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1 WRITING THE ACADEMIC PAPER ——Logic and Argument Tao Yang 2007-11-19
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2 Outline WHAT IS AN ARGUMENT UNDERSTANDING FORMAL LOGIC REVIEWING THE ARGUMENT'S EVIDENCE AVOIDING LOGICAL FALLACIES
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3 WHAT IS AN ARGUMENT The fundamental elements of a good argument a thesis that declares the writer's position an acknowledgment of the other points of view; a set of clearly defined premises evidence that validates the argument's premises; a conclusion for a finished argument More important is that how to sound a argument
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4 UNDERSTANDING FORMAL LOGIC an argument can be logical without necessarily being true Syllogism: two premises and a conclusion Examples: Argument comes from premises All women are brilliant. I am a woman. Therefore, I am brilliant. Everyone who has been exposed to the E-Boli virus has died. John Q. has been exposed to the E-Boli virus. John Q. will die.
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5 UNDERSTANDING FORMAL LOGIC in any syllogism all premises must be true (or considered true) if the argument is to stand Murder is a terrible crime. Abortion is murder. Abortion is a terrible crime. Deduction: from general to specific All watchdogs bark at strangers. When X was murdered, the dogs did not bark. X was not killed by a stranger.
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6 UNDERSTANDING FORMAL LOGIC inductive reasoning observe the specific(s) and move to the general Relationship between reasoning induction and deduction Induction major premise of syllogism Induction will fail if observation is wrong
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7 REVIEWING THE ARGUMENT'S EVIDENCE make sure the evidence is fair, objective, and complete Have we suppressed any facts? Have we manipulated any facts? Do we have enough evidence? Do we have too much evidence? Is our evidence current? Reputable?
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8 AVOIDING LOGICAL FALLACIES Logical fallacies are mistakes in reasoning. they undermine the strength of an argument Hasty Generalization: little evidence; biased evidence Either/Or Fallacy: Only two possibilities when in fact there’re several Non Sequitur: conclusion does not follow logically from the premise Ad Hominem: Arguing against the man instead of against the issue
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9 AVOIDING LOGICAL FALLACIES Red Herring: Distracting attention to an irrelevant issue Circular Reasoning: Asserting a point that has just been made False Analogy: Wrongly assuming that because two things are alike in some ways Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc: The mistake of assuming that, because event a is followed by event b, so event a caused event b Equivocation: Equates two meanings of the same word falsely
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