Phil Exam 1 Flashcards
What is an argument?
Consists of statements, statements are either true or false, at least one statement supports
another statement.
What are the two components of arguments?
Premises and Conclusion
Premise 1: All men die
Premise 2: Socrates is a man
Conclusion: Socrates will die
How do we value deductive arguments?
True premises lead too necessarily true conclusions
What is validity?
If the premises are true, then the conclusion is necessarily true, - invalid is the opposite if
the premises are true and the conclusion can be false, then the argument is invalid, - Validity is
not determined by the truth or the falsity of the premises, Validity is determined by relation.
What is soundness?
Requires that the premises are true AND the argument is valid
An unsound argument is: - Deductive - invalid, or has a false premise, or both
How are inductive arguments valued?
Evaluated based on strength
What counts as a strong inductive argument?
A strong inductive argument has a conclusion that is unlikely or improbable to be false
A conclusion that follows from the premises, premises are true
What counts as a weak argument
If premises are not true then they are weak
What is a cogent argument?
If and only if it is a strong argument and has all true premises, Further the true
premises must meet the Total Evidence Requirement
What is an argument from analogy?
Depends on the similarity between two things or states of affairs. Argues from the better
known to the lesser-known.
What is an argument from authority?
A conclusion is drawn based on the testimony of an expert or witness
What is an argument from prediction?
Proceeds from knowledge of the past to knowledge of the future.
Ex: I just saw a lighting strike, therefore I am going to hear thunder soon.
What is an argument from generalization?
Makes an argument from a part to the whole. Or argues from a small sample size,
to the whole group/category.
Ex: My Mac lasted five years. Therefore, all Macs will last at least five years
What is an argument based on signs?
Argument from a sign to a thing or situation that sign symbolizes
What is causal inference?
Argues from knowledge about a cause to an effect (or vice versa)
What is the total evidence requirement?
True premises must be true in a complete sense. No premise that could
undermine the probability of a true conclusion can be left out.
What is a fallacy?
Fallacies are a defect in reasoning, a creation of an illusion that makes a bad arguement
appear good, they can be formal or informal.
Appeal to force
Involves a physical or psychological threat by the arguer to another person.
Ex: Accept my position or you’ll be hurt
Argument from pity
Occurs when someone tries to get another person to agree with his or her claims by
merely appealing to the person’s pity or empathy.
Appeal to Envy
occurs when we find fault with a person or underestimate her abilities because of envy of that
person. Humans often do this with celebrities, people in high power positions or others
find threatening.
Appeal to Pride Group Think
someone tries to obtain favor with another or manipulate another by complimenting the person or appealing to the
person’s ego. Group-think occurs when people of a group hold specific beliefs merely because those
beliefs are thought to be fundamental thoughts of the group.
Ex: What are you Chicken McFly?!
Appeal to Popularity
Occurs when someone claims that “X” is the case because a group of people
believe that “X” is the case.
(Argument against the person) Ad hominem abusive
he response is vitriolic toward the one making the argument.
(Argument against the person) Ad hominem circumstantial
occurs when someone attacks the person making the argument rather than the
argument that the person is making. In this informal fallacy, the attention is turned
from the argument to the one making the argument.
(Argument against the person) Tu quoque (Latin “You Also”
he person points out that the one making the argument engages in the same behaviors
that he or she is arguing for or against.
(Argument against the person) Positive ad hominem
people point out good attributes of someone or some group in order to defend the
person or group
Straw Man
Occurs when someone makes a straw argument out of a real argument and then attacks
the straw argument. When people attack a weakened form of another person’s argument,
they are committing the straw man fallacy.
Loaded Question
A loaded question is a question that presupposes something that it does not prove.
Ex: “Do your parents know that you are doing drugs?”
Begging the Question
Begging the question occurs when one asks the audience to accept reasons for a
debatable argument that are just as debatable as the conclusion itself.
Ex: “Farm animals are meant to be eaten. Therefore, we have to keep
animals on farms to make sure there are animals to eat.”
Red Herring
occurs when someone strays off-topic in the middle of an argument to try to draw others off the
trail of the argument.
Ex: It is called the red herring because of a tactic that was used to train scent dogs
Appeal to inadequate authority
the arguer cites someone as an authority, when the person cited does not have
the knowledge or position to be called an authority
Appeal to Ignorance
The appeal to ignorance occurs when one claims that something is true
because no one has proved that it is not true
Hasty Generalization
one makes a general statement about a group from analysis of a smaller group that
is probably not representative of the larger group of individuals
(either due to its size or lack of randomness)
Slippery slope
This fallacy occurs when one claims that if we let one thing happen something else (way worse usually)
will definitely happen
Post Hoc
Involves claiming that an unrelated event caused another event. The post
hoc fallacy is the foundation for superstition.
Ex: In its full Latin form it states, “Post hoc ergo propter hoc” which means, “after this,
therefore because of this.”
Scapegoating
is laying blame for a problem in society on the heads of a specific group of people. The scapegoater blames everything on a specific group for no logical reason. This group often has few connections to those problems.
