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Logic: A complete introduction, by S. Lee > Chapter 1: What is logic? > Flashcards

Chapter 1: What is logic? Flashcards

1
Q

Logic is …

A

… the study of the methods and principles used to distinguish between good and bad reasoning.

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2
Q

It is a _ discipline.

A

Normative.

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3
Q

It is a normative discipline …

A

… in the sense that it does not survey and describe how we actually reason (which is the job of the psychologist) but what we should do in reasoning.

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4
Q

An argument is …

A

… a structure that comprises a conclusion, namely, a proposition that one wants to uphold, and some premises, as reasons to support the belief in the conclusion.

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5
Q

Logic is about …

A

… whether and how a conclusion follows from the premises.

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6
Q

An argument contains __ and only __ conclusion.

A

One, one.

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7
Q

An argument is individuated by …

A

… its conclusion.

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8
Q

To have more than one conclusion …

A

… there must be more than one argument.

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9
Q

A conclusion is supposed to be supported by the …

A

… premises.

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10
Q

The minimum number of required premises is …

A

… (formally) zero.

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11
Q

When logicians allow an argument to have no premises, it merely means that …

A

… nothing goes against the conclusion, rather than that the conclusion is supported by no reason. Such a conclusion is regarded as self-evident.

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12
Q

Self-evident truths are obvious truths that do not need …

A

… anything to support them.

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13
Q

It can be said that everything supports self-evident truths because …

A

… nothing counts as a reason to reject them, and they do not contradict with anything.

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14
Q

Three laws of logic are …

A

The Law of Identity, The Law of Excluded Middle, and The Law of Contradiction or Noncontradiction

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15
Q

Contingent truths can be self-evident truths if …

A

… they are very intuitive and hardly anything counts to refute them.

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16
Q

Always identify the __ first and then trace back to the __ supporting it.

A

Conclusion, premises.

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17
Q

Premise-indicators are …

A

… words typically indicating which sentence is a premise.

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18
Q

Premise-indicator - examples:

A

because, since, for, as, follows from, as shown by, inasmuch, as indicated by, the reason is that, for the reason that, may be inferred / derived / deduced from, in view of the fact that…

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19
Q

Conclusion-indicators are …

A

… words typically indicating which sentence is a conclusion.

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20
Q

Conclusion-indicator - examples:

A

therefore, so, hence, thus, in consequence, consequently, accordingly, as a result, for this reason, it proves that, it follows that, we may infer, which allows us to infer that, which shows / means / entails / implies that, which points to the conclusion that…

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21
Q

Arguments that have a missing premise, or premises, or even a missing conclusion are called …

A

… elliptical arguments.

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22
Q

With elliptical arguments …

A

… one has to fill in the missing parts in order to reveal the full reasoning behind them.

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23
Q

Elliptical arguments often …

A

… involve contextual interpretation(s) and as such, controversy may arise as to whether the interpretation(s) is/are correct.

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24
Q

A rhetorical question …

A

… Sometimes a question is asked, or an exclamation is made, yet the point of the utterance is not really to enquire or to express emotion. Rather, an implicit proposition is presented, though in the form of a difference mood of speech.

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25
Q

In clarifying an argument, we often need to grasp the implied or hidden meaning from …

A

… relevant context, make it explicit and state it in the form of a proposition or an assertion instead.

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26
Q

Sometimes there may be arguments within a bigger argument; these smaller arguments are called …

A

… sub-arguments.

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27
Q

Sub-arguments generate a conclusion and the conclusion is used again as a premise to …

A

… another argument, such that eventually a different, usually more general, conclusion is reached.

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28
Q

Because the conclusion of a sub-argument is linked to other arguments, sometimes the whole argument can also be called a …

A

… chain argument.

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29
Q

Chain argument technically refers to a particular form of argument called …

A

…hypothetical syllogism.

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30
Q

Hypthetical syllogisms are …

A

… short, two-premise deductive arguments, in which at least one of the premises is a conditional, the antecedent or consequent of which also appears in the other premise.

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31
Q

Chain argument (hypothetical syllogism) form:

A

A → B. B → C. Therefore, A → C.

32
Q

Sometimes our actual use of language may contain hidden …

A

… assumptions or implicit premises.

33
Q

An implicit premise is …

A

… an unstated assumption that is necessary for an argument to hold true.

34
Q

There are at least two main types of inferences. They are …

A

… induction and deduction.

35
Q

Induction …

A

… the conclusion is only probably true, rather than definitely true. In other words, the conclusion is likely to be true though it could be false even when the premises are true.

