argument.

Validity

A property of an argument where it is logically impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false.

Soundness

An argument that is valid and has all true premises.

Deductive Argument

An argument where the premises are meant to guarantee the conclusion.

Inductive Argument

An argument where the premises make the conclusion probable but do not guarantee it.

A Priori Knowledge

Knowledge that is known independently of experience.

A Posteriori Knowledge

Knowledge that is known through experience.

Reduction Ad Absurdum (RAA)

A method of proving something by showing that assuming the opposite leads to a contradiction.

Contingent Being

A being that exists but could fail to exist.

Necessary Being

A being that must exist by its own nature.

Teleological Argument

The argument that complex structures require a designer.

Privation Theory of Evil

The idea that evil is not a thing but the absence of good.

Cogito

The statement 'I think, therefore I am,' used to assert one's own existence.

Direct Realism

The theory that we perceive objects themselves.

Indirect Realism

The theory that we perceive sense-data representing objects.

Free Will Defense

The argument that evil exists because free agents can choose wrongly.

Bertrand Russell's Value of Philosophy

The idea that philosophy enlarges our thoughts and frees us from prejudice.