Arguments In Action Flashcards
What is an argument
A collection of statements organised into premises and a conclusion. The conclusion is the point of the argument while the premises support the conclusion
What is a fallacy ?
what is an informal fallacy ?
What is a formal fallacy ?
An argument that contains faulty reasoning
problem with the content
problem with the structure.
List all the fallacies
Post hoc ergo proper hoc Appeal to emotion Appeal to authority Attacking the person Slippery slope Denying the andecedent AfFirming the consequent Appeal to ignorance Appeal to irrelevant consequences Circular argument False dilemma
Appeal to emotion
This is when the argument tries to appeal to someone’s emotions to make there argument seem more appealing. For example X will be good
X will happen
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
This is when assumptions are made that because two things occur at the same time they are related I.e. I took the pills and my fever disappeared. The pills may not be the reason your fever disappeared.
Attacking the person
The person in the argument is made out to be bad and there information cannot be trusted for example , my client suggests that lowering taxes will be good - this is coming from a women who drinks a bottle of wine a night. It is making out that you cannot trust her.
Appeal to authority
Two types appeal to aproproate authority , this is when the information comes from an expert in the field I.e if you eat too many sweets your teeth will be sore. My dentist says so .
An illogetimate appeal to authority when a claim is made by someone who isn’t a expert in the field. Man Utd will win . My dentist says so.
Slippery slope
Someone provides absurd further scenarios to detract the reader from an opinion they view as being unfavourable , for example If we allow same sex marriages then next thing we know people will be marrying their cars and parents .
Denying the andecedent
This is when the conclusion does not follow the premises and isn’t true for example
If P then Q
Not P
not q
If it is raining then the grass is wet . It isn’t raining therefore the grass will not be wet
Affirming the consequent
This is when you make an assumption as a conclusion for example ,
If p then Q
Q
P
If I have the flu then I have a sore throat. If I have a sore throat therefore I have the flu
Thought experiments ?
These are imagined scenarios to help philosophers explore a theory. For example the spider in the urinal , a man noticed that a spider was staying in the urinal at his work , he believed it had a sad life as it always got peed on. So he decided to free the spider as he believed it would have a better life. However the spider died when it was removed. This raises the question of the quality of animals life’s and if we should intervene.
What is a statement
A sentence that contains a fact. Therefore it can be judged true or false. For example 2+2=4
What is formalising ?
This is when an argument is organised into premises and a conclusion. An inference bar is placed between the premise and conclusion
What are hidden premises ?
These are premises the reader takes for granted that isn’t stated in the argument , for example you do drugs , you won’t live long , the hidden premise is that drugs are bad for your health
What is an inductive argument
An argument that is based on personal experience for the example all the lumberjacks I ever met have worn hats , therefore all lumberjacks wear hats. Inductive arguments can be cogent or strong
Explain cogent and strong
Cogent means the information is correct and strong means it has happened a lot of times
Describe deductive argument
This is when an argument has a general premises but works to a specific conclusion . For example , all cats are mammals poppy is a cat therefore poppy is a mammal. They can be sound or valid
Describe sound and valid
If it is sound this means the information is correct. If it is valid this means the structure is correct and true premises will guarantee a true conclusion.
What is statement logic form ?
A way of writing an argument to see it’s structure the x and y thing
What is set logic form ?
It’s an argument diagram used to show the structure of reasoning an argument has. It also shows hot the premises fit together to reach a conclusion
What’s the 3 types of statements you can get
Command
Exclamation
Question
What is premise
A part of an argument that provides information that supports the conclusion
What are indicator words and give examples
Words such as therefore ,so hence are indicators that this is the conclusion while premise indicator word includes as since and because
What is an appeal to ignorance fallacy
This is when because no proof is given you assume it can’t happen however just because there is no proof doesn’t mean it can’t happen
Eg
No one actually proofs God exists
Therefore God does not exist
What is a circular argument
This is when it is difficult to tell which is a premise and which is a conclusion as they both rely on each other
Eg the bible is the word of God .Thats what God tells us in the bible
What is a false dilemma
This is when you are only given 2 options when there are actually more than 2
Eg you either go to university or get a job
There’s more than these 2 options as you could get an apprenticeship
Appeal to irrelevant consequences fallacy ?
This is when the consequences being good or bad will determine the act happening.
e.g if you don’t believe in god you will go to hell.
what are analogical arguments ?
This is when parallels are drawn between two different but related things. They usually work by pointing out that A resembles B. A has a particular quality and therefore so will .
example of an analogical argument ?
Birds have 2 legs and 2 eyes. Humans also have 2 legs and 2 eyes. Birds can also fly , therefore humans can fly.
how do you asses the strength of an analogical argument ?
the strength depends on how similar the two things being compared are.
