arguments in action Flashcards
what is a statement?
a statement is a sentence that has truth value. this means it can be proved true or false
what is a deductive argument?
a deductive argument aims to prove its conclusion. a good deductive argument uses logical inferences. if the premise is true the conclusion must be true.
p1= all healthy cats have 4 legs
p2=sam is a healthy cat
c=sam has four legs
what is an inductive argument ?
inductive arguments are based on evidence and attempt to reach a conclusion by generalising from this evidence
what is an analogically argument?
they argue that because two things are similar, what is true of one thing is true of the other
jim and bob are similar because they have ginger hair
jim also has fair skin
it is therefore reasonable to assume bob has fair skin
what is confirmation bias ?
the tendency to give more weight to evidence that confirms your beliefs. it means that we don’t properly consider evidence that would cause us to question or viewpoints
what is a sound argument ?
both valid structure and true premises. most reliable form of argument
what is a linked argument?
when all premises are necessary (and linked to each other) to establish the conclusion. without one of the premises the argument would be a lot weaker or not make sense
p1=edinburgh is in scotland
p2=scotland is in the uk
c= edinburgh is in the uk
what is a convergent argument ?
when all premises independently support the conclusion. without one of the premises the argument would still stand but just make it weaker
p1= dogs are loyal and friendly pets
p2=there is evidence that shows dog owners live longer
c=dogs are great pets
what is a serial argument?
when all the premises are needed to support the conclusion but one of them follows on from the other and without the previous premise the conclusion becomes more irrelevant
p1=you are allergic to most nuts
p2=probably walnuts
c=don’t eat the walnut cake
what is a complex argument?
when they contain all convergent , linked and serial arguments
p1=today is either thursday or friday p2=it can’t be friday p3=we don’t get philosophy on friday p4=we have philosophy today c=it must be thursday
what is a valid argument ?
where there is no logical possibly situation where all the premises are true and the conclusion is false at the same time
p1=all monkeys are mammals
p2=charlie is a monkey
c=charlie is a mammal
what is a cogent argument ?
a cogent argument is one that has truth of its premise makes the conclusion more likely to be true than false
p1=most birds can fly
p2=tweety is a bird
c=tweety can probably fly
what is the fallacy of equivocation ?
lexical ambiguity
an error in reasoning that occurs when the meaning of an ambiguous term is switched during the process of reasoning
what is the fallacy of amphiboly?
syntactic ambiguity
occurs when a sentence because of its grammar , structure or punctuation can be interpreted in multiple ways.
p1=elephants stay in your car
p2=we are elephants
c=we better not get out here
what is slippery slope?
when an argument is given that suggest one thing will inevitably lead to another with insufficient evidence.
“i’m not giving you candidates any more exam tips or the next thing i know , you’ll be asking me to sit the exam for you!”
what is an ad hominems ?
informal fallacies , also known as attacking the person. when someone rejects a particular claim on the bias of something about the person instead of the claim itself
what is ad hominem circumstantial?
pointing towards something but confirming it
when one attacks a claim by asserting the the person making the claim is making it out of self- interest . could be an attack on the persons circumstances
what is tu quoque
appeal to hypocrisy
a type of ad hominem which attacks a person by focusing on their past words or acts ions instead of truth of their current claims
fallacious appeals to emotion
uses emotion in a place of reason in order to attempt to win an argument. it is a type of manipulation used in place of reasoning
sufficiency
an argument where the premises are sufficient is one where the premises are enough to engender a well founded confidence in the conclusion
denying the antecedent
they are identified by their structure alone and are both invalid forms of arguments.
(if P then Q)
example : “if it’s saturday night then the voice will be on tv”
P is the antecedent, whilst Q is the consequent
affirming the consequent
(if P then Q) Q therefore Q.
when the second premise states that the consequent of premise 1 is true.
P1= if i get a flat tyre i will be late for work
p2= i was late
p3=i got a flat tyre
