Midterm #1 chapters 1-4 Flashcards
What are the 4 equations that are present in Aristotelian logic?
A = All S are P
E = No S are P
I = Some S are P
O = some S are not P
Define Argument
A set of statements that provide reasons to believe another statement.
What are the three things that make up an argument?
Premises, inferences, and conclusion.
What are some inference indicators?
it must be, therefore, hence, so, because, it looks like, its given that, since, thus, implies, consequently, because, it follows that, given that or “ ; “
what are not some inference indicators?
and, but, also, maybe.
what is a statement?
Has truth value (either T/F)
what are some things that are not considered statements?
questions, orders, prayers
What is logical strength?
its the measure of how good or bad an argument is based on how well the premises support the conclusion.
(do the premises equal the conclusion in an obvious way? if so then its logically strong)
What is Soundness?
All premises and the conclusion are true.
what is a premise?
a statement in an argument that is supposed to provide support for the conclusion.
What is an inference?
The logical relationship between the premise and the conclusion
What is a conclusion?
A statement in an argument that that arguments premises try to support.
What is Logical Assessment?
- Truth
= Applies only to statements - Logical strength
= Applies to the relation between the premises and conclusion in an argument. - Soundness
= Have to be logically strong, and they have to have true premises.
What is Critical thinking composed of? (3x)
Also what is critical thinking?
Verification, Interpretation, Reasoning
A set of capacities that are used to analyze and asses arguments or lines of reasoning.
What is Moral Reasoning?
Means that logic is normative…
a.k.a. we should follow logic.
What is logic?
The study of inferential connections between premises and conclusions in an argument with a view to determine whether the premises support the conclusion in any given argument.
What is a counter factual argument?
an argument whose premises are known or assumed to be false. used to explore the consequences of the premises.
e.g. talking about a historical event that never happened.
What is an inductive argument?
an argument whose premises, if true, make it reasonable to conclude that its conclusion is true, but do not provide an absolute guarantee.
what is a deductive argument?
an argument whose premises, if true GUARANTEE the truth of its conclusion.
why are critical thinking skills important?
because of normatively
= moral, ordinary process, important to use logic because its true.
What is our shared reality composed of?
mid-sized objects (tables/ chairs) and living beings.
How do individual people contribute to our shared reality?
each persons individual truth (e.g. their preferences) shape how they share that reality with the world. For example, Art and Fashion are parts of an persons individual truth that they then share with the world (and maybe influence it as result)
What 2 things influence our shared reality?
math and theory
… then influence thought & new logic (aka digital technology)
What is epistemology?
the theory of knowledge
= midsized physical objects and truth statements.
Why is having a shared reality important?
because you can’t have truth unless you have a shared reality
What are the 4 different principles in the Victoria Pratt (procedural justice) video
- voice
- impartiality
- understanding
- respect
What is the reference theory of meaning?
the view that the meaning of a word consists with what it refers to
e.g. a table is all the tables in the world.
critique: words like unless and therefore don’t have a meaning.
What is the idea theory of meaning?
The view that the meaning of a word consists with the idea or mental image that is associated with the word.
critique = other minds… how do we share ideas if they are only in the mind.
what is the ‘meaning as use’ theory?
the meaning of the word is established in the context of the sentence.
the approach that explains meaning of linguistic items - primarily sentences, but also words – in terms of their use.
is the middle ground of these two theories.
Functions of language
What is recreational?
language’s use merely to amuse ourselves and others: puns, word-games, songs
functions of language:
What is persuasive
language’s use to persuade people to accept something or to act in a certain way
functions of language:
What is performative?
Language’s use to perform actions, such as can be performed by saying a sentence.
e.g. I now declare you husband and wife / or I find the accused guilty
Functions of language:
what is evocative?
language’s use to evoke feels or emotions in an audience
Functions of language:
what is emotive?
languages use to express feelings or emotions
Functions of language:
What is evaluative?
language’s use to make value judgements - to evaluate things.
