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Rationality

What Aristotle says makes humans human: reason.

Logic

What Hank Green says we build arguments on.

Rational part

The part of the soul Plato says should lead us.

Syllogism

Major premise + minor premise + conclusion.

Enthymeme

An argument with a hidden/missing premise.

Deductive argument

If premises are true, conclusion MUST be true.

Entailment

If A is true, B HAS to be true.

Valid argument

An argument with good logical structure.

Validity vs Truth

Validity = good structure. Truth = real-world fact.

False conclusion in valid argument

Happens when the structure is valid, but a premise is false.

Future resembles past

The main idea behind inductive arguments.

Extrapolate

Taking past info to guess about the future.

Probably true

How true inductive conclusions are (not 100%).

Abduction

Guessing the best explanation from the clues you have.

Occam's Razor

The simplest explanation is usually right.

Interlocutor

The person you are talking/debating with.

Socratic Method

Asking questions in a talk to find the truth.

Goal of philosophy

Not to win, but to find the truth.

Hegelian Dialectic

Idea (thesis) + Opposing idea (antithesis) = Combined truth (synthesis).

Mnemonic

A trick or acronym to help you remember things.