Official Definitions + Some Examples Flashcards
What is Logic at first glance
the study of reasoning or thinking, how we SHOULD think not how we do
What is Logic for logicists
the study of arguments
What is an Argument?
A set of determinately true or false sentences with 3 elements:
1. One or more premises, which provide evidence or support.
2. One conclusion, which follows from or is supported by the premises.
3. A claim about the connection between the premises and the conclusion.
What are Premises
propositions or statements that provide evidence and support for an author’s conclusion
What are the three elements every Argument needs to have?
- One or more premises, which provide evidence or support.
- One conclusion, which follows from or is supported by the premises.
- A claim about the connection between the premises and the conclusion.
What is a Conclusion?
a sentence in an argument that represents the author’s assertion, should be supported by the premises
What is an absolute borderline case?
Is the following an absolute borderline case?
Fill in the blank: If a sentence is Vague it has ____?
Absolute borderline cases
What is a Deductive Argument?
An argument in which the premise(s) are claimed to lend absolute support to the conclusion.
What is an Inductive Argument?
An argument in which the premise(s) are not claimed to lend absolute support to the conclusion. Instead, the premises are claimed to make the conclusion probable or likely.
Fill in the blank: An argument is Deductively Valid if _____.
If it has NO counter-examples.
What is a counter-example?
A possible situation (or possible world) in which all of the premises of the argument are TRUE, and the conclusion FALSE.
[possible world where premises=true but conclusion=false.]
Is this argument Deductively Valid?
Fill in the blank: If an argument has counter-examples then it is _____.
Deductively Invalid.
When does an argument have High Inductive Probability?
If the truth of the conclusion is very likely given the truth of the premises.
Fill in the blank: If the truth of an argument’s conclusion is questionable or not very likely given the truth of the premises, then it has ____.
Low Inductive Probability.
What are the two conditions an argument needs to fulfill to be Sound?
It must be Deductively Valid and have TRUE premises.
True or False: A Sound argument can be Deductively Valid or Invalid.
False, a Sound argument can ONLY be Deductively Valid.
What is Monotonic reasoning?
Where adding new premises will not make an argument that succeeds in providing the claimed support for its conclusion to then fail to do so.
What is Non-Monotonic reasoning?
Where adding new premises could make an argument that succeeds in providing the claimed support for its conclusion to then fail to do so.
What kind of reasoning does an argument have if adding new premises jeapardizes the argument’s ability to maintain the claimed support for its conclusion?
Non-Monotonic.
What is a Fallacy?
A faulty argument or a faulty kind of argument.
What is a Fallacy of Relevance?
Where someone supports their conclusion with premises that are NOT relevant to the truth of the conclusion.
What is a Semantic Fallacy?
Where someone’s argument relies on words or phrases with ambiguous or vague meanings.
What is a Deductive Fallacy?
Where someone claims that the truth of their premises would provide ABSOLUTE support for the truth of the conclusion when in fact the truth of the premises would not.
What is an Inductive Fallacy?
Where someone claims that the truth of their premises would provide a certain degree of support for the truth of the conclusion when in fact the truth of the premises would only provide some significantly weaker degree of support.
What are the four types of fallacies?
Fallacies of relevance, semantic fallacies, deductive fallacies, and inductive fallacies.
What is an Ad Hominem argument?
When someone claims to support a conclusion by attacking the person who asserts the opposite.
Name the 7 most common Fallacies of Relevance.
Ad Hominem, Guilt by Association, Tu Quoque, Vested Interest, Straw Man, Arguments by Authority, Appeals to Ignorance.
Why is an Ad Hominem argument a fallacy?
Because the nature of the person putting forth the argument is irrelevant to the truth of the conclusion / premises.
Determine the fallacies: “This is especially weird when you consider that Senator McCain is a fierce supporter of the war in Iraq, which was fanatically promoted by an entire barnyard of chicken hawks.”
Ad Hominem fallacy. Attacking the Chicken Hawks to say that argument is bad.
What is a Guilt by Association argument?
When someone claims to support a conclusion by criticizing the company kept by the person who asserts the opposite.
aka, someone who is considered as bad or opposing shares the same opinion as the one side of the argument (usually the opposite), so therefore the other side is correct.
Identify the fallacies: “Some Republicans are claiming that Obama didn’t deserve his Nobel Prize. Al Qaeda and Hamas think the same thing, and they hate America and peace. Obama deserved his prize.”
Guilt by Association. Al Qaeda and Hamas agree with the opposing side (that Obama didn’t deserve it) and they are bad, so the opposite of what they think must be true.
What is a Tu Quoque argument?
When someone claims to support a conclusion by accusing the person who asserts the opposite of hypocrisy or inconsistency.
Identify the fallacies: “Some people argue that Stanford should not invite Donald to visit. But these people are the same liberals who talk on and on about diversity, but they don’t want the kind of political diversity on campus that Donald would bring. :. Donald should be on campus.”
Tu Quoque argument. They want diversity but not if that means accepting Donald / the diversity he would bring.
What is a Vested Interest Argument?
When someone claims to support a conclusion by alleging that someone who assets the opposite has an interest in doing so.