April 21, 2020 (Tuesday)

Chapter 1.1. Arguments, Premises, and Conclusions

Take note of some important concepts and their definitions:

1. What is logic?
- organized body of knowledge, or science, that evaluates arguments.

2. What is an arguments and its two basic groups?

- an argument is a group of statement, one or more of which (the premises) are
claimed to provide, support for, or reasons to believe me of the others (the
conclusion). Arguments may placed of two basic groups; those in which the premises
really do support the conclusion and those they do not, even though they are claimed.

3. What is a statement? (Examples)

- statement is a sentence that is either true or false, typically a declarative
sentence or sentence component that could stand as a declarative sentence. Example,
Novel Corona virus is one of the deadly disease I have seen in my entire life. Another
example is, Novel Corona virus has similar symptoms to Ebola virus.

4. What are the two possible truth values of a statement?

- truth and falsity are called the two possible truth values of a statement.

5. What are some sentences that are not considered or classifies as statement?
- Questions, proposals, suggestions, commands, and exclamations usually cannot
or so are not usually classified as statement.

6. An argument is made up of statement called the premise or premises and a

conclusion.
- Premises are statements that set forth the reasons or evidence and conclusion is
the statement that the evidence is claimed support or imply.

7. What is a conclusion? (Come up with an example of an argument. Just take

down some notes).
- Conclusion is the statement that the evidence is claimed to support or imply.
Example, Therefore, Halle Berry is a celebrity.

8. Example of conclusion indicator.

 therefore  accordingly  Entails that
 wherefore  We may conclude  hence
 thus  It must be that  It follows that
 consequently  For this reason  Implies that
 We may infer  so  As a result

9. Example of typical premises indicator.

 since  In that  Seeing that
 As indicated by  May be inferred from  For the reason that
 because  as  In as much as
 for  Given that  Owing to

10. What is syllogistic logic?

- Syllogistic logic, a kind of logic in which the fundamental elements are terms,
and arguments are evaluated as good or bad depending on how the terms are arranged
in the argument.

11. What is modal logic?

- Model logic, a kind of logic that involve such as concept of possibility,
necessity, belief and doubts.
 April 22, 2020 Wednesday

A statement / passage contains an argument if it purports (intends) to prove

something. If it does not do so, it does not contain an argument.

Two conditions must be fulfilled for a passage to purport to prove something:

1. At least one of the statement must claim to present evidence or reasons.
 This condition expresses a factual claim. By factual we mean, truthful- something
considered as true or correct.
2. There must be a claim that the alleged evidence supports or implies something- that
is, a claim that something follows from the alleged evidence or reasons.

Inferential claim can be explicit or implicit (page 14) take note of the examples
and write them down in your notebook.
Explicit inferential claim is usually asserted by premise or conclusion indicator
words: “thus”, “since”, “because”, “hence”, “therefore
‘, and so on.
Implicit inferential claim exists if there is an inferential relationship between the
statement in the passage, but the passage contains no indicator.
Simple non inferential passages (write down the examples given in each non
inferential passage).
 Warning - form of expression that is intended to put someone or guard against a
dangerous or detrimental situation.
 Piece of advice - form of expression that makes a recommendation about some
future decision or course of conduct.
 Statement of believe or opinion - an expression about what someone happens to
believe or think about something.
 Loosely associated statement - may be about the same general subject, but they
lack.
 A report - consists of a group of statements that convey information about some
topic or event.

What is an expository?
- is a kind of discourse that begins with a topic sentence followed by one or more
sentences that develop the topic sentence.
What is an illusion?
- is an expression involving one or more examples that is intended to show what
something means or how it is done.
What is an explanation?
- Explanation is an expression that purports the shed light on some event or
phenomenon. Every explanation is composed of two distinct components; the
explanadum and explanans. Explanadum is the statement that describes the event or
phenomenon to be explained. Explanans is the statement of group of statement that
purports to do the explaining.
What is a condition statement and what is its two component statement?
- a conditional statement is an “if … then …” statement. Every conditional
statement is made up of two components statements. The component statement
immediately following the “if” is called the antecedent and the following “then” is
called the consequent.
What is sufficient condition? Give an example.
- A is said to be a sufficient condition for B whenever the occurrence of A is all
that is needed for the occurrence of B. For example; Being a dog is a sufficient
condition for being an animal.
What is a necessity condition? Write down a example.
- B said to be necessary condition for A whenever A cannot occur without the
occurrence of B. For example; “Thus, being an animal is a necessary condition for
being a dog.
 April 23, 2020 (Thursday)

What is deductive argument? Write down an example?

