© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.1 Chapters1 & 2
© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.2 An argument The conclusion
3 TThe premise (or premises) © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. UUsing fallacies
4 A. One only B. More than one © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
5 A. One only B. More than one
Argument An attempt to support or prove a claim by providing a reason for accepting it. Critical Thinking The careful application of reasoning the determination of the truth of a claim. Premises The claim in an argument that provide the reasons for believing the conclusion. Usually we use the word ‘because’ which ordinarily indicates the presence of the premise of an argument. Claim A Statement, true or false, that expresses an opinion or belief. Conclusion In an argument, the claim for which a premise is supposed to give a reason. Usually we use the word ‘therefore’ which ordinarily indicates the presence of the conclusion of an argument. Fallacy An argument in which the reasons advanced for a claim fail to warrant acceptance of that claim. (More of fallacies on chapter 6)
7 Issue: a question that’s been raised when a claim is called into question. © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. YES!!!!
Subjective judgment: its truth depends on what you think; if you think it is true, it’s true for you, and you can’t be mistaken. Objective judgment: its truth depends on objective fact, not on what you think. 8 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
A value judgment judges the merit or desirability of someone or something. Moral value judgment: a claim that expresses a moral or ethical evaluation of something. Rhetoric: Language that is psychologically persuasive but does not have extra logical force. 9 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
1. Argument 2. Argument vs. explanation 3. Premise 4. Conclusion (person’s opinion of an issue) 5. Issue 6. Objective/Subjective 7. Value judgment 8. Moral/ethical value judgment 9. Interesting philosophical question: Are moral/ethical value judgments objective? 10 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
11 “Valid” just means: not possible for the premise to be true and the conclusion to be false. To prove the conclusion, the premise of the valid argument must be TRUE!
An argument is SOUND if it is valid, and its premise (or premises) are true. A sound argument PROVES / DEMONSTRATES the conclusion. 12
A DEDUCTIVE argument attempts to prove a conclusion. It is VALID if it is impossible for the premise to be false and the conclusion to be true. If it is valid and the premise is true, it is SOUND. A sound argument PROVES the conclusion. 13 © Mc Gr aw - Hill Hig her Ed uca tio n. All rig hts res erv ed.
This premise doesn’t prove the conclusion. But it supports it. When we try to SUPPORT a conclusion, we use INDUCTION. 14 © Mc Gr aw - Hill Hig her Ed uca tio n. All rig hts res erv ed.
Two kinds of logic: The logic of proof—DEDUCTION The logic of support—INDUCTION. 15 © Mc Gr aw - Hill Hig her Ed uca tio n. All rig hts res erv ed.
An argument is VALID if it isn’t possible for the premise to be true and the conclusion to be false. If the premise IS true and the argument is valid, the conclusion has been PROVED, and the argument is SOUND. 16
An argument SUPPORTS a conclusion if it makes the conclusion more likely. The more likely it makes the conclusion, the STRONGER the argument. 17