Deck 1 Flashcards
Give an example of a tautology/what is a tautology
fish are fish, a statement that is analytically ture
Give an example of a contradiction/ what is a contradiction
fish are not fish, a statement that is analytically false
Give an example of a sentence that is true based on word meaning
my sister is my sister
give an example of a sentence that is fale based on word meaning
my sister is not my sister
give an example of a sentence that is false by fact
a computer is a reptile
what are granted claims
premises agreed to in a particular argument
what are self evident truths
claims that are clear to anyone who thinks about them and cannot, even with 0.00000000000001% probability, be false
what is an analytic statement
either true or false because of the meanings of the words that make them up
What is word ambiguity
it has more than one meaning and it is not clear which one is intended
what is the fallacy of equivocation
!!
treating two distinct meanings of a word as though they are the same
what is referential ambiguity
a word is meant to refer to an object (not in the sentence but in the world) but it’s unclear which object
grammatical ambiguity
a sentence has grammatical structure allowing it to be understood in more than one way
reportive definition
attempts to explain how a word is actually used
lexical definition
reports how a word is used in everyday life
disciplinary definition
reports how a word is used in a particular discipline
historical definition
reports how a word was used during a particular historical period
stipulative definition
explains how a word is about to be used, cannot be true or false
arbitrary definition
a new word, abberviation, or symbol is introduced by creating a rule for its use.
Precising definition
restricts the ordinary meaning of a word to make it more exact in a certain context
List the methods of definition
synonym, genus/species, ostensive, example, complete enumeration
give a synonym definition of sofa
couch
give a genus/species definition of blue tang
a type of fish that lives in the ocean and is blue
give an ostensive definition of flashcard
(point to flashcard)
give a definition by example of fish
trout, minnow, clownfish, tuna, etc
give a definition by complete enumeration of letter
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
what are important to avoid in a definition
circularity, obscurity, metaphors, ambiguity, and accidental (opposite of essential) features, too broad, too narrow
What are the fallacies of relevance
appeal to ignorance, appeal to inappropriate authority, appeal to general belief, appeal to popular attitudes and emotions, gambler’s fallacy
what is appeal to ignorance
assumption that because a claim has not yet been demonstrated to be false, it is true (e.g. god is real)
appeal to inappropriate authority
saying that because a doctor knows how to doctor they also know about basketball
appeal to general belief
saying that because something is widely believed it must be true
appeal to popular attitudes and emotions
using emotions to convince someone instead of evidence
gambler’s fallacy
a randomly occuring event is due to happen based on not having happened after several events
what are the fallacies of inadequate evidence
false cause, hasty generalization
false cause
assuming that if one event occured before the other, first event must have caused the second
hasty generalization
generalizing based on too few cases
what are the fallacies of illegitimate assumption
false dilemma, loaded question, begging the question, slippery slope
false dilemma
claiming there are only two choices when there are not
loaded question
a question where agreeing to the premise is incriminating
begging the question
circular reasoning, or the conclusion restates the premise (he’s thief because he stole)
slippery slope
assuming making an argument to move in a specific direction means you want to go “all the way”
fallacies of criticism and response
against the person, you too, pooh pooh, strawman, loaded words
you too
accusing the person making the argument of the thing they are arguing against
pooh pooh
ridiculing an argument to avoid seriously considering it
strawman
misrepresenting someone’s claim to make it easier to criticise
loaded words
appling compliments or insults before it’s been demonstrated the person deserves them
against the person
rejecting a claim by attacking the person supporting it or their reliability under the circumstances
fallacies of defense
definitional dodge and exception that proves the rule
definitional dodge
redefining a crucial term when your opponent provides an example you don’t like eg. you say all x is bad your opponent says what about y who is a member of x you say y doesn’t count
exception that proves the rule
claiming that an exception to a rule makes the rule stronger
what are the formal fallacies
affirming the consequent, denying the antecedent
what is an analogy
a similarity between two subject matters
what is an analogical argument
two distinct subjects have certain features in common, one subject posesses an additional feature, so the otehr subject probably posesses that feature as well
factual analogical argument
uses an analogy to establish a claim about some state of affairs
moral analogical argument
argues that cases similar in their effects should be treated in similar ways, these are a type of enthymeme
how do we evaluate analogies
the degree of analogy must be high
what is a cause as sufficent condition
whenever A occurs, B occurs e.g. when I Flick the switch the light turns on
what is a casual law
a statement relying on a sufficient condition
what is a causal chain
a series of events leading to an event like .a toddler asking why over and over again
cause as necessary condition
if an event has occured, [x] must be present, and if [x] is not present, event will not occur
cause as necessary and sufficent condition
if A is present B will always occur and if A is not present B will never occur
what is a triggering factor
the final factor in a chain that triggers an event
what is an unusual factor
the only atypical factor that was present before an event
what is a controllable factor
a factor that we can control
what si a deductive nomological explanation
- start with laws
- list the conditions
- draw a line and list the event
What are the three menthods to test causal claims
method of difference, method of agreement, method of agreement and difference, method of concomitant variation
what is the method of difference
compare a situation where X occurs with situations where it does not
see what factor is the difference
what is the mehtod of agreement
compare situations where X occurs
see what factor is the same
what is the joint method of agreement and difference
compare situations where X does and does not occur, see what factor is present with X and absent without X
method of concomitant variation
vary a factor and see if another factor changes in response
what is a categorical statement
puts something into a category or class
how do you deal with categorical statements
draw venn diagrams
how do you indicate something is not a member of a category in a venn diagram
shade that section
hwo do you indicate “some” statements in a venn diagram
put an asterisk
what is a conditional proof
given p->Q, assume Q and attempt to prove P
what is a reducto ad absurdium proof
if the assumption of a claim leads to an absurdity the claim must be rejected
proof by cases
if one of the premises is a disjunction (or statement), often the goal is to derive the conclusion from each half of the statement
what are all the argument forms and what do they look like right now go
Modus ponens
P->Q
P
Q
Modus tollens
P->Q
~Q
~P
Hypothetical syllogism
P->Q
Q->R
P->R
Disjunctive syllogism
PvQ
~P
Q
Constructive Dilemma
PvQ
P->R
Q->S
RvS
Conjunction
P
Q
P*Q
Addition
P
PvQ
Simplification
P*Q
P
What are all the equivalent forms right now go
Double negation
~~P - P
DeMorgan
~(PQ) - ~Pv~Q
~(PvQ) - ~P~Q
Exportation
(PQ)->R - P->(Q->R)
Commutation
PQ - Q*P
Contrapsition
P->Q -> ~Q -> ~P
Sentential form
the logic form of the argument, with variables and symbols and stuff
what is a deductive argument
the premises are meant to guarantee the conclusion
what is a nondeductive argument-
the premises are meant to confer a high degree of probability on the conclusion
what is a valid argument
there is no possible way for the premises to be true and conclusion false at the same time. the truth of the premises is completely guaranteed. even 0.00000000000000001% probability makes an argument invalid. The argument can end up being true or false in the end
what is a sound argument
a valid argument whose premises are true
what are the types of nondeductive argument
statistical syllogism, inductive generalization, causal argument, argument by analogy, argument by plausibility
what is a statistical syllogism
a three line argument, from some proportion of the population having a characteristic to an individual having or not having that characteristic
what is an inductive generalization
from some sample of a population having a behavior to some or all of its members having a behavior
what is a plausibility argument
does not fit a pattern discussed in the book, premises are meant to build a case for the conclusions
what is standard form
one of the ways to show the structure of arguments graphically
how do you put a simple argument in standard form
list the premises one after another, draw a line, state the conclusion
how do you put a complex argument in standard form
arrange premises so they each come before the conclusion they support, number them, after each conclusion write the line number of the premises that support it
hwo do you draw a sentence diagram
bracket each claim and assign it a number
draw arrows from premise sto conclusion
if more than one premise leads to a conclusion, put them on the same line, draw a line, and then draw an arrow
what types of sentences secretly only make one claim
conditionals (if, then), disjunctives (either, or), sentences using unless
what are the steps to standard form analysis
circle inference indicators, put each claim in brackets, reformulate claims if necessary, discard nonargumentative pieces, identify the main argument, identify subarguments, identify if any of the subarguments are replies to objections
what is an argument
a set of claims, one of which is meant to be supported by the others
what is the conclusion
the claim bing supported
what is the premise
the claim that supports the conclusion
what is an inference
the move from premise to conclusion
what is the difference between a dispute and an argument
a dispute is two people disagreeing but they don’t have to sue arguments
what does an argument require nongramatically
intention
what are some premise indicators
since, because, for the reason that, as is implied by, on account of
what are some conclusion indicators
therefore, hence, consequently, which shows that, we may conclude that, it follows that
