Critical reasoning Flashcards
A valid statement should have
Strong premises and a strong conclusion
Argument
Conclusion together with the premise that supports it
Premise
Reason offered as support of another claim
Conclusion
Claim supported by a premise
Inference indicators
Indicates how the reason supports the conclusion
Standard form
Write the 3 reasons underneath each other, draw a line and put conclusion underneath
Deductive argument
follow where the premises go to draw conclusion, true premises and valid argument
Inductive argument
conclusion doesn’t follow the premises, are the premises true?, are the premises relevant?, are the premises compelling?
Generalisations
When arguments involve making a general claim based on limited or specific evidence
Analogies
Drawing conclusions about one situation based on what you know about another
General principles
Opposite to generalisations, Apply general principles to a specific case
CAUSAL reasoning
Offer an argument that one thing necessarily lead to another happening
Analysing an argument
must be valid (logical), sound (true) and cogent (convincing)
Is an argument sound?
are the premises true and convincing? if not, why? Does the conclusion follow the premises?
Formal fallacies
If (antecedent)…. Then (conditional)…. Therefore…….
Modus ponens
Affirms, ABAB, If A then B. A, therefore B
Modus tollens
Denies, ABBA, If A then B. Not B, therefore not A
Ad Hominem
Attacks the person not the argument
Appeal to irrelevant authority
refers to a respected person or authority
Genetic fallacy
Attacks an argument in terms of its origin
Hasty generalisation
Makes assumptions based on a small sample of people
Argument from ignorance
Theres no evidence against my claim so you should believe me
Equivocation
Slides between two or more different meanings of a single word or phrase that is important to the argument