- Deductive argument is an argument incorporating the claim that is impossible for the
conclusion to be false given that the premises are true. Here is an example of
deductive argument.

 The meerkat is a member of the mongoose family.

 All members of the mongoose family are carnivores.
 Therefore, it necessarily follows that the meerkat is a carnivore.

What is an inductive argument? Write down an example.

- Inductive argument is an argument incorporating the claim that is improbable that

the conclusion be false given that the premises are true. Inductive argument involve
probabilistic reasoning. Here is an example of inductive argument.

 The meerkat is closely related to the suricat.

 The suricat thrives on the beetle larvae.
 Therefore, probably the meerkat thrives on the beetle larvae.

List down some words that are considered as deductive indicators.

 Necessarily
 Certainly
 Absolutely
 definitely

List down some words that are considered as inductive indicators.

 Probably
 Improbable
 Plausible
 Implausible
 Likely
 Unlikely
 reasonable to conclude

Five examples of deductive argument forms. Define each example.

 An argument based on mathematics is an argument in which the conclusion

depends on some purely arithmetic or geometric computation or measurement.
 An argument from definition is an argument in which the conclusion is claimed to
depend merely on the definition of some word or phrase used in the premise or
conclusion.
 Categorical syllogism is a syllogism in which each statement begins with one of
 the words "all", "no" or "some".
 A hypothetical syllogism is a syllogism having conditional ("if....then")
statement.
 A disjunctive syllogism is a syllogism having a disjunctive ("either... Or ...")
statement.

Six examples of inductive arguments forms. Define each example.

 A prediction is an argument that proceeds from our knowledge of the past to a

claim about the future.
 An argument from analogy is an argument that depends on the existence of an
analogy, similarity, between two things or states of affairs.
 A generalization is an argument that proceeds from the knowledge of selected
sample to some claim about the whole group.
 An argument from authority is an argument that concludes something is true
because presumed expert or witness has that it is.
 And argument based on signs is an argument that proceeds from the knowledge
of a sign to a claim about the thing or situation that the sign symbolizes.
 A casual inference is an argument that proceeds from knowledge of a cause to a
claim about an effect, or conversely, from knowledge of an effect to a claim
about a cause.
 April 24, 2020 (Friday)

What is a valid deductive argument ? Write down an example.

- Valid deductive argument is an argument in which it is impossible for the conclusion

to be false given that the premises are true. In these arguments the conclusion follows
with strict necessity from the premises.

Valid
True All wines are beverages.
Premises Chardonnay is a wine.
True Therefore, chardonnay is a
conclusion beverage.
[sound]

True None exist.

Premises
False
conclusion

False All wines are soft drinks.

premises Ginger ale is a wine.
True Therefore, ginger ale is a
conclusion soft drink.
[unsound]

False All wines are whiskey.

premises Ginger ale is a wine.
False Therefore, ginger ale is a
conclusion Whiskey.
[unsound]
What is an invalid deductive argument? Write down an example.

- Invalid deductive argument is a deductive argument in which it is possible for the

conclusion to be false given that the premises are true.

Invalid
True All wines are beverages.
Premises Chardonnay is a wine.
True Therefore, chardonnay is a
conclusion wine.
[sound]

True All wines are beverages.

Premises Ginger ale is a beverage.
False Therefore, ginger ale is a
conclusion wine.
[unsound]

False All wines are whiskeys.

premises Chardonnay is a whiskey.
True Therefore, chardonnay is a wine.
conclusion [unsound]

False All wines are whiskeys.

premises Ginger ale is a whiskey.
False Therefore, ginger ale is a wine.
conclusion [unsound]
What is a strong inductive argument? Give an example.

- A strong inductive argument is an inductive argument in which it is improbable that

the conclusion be false given that the premises are true. In such arguments, the
conclusion does not follow probably form the premises.

Strong

True premise All previous U.S presidents

were older than 40.
Probably false Therefore, probably the next U.S
president will be older than 40.
conclusion [cogent]

True premise
None exist.
Probably false
conclusion

False premise . All previous U.S presidents

were TV debaters.
Probably true Therefore, probably the next U.S president
will be a TV debater.
conclusion [uncogent]

False premise A few U.S presidents

died in the office.
Probably false Therefore, probably the next U.S president
will die in the office.
conclusion [uncogent]

What is weak inductive argument? Give an example.

