Chapter 1 Flashcards
Argument
A group of statements, one or more of which (premises) are claimed to provide support for, or reasons to believe, one of the others (conclusion)
Premises
the statements that set forth reasons or evidence.
Statement
A sentence that is either true or false
Truth
Truth is a property of language known as “Correspondance”.
Deductive argument
One designed such that the truth of the premises necessitates the truth of the conclusion.
Inductive argument
One designed such that if the premises are true, the conclusion is probably true but not necessarily.
Valid deductive argument
A deductive argument in which it is impossible for the conclusion to be false given that the premises are true.
Invalid deductive argument
A deductive argument in which it IS possible for the conclusion to be false given that the premises are true.
Strong inductive argument
An inductive argument in which it is improbable that the conclusion be false given that the premises are true
Weak inductive argument
An inductive argument in which the conclusion does not follow probably from the premises
Sound Argument
A valid deductive argument with true premises.
Unsound Argument
A deductive argument that is invalid, has one or more false premises, or both.
Cogent Argument
A strong inductive argument with true premises.
The Counterexample Method
A method for proving invalidity. It consists in constructing a substitution instance having true premises and a false conclusion.
syllogistic logic
A kind of logic in which the fundamental elements are terms, and arguments are evaluated as good or bad depending on how the terms are arranged in the argument.
Modal Logic
A kind of logic that involves such concepts as possibility, necessity, belief , and doubt.
Simple Noninferential Passages
- Warnings
- Pieces of advice
- Statements of belief or opinion
- Loosely associated statements
- A report
Expository Passages
A kind of discourse that begins with a topic sentence followed by one or more sentences that develop the topic sentence.
Explanations
An expression that purports to shed light on some event or phenomenon.
Explanandum
The statement that describes the event or phenomenon to be explained.
“the thing youre trying to explain”
Explanans
The statement or group of statements that purports to do the explaining.
The explanation.
Definiens
language used to define.
Definiendum
word to be defined.
Inference
The reasoning process expressed by an argument
Proposition
The meaning or information content of a statement
Sufficient condition
If we say that “x is a sufficient condition for y,” then we mean that if we have x, we know that y must follow. In other words, x guarantees y.
Necessary condition
If we say that “x is a necessary condition for y,” we mean that if we don’t have x, then we won’t have y. Or put differently, without x, you won’t have y. To say that x is a necessary condition for y does not mean that x guarantees y.
Categorical syllogism
a syllogism in which each statement begins with one of the words “all,” “no,” or “some”
Hypothetical syllogism
a syllogism having a conditional statement for one or both of its premises
Uncogent Argument
an inductive argument that is weak, has one or more false premises, fails to meet the total evidence requirement, or any combination of the these
Total evidence requirement
In inductive arguments, the premises must not exclude or overlook some crucial piece of evidence that undermines the stated premises and requires a different conclusion
