Review Chapter 6

Question 1

What is correspondence theory of truth

Answer 1

states that the truth or falsity of a statement is determined only by how it relates to the world and whether it accurately describes (i.e., corresponds with) that world.

Question 2

What would you call a fact that is observable in principle, that is it could be observed if we could get ourselves into the right place at the right time

Answer 2

This is an empirical fact

Question 3

What does an empirical Statement do?

Answer 3

This is a statement that assets an empirical fact (or set of empirical facts).

Question 4

What is the coherence theory of truth?

Answer 4

This theory regards truth as coherence within some specified set of sentences, propositions or beliefs. There is no single set of such “logical universes”, but rather an assortment of perspectives that are commonly discussed under this title.

Question 5

What is the pragmatic theory of truth?

Answer 5

A statement or belief is true if and only if it leads to the successful solution of a real problem.

Question 6

What is the process of determining whether or not a truth claim is true?

Answer 6

This is called verification

Question 7

If you can show that a truth claim is true it can be verified; but in the same hand if you can show that it is false than it is ____

Answer 7

Falsified

Question 8

If you can’t decided if a claim is true or false what is it called?

Answer 8

undetermined

Question 9

What is a general empirical statement?

Answer 9

Something dealing with statements about classes of objects and or events

Question 10

What is a statistical empirical statement?

Answer 10

This makes a claim about a portion of a specific class.

Question 11

What is a Universal empirical statement?

Answer 11

this is a statement about every member of some class.

Question 12

What do you call a principle that lies at the basis of all knowledge claims, including empirical claims.

i.e: Every event must have a cause

Answer 12

These are foundational principles

Question 13

What does strict proof mean? and what is an example?

Answer 13

This is a term usually used in civil law cases and, basically it means this. If the Claimant says the Defendant owes him a sum of money and, the Defendant says he doesn’t owe any money and, he puts the Claimant to “Strict Proof”. That means the Claimant will have to prove beyond all doubt the money is owed. He will have to show all the documentation associated with the dealings between them that the money is owed and that no money has been received.

Question 14

Decide if the statement below is either Empirical or Non-Empirical

The democrats won the last election for governor of Massachusetts

Answer 14

Empirical

Checking the facts about the most recent Massachusetts election will determine whether the statement is true.

Question 15

Decide if the statement below is either Empirical or Non-Empirical

My children are hoping for a white christmas this year.

Answer 15

Empirical

If you ask the kids directly it will determine if the claim is true

Question 16

Decide if the statement below is either Empirical or Non-Empirical

St. Pauls Cathedral in London is one of the great architectural achievements of Wester Civilization

Answer 16

non-empirical. no amount of checking empirical facts—either about St. Paul’s Cathedral or about people’s beliefs about it—will determine the truth or falsity of this statement. it is an evaluation.

Question 17

Human beings will not survive the destruction of the ozone layer

Answer 17

Empirical. The empirical facts that will determine whether this statement is true or false are not easy to obtain, although scientists claim that there is clear and mounting evidence that it is true. But nothing other than empirical evidence could determine the truth or falsity of this claim.

Question 18

The sum of the interior angles of a triangle is 180 degrees

Answer 18

non-empirical. This is an analytic statement that states one of the essential features of a triangle. if you thought you could determine its truth value by measuring the angles of a triangle with a protractor, you would be treating this as an empirical statement. But as any mathematics teacher would tell you, doing this would not get you any marks on a mathematics examination.

Question 19

Paula Won the prize las year for the best student in school.

Answer 19

Empirical. Despite the fact that the award is given to the best student in the school, this statement does not endorse the fact that Paula received the award. it is a simple statement of an empirical fact.

Question 20

Three out of four people make up 75 percent of the populatioin

Answer 20

non-empirical. Because 3 out of 4 people is arithmetically equivalent to 75 per cent of the population the sentence makes no empirical claim about facts.

Question 21

An argument _________ Begs the question when its premises presupposes directly or indirectly the truth of its conclusion

Answer 21

Begs the quesiton

Question 22

Paranormal activity is real because I have experienced what can only be described as paranormal activity.

This statement begs the question What makes it wrong?

Answer 22

The claim, “paranormal activity is real” is supported by the premise, “I have experienced what can only be described as paranormal activity.” The premise presupposes, or assumes, that the claim, “paranormal activity is real” is already true.

Question 23

When does the fallacy of inconsistency arise?

Answer 23

When the argument contains implicitly or explicitly, a contradiction usually between two premises.

Question 24

INCONSISTENCY:
What is wrong with the following statement?

Mary is older than Gord
Gord is older than Mary

Answer 24

Neither statement by itself is a contradiction, but asserting them together amounts to a contradiction.

Question 25

When does the fallacy of Equivocation arise?

Answer 25

When a term is used with more than one meaning within a single argument

Question 26

What does this statement illustrate?

“Nosiy children are a real headache
An aspirin will make a headache go away
Therefore an aspirin will make children go away.”

Answer 26

The fallacy of Equivocation

Question 27

What is false Dichotomy?

Answer 27

dichotomy that is not jointly exhaustive (there are other alternatives), or that is not mutually exclusive (the alternatives overlap), or that is possibly neither. Note that the example given above is not mutually exclusive, since the test and the program could both be wrong.

