Exam Reason & Logic Flashcards
Proposition
- statement that is true or false
- example - statement that is always true: The earth is spinning
- example - statement that is always false: I am dead
Laws of identity
- X is X
- things cannot have multiple identities
- a thing has to be a thing and nothing else
- “an apple is an apple”
Laws of non-contradiction
- Something cannot be true and false at the same time in the same way
- cannot be both
Laws of excluded middle
- something has to be either true or false
- cannot be sort of be true or false
- has to be one
Ockham’s razor
- it is likely that the simplest answer is true
- in coming up with a solution do not include unnecessary entities
- simplest does not mean not complex
Principle of Sufficient Reason/Principle of Charity
everything has a cause
Inductive Argument
Probably true if the premises are true
Deductive Argument
Always true if the premises are true
Bacon’s Four Idols of the Mind
- idols of the tribe
- idols of the cave
- idols of the marketplace
- idols of the theatre
arguer Fallacy: Ad Hominem
- attacking the arguer and not the argument
- Used when somebody insults the person instead of confronting the argument at hand
arguer Fallacy: Tradition (Argumentum ex Antiquitatem)
- We should continue to do this thing because we have always done so
- We should never/stop to this thing because we have always done so
Arguer Fallacy: Motive
- Tries to point out the motivation of the speaker
- usually done in a guilting way because they are trying to argue their side for a benefit for themselves
- Pointing out biases
Arguer Fallacy: Bandwagon (Argumentum ad Populum)
everybody is doing/thinking/saying it so therefore it must be just
Arguer Fallacy: Straw Man
- opposite of steelmanning
- Rewording and highlighting the weaknesses of their arguments for dismissal
Arguer Fallacy: Appeal to Pity (Argumentum ad Misericordiam)
- When you try to convince someone you are correct by getting them to feel sorry for you
- Trying to make somebody feel bad for you so they will agree
Arguer Fallacy: Appeal to Authority (Argumentum ad Verecundiam)
- When somebody has a position of authority in a field but stepping out of that field to pretend to be an expert in another
- Someone is able to convince people or something because they have authority or expertise in a different field
- Could be true but their argument should not fall back on the speaker’s expertise in another field
Argument Fallacy: Appeal to Ignorance
- If there is no evidence for the truth of something it must be false
- there is no evidence for the falsehood of this so it must be true
Argument Fallacy: Appeal to Circular Reasoning
When you end with the beginning or began with the end
Argument Fallacy: Equivocation
- Misinterpreting a word (purposefully/accidentally) being used when the speaker’s intentions were different
- anytime a phrase is misinterpreted
- make two things equal when they are not
Argument Fallacy: Loaded Term/Language
- Loaded language that has possible negative or positive bent
- non-loaded language is neutral that has synonyms to be loaded
Argument Fallacy: Slippery Slope
- your argument can be used to justify something else unfairly
- causal projection
- when you take something that is true and try to make an untrue conclusion
Relationships Fallacy: Accident
- occurs when you apply a rule to every situation without accepting an exception
- Exceptions are sometimes okay
- there are exceptions to rule
- opposite is hasty generalization
Relationships Fallacy: Hasty Generalization (converse accident)
- This rule is applied here so it should be applied across the board
- works for one situation but n0t for all
- making something widespread too quickly
Relationships Fallacy: Composition
- means putting something together
- occurs when you take the feature of all the parts of something and you apply it to the whole
- it is true about this part so therefore it is true to the whole
- the tires are rubber so the whole car is rubber
Relationships Fallacy: Decomposition
- The opposite of composition
- takes a feature of the whole and applies it to all the parts
- everyone must be liberal in canada
Venn Diagrams
used to determine the validity of particular arguments and conclusions
Categorical Syllogisms
a deductive argument consisting of three categorical propositions (two premises and a conclusion)
Idols of the Tribe
made the false assumption that our most natural and basic sense of thing was the correct one
Idols of the Cave
Biases based on your very small circle
Idols of the Marketplace
- Biases based on language.
- The use of language to make you believe something that may or may not be true
Idols of the theatre
Biases that come from uncritically accepted systems of thought
Steelmanning
- when rewording somebody’s point as honestly and faithfully to gain understanding
- principle of charity: act of steelmanning