- A weak deductive argument is an argument in which the conclusion does not follow
probably the premises, even though it is claimed to. Here is an example.

Weak

True premise A few U.S presidents were lawyers.

Probably false Therefore, probably the next U.S president

will be older than 40.
conclusion [uncogent]

True premise A few U.S presidents were unmarried.

Probably false Therefore, probably the next U.S president

conclusion will be unmarried.
[uncogent]

False premise . A few U.S presidents were dentists.

Probably true Therefore, probably the next U.S president

will be a TV debater.
conclusion [uncogent]

False premise A few U.S presidents were dentists.

Probably false Therefore, probably the next U.S president

will be a dentists.
conclusion [uncogent]

April 30, 2020

Chapter 2: Language: Meaning and Definition

2.1. Varieties and Meaning

What are some uses of languages?
Language is used to:
 ask questions
 tell stories
 tell lies
 guess at answers
 form hypotheses
 launch verbal assaults
 tell jokes
 flirt with some one
 give directions
 sing songs
 issue commands
 greet someone

What is cognitive meaning? Cite an example.

Cognitive is a terminology that conveys information. For example, the first
statement the words "legal," "thirty-six," "most often," "Georgia,""record" and so on
have primarily a cognitive meaning.

What is emotive meaning? Cite an example.

Emotive is a terminology that expresses or evokes feelings while in the second
statement. For example, the word "cruel", "inhuman," "hapless", "dragged",
"slaughtered", "bloodlust", and "vengeful" have a strong emotive meaning.

What is value claim? Example.

A value claim is a claim that something is good, bad, right, wrong, or better or
worse, more important or less important than some other thing.
For example, the statement about the death penalty asserts the value claim that
the death penalty is wrong or immoral.

What is vague expression? Example.

Vague expression is one that allows for borderline cases in which it is impossible to
tell if the expression applies or does not apply.

What is ambiguous? Example.

An ambiguous expression is one that can be interpreted as having more than one
clearly distinct meaning in given context. For example, words such as "light",
"proper", "critical", "stress", "mad", "inflate", "chest", "bank", "sound", and "race"
can be used ambiguously.

What is a term? What do term consist of?

A term is any word or arrangement of words that may serve as the subject of a
statement. Terms consist of proper names, common names, and descriptive phrases.
What is the difference between intentional meaning and extensional meaning?
What are the other term?
The intensional meaning or intension, consists of the qualities or attributes that
the term connotes while extensional meaning, or extension, consists of the members
of class that the term denotes.
What is conventional connotation?
Conventional connotation is a term includes attributes that the term commonly
calls forth in the minds of competent speakers of the language.

What is empty extension? Example.

They are said to denote the empty (or "null") class, the class that has no members.
Empty extension include "unicorn", "leprechaun", " gnome", "elf", and "griffin".

What is the difference between increasing intension, decreasing intension,

increasing extension, and decreasing extension? Give an example to each of the
term.
Increasing intension when each term in the series (except the first) connotes more
attributes than the one preceding it. (A term is specific to the degree that it connotes
more attributes.) The order of decreasing intension is the reverse of that of increasing
intension.

Examples:

Increasing intension: animal, mammal, feline, tiger

Increasing intension: tiger, feline, mammal, animal
Decreasing intension: tiger, feline, mammal, animal
Decreasing extension: animal, mammal, feline, tiger

May 04, 2020 (Monday)

2.3 Definitions and Their Purposes

1.What is a definition and what are its two parts? Examples.

 Definition is a group of words that assigns meaning to some word or group of
words. The two parts of definition is difiniendum which is the word or group of words
that is supposed to be defined and the second is the definiens which is the word or
group of words that does the defining. For example: “Tiger” means a large, striped,
ferocious feline indigenous to the Jungles of India and Asia. The word “Tiger” is the
difiniendum and everything after the word “means” is the definiens.

2.What is a stipulative definition? Examples.

Stipulative Definition assigns a meaning to a word for the first time. This may
involve either coining a new word or giving a new meaning to an old word. For
example, in the riddle of Induction by Nelson Goodman “grue" was stipulated to be "a
property of an object that makes it appear green if observed before some future time t,
and blue if observed afterward". "Grue" has no meaning in standard English;
therefore, Goodman created the new term and gave it a stipulative definition.

3.Give some words that indicate stipulative definitions.

For example, the “reason” that can be also identified as a “statement”. We have
also humans as homo sapiens; and more.

4.What is a lexical definition? Example.

