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Reason and Argument Exam Revision: - Coggle Diagram
Reason and Argument Exam Revision:
Week 1:
Types of Sentences:
Interrogative
– Has Jill won a medal?
Declarative
– Jill has won a medal
Imperative
– Win a medal, Jill!
Conclusion indicators are words or phrases that come before or after a conclusion.
E.g. Hence, Therefore, this proves that -That is why - Because – follows from the fact that – AFTER the conclusion
Some arguments contain hidden or missing premises (the technical term for an argument with missing premises is an
enthymeme
)
Inductive Arguments
– reason from an observed sample to an unobserved case or set of cases.
Deductive Arguments
- Arguments intended to be such that their premises, if true necessitate their conclusion.
Sound Arguments
– a valid argument that also has true premises is a sound argument
Week 2:
Four Distinctions Regarding Truth:
Analytic VS Synthetic Truths: LANGAUGE
Analytic claims
– a claim that is true purely in the virtue of the meaning of the words alone.
Synthetic claims
- not analytic as the meaning of the words alone doesn’t prove the sentence.
A Priori VS A Posteriori Truths: KNOWLEDGE
An
A Priori
truth is one what can be known independently of experience
An
A Posteriori
truth is one that requires some experience in order to be known.
Necessary VS Contingent Truths: POSSIBILITY
A
Necessarily
true claim is one that couldn’t possibly be false.
A
Contingent
true claim is on that could have been false.
How to evaluate an argument in standard form:
This is not a good argument because two of the premises used are unacceptable.
If the premises were true, they would support the conclusion that politicians should be paid more.
Subjective VS Objective Truths:
A
Subjective
truth is a true claim whose truth can vary across different subjects (i.e. different people).
An
objective
truth is a true claim that is not dependent upon a subject in this way.
Ambiguity
- Some words are ambiguous ,i.e. they have more than one meaning.
“John saw a man with a telescope”
Vagueness
- a Vague Expression is one that admits of borderline cases
The Sorites Paradox
is a form of argument that exploits the vagueness of a term in order to reach an implausible conclusion. -
If n grains do not make a heap of sand, then n+1 grains of sand so not make a heap of sand.
Abductive Arguments
– often called inference to the best explanation – are argument where the conclusion is the best available explanation on why the premises are true.
Week 3:
Fallacies:
Begging the question
is when your premises assume the conclusion you are trying to prove.
The
ad hominem fallacy
is when you respond to an argument by attacking the person who made the argument.
Mistaking Correlation and Cause:
The
straw man fallacy
is when you misinterpret your opponent’s argument as weaker than it actually is, and then reject it on that basis.
Confusing Necessary and Contingent Conditions:
Week 4:
Week 7:
Week 5: