Arguments in Action Flashcards
What is a statement?
A statement is a type of sentence with truth value. This means it can either be true or false.
What is the only type of sentence that belongs in an argument?
A statement
What types of sentences don’t belong in an argument?
Questions
Commands
Exclamations
What is a question?
A question is a sentence which tries to find out information
What is a command?
A command is a sentence that tells you to do/not do something
What is an exclamation?
An exclamation is a sentence which conveys emotion
What is an argument?
A collection of statements that try to prove a claim is true
What is a conclusion?
A statement which is being proved
What is a premise?
A statement which supports the conclusion
What does a description do?
A description tells you about the qualities of something/someone
What is an explanation?
A collection of statements which help clarify/understand something better
What is a summary?
A short overview of of the main points in an argument/topic
What are indicator words?
Indicator words are words used to indicate that a statement is either a premise or conclusion. Not all statements use these words though.
What is an example of a conclusion indicator?
Therefore
Consequently
So
What is an example of a premise indicator?
Since or Because
What are the 3 criterias used when evaluating the premises of an argument?
Acceptability
Relevance
Sufficiency
What makes a premise acceptable?
-It is a known priori
-It is common knowledge
-It is known to be true
-It is plausible
-It is unambiguous
-It appeals to an appropriate audience
-It properly presents facts which support the conclusion
What does priori mean?
You can know it through reason/without experience
What is a fallacy?
An error which we make in our reasoning
What is an illegitimate appeal to authority?
Happens when a claim is said to be true because a person/group said it, however no attempt is made to justify why we should trust their opinion
What does an illegitimate appeal to authority do?
1) Be making a claim within their area of expertise
2) Have sufficient expertise in a relevant subject
3) Be making a claim on which there is an inadequate degree of agreement with other experts
4) Be free of significant bias
5) Be making a claim within a legitimate discipline
6) Have a reputation for not being reliable
7) Not have a vested interest in making you believe a particular claim
What is a slippery slope fallacy?
A slippery slope fallacy is a fallacy committed when an argument is given that suggests one thing will inevitably lead to another with insufficient evidence
How are not all slippery slopes fallacious?
If you can show that the consequences of the initial action are highly likely to occur, it is not fallacious
What is a confirmation bias?
The tendency to seek out information that confirms existing opinions and to avoid or reject information that suggests our opinions are wrong.
What is a false dilemma/either or fallacy?
A fallacy presented with only two options, despite there being many options
What does it mean if a statement is ambiguous?
If it has/expresses more than one meaning. We need to know what the premise means before we deem it acceptable or not.
What is equivocation?
Equivocation occurs when a single word/phrase in an argument has more than one possible meaning.
What is amphiboly?
Amphiboly occurs when a whole sentence may be interpreted in more than one way.
What makes a premise relevant?
-Provided justification to believe the conclusion
-Supports another relevant premise
-Contains another relevant premise
-Attacks the claim instead of the person
What is Ad Hominem fallacy?
An informal fallacy also known as ‘Attacking the Person’. It is committed when someone rejects a particular claim on the basis of something about the person putting the claim forward instead of the claim itself.
What is AH Abusive?
The form of AH where the person putting the claim forward is verbally attacked.
What is AH Circumstantial?
The form of AH where the claim is attacked by arguing the person is doing it out of self interest.
What is AH Tu Quoque?
The form of AH where you attack the persons past actions instead of the truth of their claim.
When is Ad Hominem not fallacious?
It is not fallacious when the attack on the person is relevant to the conclusion.
What is Appeal to Emotion?
A fallacy that uses emotion instead of reason in an attempt to win an argument. It is a form of manipulation.
What does Appeal to Emotion do?
Attempts to arouse emotions of its audience to gain acceptance of its conclusion, such as pity, pride, envy, fear, hatred and so on. Usually the emotion is not relevant to the conclusion.
What is sufficiency?
Justification to believe a claim is true
What makes a premise sufficient?
-Relevant and Accurate - Has to be both
-Enough justification to engender a well found confidence in the conclusion. Means we get enough proof/info to believe the conclusion is true.
What is Post Hoc?
A fallacy that falsely assumes that because one event follows another, that the 2nd event was caused by the 1st event. The premises don’t give enough sufficient justification to believe the conclusion.
What is a counter argument’s function?
The function is to disprove a universal claim.
What is a universal claim?
A claim that all ‘x’ are ‘y’
What is a valid argument?
Where the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the conclusion.
How do we judge the validity of an argument based on?
The structure of the content of the argument. The truth of the argument does not matter, but there has to be truth on the conclusion.
What is Standard Form?
The way of showing the structure of an argument
How do we put an argument into Standard Form?
-List premises in the order they come
-Separate from conclusion with inference bar
What is an intermediate conclusion?
A conclusion which also serves as a premise to support the main conclusion.
What is argument diagramming?
A way of presenting the structure of an argument. It shows the relationship between the premise(s) of an argument and the conclusions.
What 3 types of argument diagrams are there?
-Serial
-Linked
-Convergent
What is a linked argument?
A linked argument is an argument where premises depend on each other to prove the conclusion. This means a single premise by itself will not prove the conclusion.
What is a convergent argument?
A convergent argument is where the premises provide independent proof for conclusion. You could believe the conclusion with a single premise.
What is a serial argument?
A serial argument is an argument that has an intermediate conclusion.
How do we figure out if an argument is convergent, serial or linked?
1- put brackets around all statements and number them in order
2-identify the conclusion and put the number of all the bottom of the table
3-work out the relationship between the premises and conclusion.
What is the essential feature of an inductive argument?
It only guarantees a probable conclusion
What is the essential feature of a deductive argument?
It guarantees a certain conclusion. Either valid or invalid.
What is a conductive argument?
An argument where the premises converge. Each premise is assessed on acceptability and relevance. If more premises are added the argument is stronger, if premises are taken away, the argument become weaker.
What features do we need when evaluating analogical arguments?
-Truth
-Relevance
-Number
-Disanalogy
What is denying the antecedent?
The error of mistaking a sufficient condition for a necessary condition
What is accepting the consequent?
The error of mistaking a necessary condition for a sufficient condition
What is the usual structure of a formal fallacy?
If P then Q
Why are formal fallacies fallacious?
Because of their structure