Lexical Definition is used to report the meaning that a word already has in a
language. For example, is the meaning of the word "port" in the words import or
portable. Your Dictionary Definition and usage example.

5.What is a precising definition? Example.

- Precising Definition is to reduce the vagueness of a word. It extends the Lexical
Definition of a term for a specific purpose by including additional criteria that narrow
down the set of things meeting the definition. For example, a dictionary may define
the term "student" as "1. anyone attending an educational institution of any type, or 2.
anyone who studies something." However, a movie theater may propose a precising
definition for the word "student" of "any person under the age of 18 enrolled in a local
school" in order to determine who is eligible to receive discounted tickets.

May 8, 2020
CATEGORICAL SYLLOGISMS

What are the three terms in a categorical syllogism? Examples

● Categorical Syllogism
As we know, our first example about roses was a categorical syllogism.
Categorical syllogisms follow an "If A is part of C, then B is part of C" logic.

 All cars have wheels. I drive a car. Therefore, my car has wheels.
 Major Premise: All cars have wheels.
 Minor Premise: I drive a car.
 Conclusion: My car has wheels.

● Conditional Syllogism
Conditional syllogisms follow an "If A is true, then B is true" pattern of logic.
They're often referred to as hypothetical syllogisms because the arguments aren't
always valid. Sometimes they're merely an accepted truth.

 If Katie is smart, then her parents must be smart.

 Major premise: Katie is smart.
 Conclusion: Katie's parents are smart.

● Disjunctive Syllogism
Disjunctive syllogisms follow a "Since A is true, B must be false" premise. They
don't state if a major or minor premise is correct. But it's understood that one of them
is correct.
 Major Premise: This cake is either red velvet or chocolate.
 Minor Premise: It's not chocolate.
 Conclusion: This cake is red velvet.

What are the other terms (names) of the two premises of a categorical syllogism?
Examples
● Major premises- is the one that contains the major term.
Ex:  All men are mortal.
● Minor premises- is the one that contains the minor term.
Ex: Socrates is a man.

What is an ENTHYMEME? (Pronounced as /En(t)-thi-mēm/)

An argumentative statement in which the writer or the speaker omits one of the
major or minor premises, does not clearly pronounce it, or keeps this premise implied,
is called an “enthymeme.” However, the omitted premise in an enthymeme remains
understandable even if is not clearly expressed.

What is an EPHICHIREME?
A syllogism in which a proof is joined to one or both of the premises. The proof
often expressed by a causal clause (“for”, “because”, “since”, etc.)

What is a POLY-SYLLOGISM?
A chain of syllogisms in which the conclusion of one syllogism serves as a premise
for the next.
What are SORITES? (Categorical and Conditional)
● Aristotelian (or progressive) Sorites- the predicate of each premise is the
subject of the following premise, and the subject of the first premise is the subject of
the conclusion.
● Goclenian (or regressive) Sorites- the same premise occur, but their order is
reversed.

What is DILEMMA? (Simple Constructive, Complex Constructive, Simple

Destructive, Complex Destructive)
A dilemma is a tough choice. When you're in a difficult situation and each option
looks equally bad, you're in a dilemma. Dilemma is from a Greek for "double
proposition." It was originally a technical term of logic, but we use it now for any
time you have a problem with no satisfactory solution.

● Simple Constructive- the conditional premise infers the same consequent from all
the antecedents presented in the disjunctive propositions. If any antecedent is true, the
consequent must be true.
Ex: If I jump, I shall die immediately from the fall
And if I stay I shall die immediately from the fire.
I must either jump or stay- there is no other alternative.
Therefore I shall die immediately.

● Complex Constructive- the conditional premise does not infers to the same
consequent from all the antecedents presented in the disjunctive propositions.
Ex: If I win a million dollars, I will donate it to an Tomas
Foundation.
If my friend wins a million dollars, he will donate it to a wildlife
fund. If I win a million dollars or my friend wins a million dollars.

Therefore, either an Tomas Foundation

will get a million dollars, or a wildlife fund will get a million dollars.
The dilemma derives its name because of the transfer of disjunctive
operator.