Question 28

What does it mean for something to be Exhaustive?

Answer 28

You can only have one or the other, no in between.

ie: you can be pregnant or not pregnant

Question 29

What does it mean for something to be exclusive?

Answer 29

When the choice of one rules out the other(S)

Question 30

When does the fallacy of false Dichotomy arise?

Answer 30

When the premise of an argument presents us with a choice between two alternatives and assumes that they are exhaustive or exclusive or both when in fact they are not.

Question 31

What is wrong with the following statement? and how does false dichotomy arise?

David: Let me get this straight, Paul. You mean that you have been going out with your girlfriend for almost a year, and she never told you she has a three-year-old daughter by a previous marriage? Paul: That’s right. And I only found out by accident last week. David: Well, whatever you do, Paul, don’t marry her. She is a liar.

Answer 31

David is assuming that telling the truth and telling lies are exhaustive alternatives, when in fact not telling the truth is not the same as telling a lie. We can fail to tell the truth by not saying anything, which is what Paul’s girlfriend did, and this is quite different from telling a lie.

Question 32

Identify the Weakness in the follow argument

if we want economic prosperity, we should be looking for even more wars to get involved in. Every nation that has fought a major war in the last century emerged from the war economically stronger than it was before. it seems to be the one sure path to economic prosperity.

Answer 32

The conclusion of the argument is: If we want economic prosperity, we should be looking for even more wars to get involved in. The weakness in the argument is that the premise Every nation that has fought a major war in the last century emerged from the war economically stronger than it was before is false. Many nations, such as Britain, the USSr, Vietnam, Japan, and iran, among others, have suffered great economic losses as a result of wars they have been involved in. This is, or should be, a matter of common knowledge.

Question 33

Identify the Weakness in the follow argument

in our democratic system, government is supposed to be based on the consent of the governed. Well, i am one of the governed, and i certainly do not consent to public school taxes for families with no children. So the government has no right to force me and others who think the way i do to pay this iniquitous tax.

Answer 33

The conclusion of the argument is: The government has no right to force me and others who think the way I do to pay school taxes. The argument commits the fallacy of equivocation. The word governed is used collectively in the first premise but distributively in the second premise.

Question 34

Identify the Weakness in the follow argument

The outboard motor i bought last year turned out to be a real lemon. as soon as the warranty expired everything started going wrong; it has cost me over $600 in repairs so far this year. The trouble is there’s nothing i can do about it. i thought about suing the manufacturer, but the lawyer’s fee would cost more than i could ever hope to win.

Answer 34

The conclusion of the argument is: There is nothing I can do about the fact that the outboard motor I bought last year turned out to be a real lemon. The weakness of the argument is that it relies upon a false dichotomy in the premises. The speaker assumes that there are only two possibilities open to him or her: (1) sue the company and (2) do nothing. But there are other things that could be done: for example, (3) write to the president of the company, asking for compensation, or (4) make a public stink by writing letters to the press or mounting a sign on the boat that says Evinrudes are Lemons.

Question 35

Identify the Weakness in the follow argument

History shows that only in democracies does the human spirit flourish. And the reason is clear: undemocratic societies deny to most of their members any opportunity to take part in the political life of the community, and without such participation the human spirit withers and dies.

Answer 35

The conclusion of the argument is: Only in democracies does the human spirit flourish. The weakness in the argument is that it begs the question. Does the human spirit flourish only in democratic societies? Yes, says the author, because undemocratic societies prevent the human spirit from flourishing. The “evidence” is just another way of stating the conclusion.

Question 36

Identify the Weakness in the follow argument

Members of the jury, there are two compelling reasons why you should find my client not guilty. First, the prosecution has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was anywhere near the warehouse on the night the theft occurred. and second, even if he was there, i have presented evidence to show that he was acting under threats from his companions. in either case he should be found not guilty.

Answer 36

The conclusion of the argument is: He should be found not guilty. This argument commits the fallacy of inconsistency. The lawyer cannot have it both ways: if either one of the two “compelling” reasons is true, then the other must be false. They cannot consistently be asserted together.

Question 37

Identify the Weakness in the follow argument

Most people are much more interested in local issues—such as property taxes, garbage collection, their children’s education, and zoning by-laws— than they are in state and national political issues. This is shown by the fact that a much higher percentage of the electorate votes in municipal elections than in state or federal elections.

Answer 37

The conclusion of the argument is: People are much more interested in local issues than they are in state and national political issues. The weakness in the argument is that in recent years the premise is false in the United States.

Question 38

Identify the Weakness in the follow argument

it never ceases to amaze me that so many scientists deny that the miracles reported in the Bible actually took place. after all, science itself has presented us with many miracles, such as lasers, antibiotics, computers, and space flight. Since scientists accept that these modern miracles actually exist, they should accept that biblical miracles also actually occurred.

Answer 38

The conclusion of the argument is: Scientists should accept that biblical miracles actually occurred. The premises of the argument, however, use the word miracle in a quite different sense from the way the author uses it in the conclusion. The argument therefore commits the fallacy of equivocation.