Chapter 1 & 2

Question 1

Conclusion

Answer 1

the claim the argument is intended to establish.

Question 2

Premises

Answer 2

reasons that are supposed to support the conclusion.

Question 3

Arguments

Answer 3

formed by a combination of reasons and the points they are intended to establish.

Question 4

Reconstructing the argument

Answer 4

the process of interpreting and clarifying an argument

Question 5

Evaluating the argument:

Answer 5

once we have identified the argument in a passage, we can go on to decide whether the authors have given good reasons in support of their claims.

Question 6

Argument analysis

Answer 6

consists of reconstruction and evaluation.

Question 7

Rhetorical power

Answer 7

the ability to present ideas in a very clear, logical, and convincing manner.

Question 8

Rational strength

Answer 8

when an argument provides a good reason to believe its conclusion, even when it does not always persuade people.

Question 9

Literary merit

Answer 9

how original, interesting, and well-written an argument is.

Question 10

The credulous person

Answer 10

agree with virtually everything that is said to them.

Question 11

Person of contradiction

Answer 11

stands ready to oppose everything that is said.

Question 12

The Dogmatist

Answer 12

everything to him is certain and incapable of being wrong, pay no attention to new reasons or evidence.

Question 13

The Skeptic

Answer 13

withhold belief about almost everything out of fear of ever making a mistake.

Question 14

Relativist

Answer 14

different things are true for different people/groups. Some issues are matters of opinion, about which everyone is right. subjective & social.

Question 15

Rational thinkers

Answer 15

try their best to understand information they receive and form conclusions based on that information.

Question 16

Argument stoppers

Answer 16

a variety of quick responses to arguments that have the effect of cutting off discussion and preventing careful analysis.
Ex: “that’s a matter of opinion”

Question 17

Interrogative sentences

Answer 17

to ask questions.

Question 18

Imperative sentences

Answer 18

to give commands.

Question 19

Declarative sentences

Answer 19

to describe things. can be true or false.

Question 20

True

Answer 20

things really are the way the sentence say they are.

Question 21

False

Answer 21

things are not the way sentences say they are.

Question 22

Correspondence principle

Answer 22

sentences are true if they correspond with facts about the world. sentences are false if they do not correspond with facts about the world.

Question 23

Tokens

Answer 23

specific remarks or inscriptions. such as marks on paper or the chalkboard.
proposition/statement

Question 24

Types

Answer 24

the patterns that tokens follow; they are types of sentence. 
sentence type (declarative, interrogative, imperative)

Question 25

Statement

Answer 25

the specific thought or idea that a declarative sentence token expresses.

Question 26

Sentences

Answer 26

linguistic representations of propositions.

Question 27

Context

Answer 27

the particular situation a sentence is used in.

Question 28

Truth value

Answer 28

(one truth value principle) → a proposition must be either true or false.

Question 29

Belief Principle (BP)

Answer 29

when a person considers a proposition, they must either believe, disbelieve or suspend judgement about it. they cannot have more than one of these attitudes at a time towards a proposition.

Question 30

Belief

Answer 30

to conclude that a proposition is true.

Question 31

Disbelief

Answer 31

to conclude that a proposition is false.

Question 32

Suspend judgement

Answer 32

to be unsure whether a proposition is true or false.

Question 33

Evidence

Answer 33

all the information we have concerning a proposition.

Question 34

Principle of rational belief (RB):

Answer 34

• supporting evidence = rational to believe.
• evidence goes against statement = rational to disbelieve.
• neutral evidence = rational to suspend judgement.

Question 35

Fallibilism

Answer 35

a belief can be rational even though it is actually false.

Question 36

Conclusive evidence

Answer 36

evidence so strong that it can never lead to false beliefs.

Question 37

Principle of proportional belief (PB)

Answer 37

It’s rational to proportion the strength of one’s belief to the strength of one’s evidence. The stronger one’s evidence for a proposition is, the stronger one’s belief in it should be.

Question 38

Motivational errors

Answer 38

sometimes our hopes or fears lead us to believe propositions not supported by our evidence.

Question 39

Misevaluation of Evidence

Answer 39

people think that the evidence supports a proposition when in fact it doesn’t.

Question 40

Not considering the total evidence

Answer 40

people focus on only the part of their evidence that supports a proposition, and fail to consider other parts of their total evidence that count against the proposition.

Question 41

Total evidence

Answer 41

one’s overall evidence.

Question 42

Proposition

Answer 42

concept expressed through statements.

Question 43

Coherence model of truth

Answer 43

A proposition is true if and only if its coherent/consistent with a system of well-supported propositions; otherwise it is false.

Question 44

Philosophical skepticism

Answer 44

statements have truth-values but we can’t know what most or all of them are.

Question 45

Propositional knowledge

Answer 45

anything that can be expressed by “ I know that _____”.

Question 46

Knowledge

Answer 46

belief + justification + truth

Question 47

Justification

Answer 47

good reasoning behind beliefs.

Question 48

Realism

Answer 48

truths do not depend upon anyone’s beliefs –> Objective.

Question 49

Nihilism

Answer 49

there are no truths whatsoever. Statements that are neither true nor false.

Question 50

Moral nihilism

Answer 50

moral statements are expressions of our emotions.