36
Q

Deduction …

A

… even though the premises might not actually be true, we can already decide whether the conclusion would follow or not. We can say that the truth of the premises completely determines the truth of the conclusion given the validity of the argument.

37
Q

Inductive arguments are evaluated as …

A

… strong or weak.

38
Q

All inductive arguments are in fact …

A

… invalid.

39
Q

Three notes about induction:

A
  1. Achieves probability: if the premises are true, then the conclusion is likely to be true, although it does not have to be true. 2. Adding new premises may alter the strength of the argument. 3. Increases empirical knowledge.
40
Q

Deductive arguments are described as …

A

…valid or invalid.

41
Q

Three notes about deduction:

A
  1. Achieves certainty: for a deductively valid argument, if the premises are true, then the conclusion must be true. 2. Adding new premises may not lead to a stronger argument. 3. The conclusion is already contained in the premises; hence, in a manner of speaking, no new knowledge is involved.
42
Q

The main task of logic is not to just identify an argument but also to …

A

… evaluate it.

43
Q

Two criteria used to evaluate an argument:

A
  1. The truth of individual statements (premises and conclusion). 2. The validity of the whole argument.
44
Q

Truth and validity – Can a statement (a premise or a conclusion) be valid or invalid? Likewise, can an argument be true or false?

A

No, they can’t. A statement is true or false; yet only an argument can be valid or invalid.

45
Q

Validity is a relation __, rather than a __ by itself.

A

Between statements, property of an individual statement.

46
Q

Validity indicates whether …

A

… the conclusion follows if the premises are true.

47
Q

Only a statement can be …

A

… true or false.

48
Q

An argument contains statements which are __, but the argument itself is not __.

A

Ture or false, true or false.

49
Q

We say an argument is __, not that it is __.

A

Valid, true.

50
Q

Truth is …

A

… whatever is the case.

51
Q

An argument is valid if and only if the conclusion follows the premises. Such a relation between premises and conclusions is called …

A

… validity.

52
Q

An argument is __ if and only if the conclusion follows the premises; the conclusion cannot be __ if all the premises are true.

A

Valid, false.

53
Q

Any argument that is not valid is __.

A

Invalid.

54
Q

A strategy in which the reasoner provides two arguments with the same argument form, one obviously valid or invalid while the other is not so obvious is …

A

Logical analogy.

55
Q

An argument with a true premises and false conclusion can be a valid argument. Yes/No

A

No. If both an argument is valid and all its premises are true, then the conclusion must be true.

56
Q

An argument with true premises and a true conclusion is always a valid argument. Yes/No

A

No. Validity is about the relation between premises and conclusion, that if the premises are true, then the conclusion cannot be false.

57
Q

An argument with one or more premises which are false could have a true conclusion and be a valid argument. Yes/No

A

Yes.

58
Q

Can there be valid arguments with false premises and a false conclusion?

A

Yes.

59
Q

Sound arguments are …

A

… arguments where the argument is valid and the premises are all true.

60
Q

Two types of sound arguments are:

A

Cogent and Not cogent.

61
Q

A cogent argument refers to …

A

… any argument (including inductive argument) whose premises are acceptable, relevant to, and sufficient for its conclusion.

62
Q

Three criteria of good arguments are:

A

Validity, soundness, and cogency.

63
Q

Validity …

A

… an argument is valid if and only if its conclusion is true whenever all its premises are true.

64
Q

Soundness …

A

… an argument is sound if and only if it is a valid argument and all its premises are true.

65
Q

Cogency …

A

… an argument is cogent if and only if its premises are acceptable, relevant to, and sufficient for its conclusion.

66
Q

A priori knowledge is …

A

… knowledge that does not require justification from any empirical evidence.

67
Q

Innate knowledge is …

A

… knowledge that is inborn and not a product of experience.

68
Q

Reasoning can be formulated in …

A

… the form of an argument, a structure comprised of exactly one conclusion and reasons to support it called premises.

69
Q

We need to correctly understand and analyze an argument in …

A

… context.

70
Q

Arguments are divided into two types:

A

Deductive and inductive.

71
Q

A deductive argument is an argument …

A

… in which the truth of the premises completely determines the truth and conclusion when the argument is valid.

72
Q

An inductive argument is an argument …

A

… in which the conclusion is likely to be true, although it can be false even when the premises are true.

73
Q

To evaluate an argument we look for three criteria:

A

Validity, soundness, and cogency.

74
Q

An argument is valid …

A

… if and only if the conclusion cannot be false when all the premises are true.

75
Q

A sound argument is a valid argument …

A

… with all true premises.

76
Q

A cogent argument is …

A

… a convincing argument with evidently true premises.

Logic: A complete introduction, by S. Lee (3 decks)

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