“susie is the best in her class”
Functions of language:
What is interrogative?
language’s use to elicit information
(questions)
Functions of language:
What is directive?
language’s use to command others to do something or provide advice
Functions of language:
What is Descriptive?
language’s use to convey factual information.
what are the 4 functions of language that we don’t use in arguments?
interrogative (no questions in arguments)
- Directive (no truth value in giving orders()
- Performative (making an action isn’t the kind of truth value we are looking for in an argument)
- Recreational (nursery rhymes don’t provide clarity in an argument lol )
Definition Method:
What is Genus-species
A definition that mentions a larger category to which that thing belongs…. then specifies what makes that thing different than the larger category
Defintion Method:
how do we define by synonym
Defining a word by providing a precise synonym
Definition Method:
What is contextual?
a definition that conveys a word’s meaning by using the word in a standard context and by providing a different sentence with the same meaning but without the words.
Definitions Method:
what is circular?
a definition that includes the term being defined (or its cognate) in the definition.
Defintion Method:
what is operational?
a definition made by specifying a rule or operation?
e.g. IQ test / DSM-5
Purpose of definitions:
what its reportive definitions?
reports the use of a word
the definition we give when we want to identify the standard usage of a word…
e.g. dictionaries.
purpose of definitions:
What is stimulative definitions?
the termporary one, the one that you use for the time being until you get more information
purpose of definitions
what is essentialist definitions?
we are looking for the essential nature of what a word means… e.g. Love, Justice, honour, freedom, death…
What is a vague sentence?
a sentence that lacks a precise meaning.
what is an ambiguous sentence?
a sentence that has two or more different but possibly quite precise meanings
What is referential ambiguity
an ambiguity that arises when word or phrase could, in the context of a particular sentence, refer to two or more properties or things.
> > Distributive / Collective
What is a collective use of a term
(apart of referential ambiguity)
this occurs in a statement that says something about a class as a whole.
what is the distributive use of a term?
(apart of referential ambiguity)
this occurs in a statement that says something about every member of the class named by that term
what is grammatical ambiguity?
an ambiguity that arises when the grammatical structure of a sentence allows two interpretations, each of which give rise to a different meaning.
What is an analytic statement?
A statement that is true by definition.
the words in the sentence make it true.
all circles are round.
What is a synthetic statement?
a statement whose truth or falsity is not solely dependant on the definition (the meanings) of the words involved.
What is a V argument?
An argument with two or more premises, each of which offer some support fro the conclusion by itself; in combination, the support of each is added.
What is the use/ mention error with ambiguity?
not clear distinction whether a word or phrase is being used or mentioned in a sentence.
if mentioned it will usually appear in quotations or italics. e.g. a book title, ect.
whether the word or phrase is being used or mentioned changes the meaning of the sentence.
what is a contradictory sentence?
a statement that is false by definition.
its when a sentence contains its own negation
What is a T argument?
An argument with two of more premises, none of which offers significant support for the conclusion by itself; but all premises do support the conclusion when working together, in combination.
DEDUCTIVE
what feature of ambiguity can sometimes be useful AND is apart of the shared reality and nature of truth?
Vagueness.
What is a simple arguement?
An argument with a single premise and single conclusion.
What is a report of an argument?
The attribution of an argument to somebody other than the speaker; the speaker does not necessarily endorse the argument, just reports it.
What the term that names a principle for interpreting someones words, we should always adopt the interpretation that the words are expressing views that are meant to be reasonable, plausible, or logical.
principle of charity
What is reconstructing an agrument?
Identifying and extracting the premises and conclusion, and making the connections between them clear (i.e., the structure)
What are the distinctions between explanations and arguments?
Explanations: say HOW or WHY something is true
Arguments: Show THAT something is true
What are the three argument structures?
T - jointly prove
V - each premise prove
Complex - uses both to prove
What are “missing parts”?
A missing (unstated) premise or conclusion in an argument.
*She called it missing parts but the text calls it presupposition
What is an explanation?
An attempt to show why or how something happens. It is taken for granted that the event happened - which is contrast to an argument attempting to prove that some event happened.