● Simple Destructive- the conditional premise infers more than one consequent from
the same antecedent.
Ex: ● symbolic form
1. (A>B). (A>C)
2. ~B v~ C
Therefore 3. ~A

● Complex Destructive- It is the inference that, if P implies Q and R implies S and

either P or R is true, then Q or S has to be true.
Ex: ● If it’s gold then I’m rich and it’s pyrite then I’m poor. It is either
gold or pyrite.
Therefore, either I’m rich or I’m poor.
● If it rains, you’ll get wet” (P→Q); and
If it’s cold, you’ll shiver” (R→S).
“Either it’s raining” (P), or “it’s cold’ (R).
Therefore, you’re either wet, or you’re shivering.
 In this case, you might very well be both wet and shivering.

RULES OF THE DILEMMA. EXAMPLE FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND RULE.

1. The disjunction must state all the pertinent alternatives.

Example (Escape between the horn)

I must either devote myself to the interest of my soul or to secular pursuits.

If I devote myself to the interest of my soul, my business will fail; If I devote myself
to secular pursuit, I shall lose my soul.
Therefore Therefore either my business will fail, or else I shall lose my soul.

There is a third alternative, to devote myself both in the interest of my soul and to
secular pursuits with the proper subordination of the latter to the former. “You can be
upright and at the same time rich too.”

1. The consequents in the conditional proposition must flow validly from the
antecedents.
Example (Take the dilemma by the horn)

The mother argued:

If your say what is just, men will hate you; if you say what is unjust, the gods will
hate you. But you must either say what is just or what is unjust. Therefore you will be
hated.

The son replied:

If I say what is just, the gods will love me; if I say what is unjust, men will love me.
But  I must  say  either the one  or the other. Therefore I will be loved.

2. The dilemma must not be subject to rebuttal

May 19, 2020 (Tuesday)

3.1. Fallacies in General

What is fallacy?

- a defect in an argument that consist in something other than false premises

alone. It also involves defective patterns of arguing that occurs so often they have
been given specific names.

What is a formal fallacy? Example.

- is one that may be identified by merely examining the form or structure of an

argument. Fallacies of this kind are found only in deductive arguments that have
identifiable forms.

Example:
All bullfights are grotesque rituals.
All executions are grotesque rituals.
Therefore, all bullfights are executions.

What is informal fallacy? Example

- are those that can be detected only by examining the content of the argument.

Example:
A Brooklyn Bridge is made of atoms.
Atoms are invisible.
Therefore, the Brooklyn Bridge is invisible.

3.2. Fallacies of Relevance

What is fallacy of relevance?

- shares the common characteristics that the arguments in which they occur have
premises that are logically irrelevant to the conclusion.

What is Argumentum ad Baculum? Example.

- the fallacy of “appeal to force” occurs whenever an arguer poses a conclusion

to another person and tell that person either implicitly or explicitly that some harm
will come to him or her if he or she does not accept the conclusion. The fallacy
always involves a threat by the arguer to the physical or psychological well-being of
the listener or reader, who may be either an individual or a group of people.
Obviously, such a threat is logically irrelevant to the subject matter of the conclusion,
so any argument based on such a procedure is fallacious. The ad baculum fallacy
often occurs when children argue with one another.

Example:
 Child to playmate: Sesame Street is the best show on TV; and if you don’t believe
it, I’m going to call my big brother over here and he’s going to beat you up.

What is Argumentum ad Populum (Bandwagon). Example.

- the “appeal to the people” uses these desires to get the reader or listener to
accept a conclusion. Two approaches are involved: the direct and indirect.
The direct approach occurs when an arguer, addressing a large group of people,
excites the emotions and enthusiasm of the crown to win acceptance of his or her
conclusion. The indirect approach the arguer aims his or her appeal not at the crowd
as the whole but at one or more individuals separately, focusing on some aspect of
their relationship to the crowd.

Example:
Of course you want to buy Zing toothpaste. Why, 90 percent of America brushes
with Zing.

What is Argumentum ad Hominem? Example.

- this fallacy always involves two arguer. One of them advances (either directly
or implicitly) a certain arguer, and the other then responds by directing his or her the
attention not to the first person’s argument but to the first person himself. When this
occurs, the second person is said to commit an “argument against the person”.
The argument against the person occurs in three forms: the ad hominem abusive,
ad hominem circumstantial and tu quoque.

Examples:
“ad hominem abusive”
Television entertainer bill Maher argues that the religion is just a lot of foolish
nonsense. But Maher is an arrogant, shameless, and self-righteous pig. Obviously his
arguments are not worth listening to.

“ad hominem circumstantial”

The Dalai Lama arues that China has no business in Tibet and that the West
should do something about it. But Dalai Lama just wants the Chinese to leave so he
can return as a leader. Naturally he argues this way. Therefore, he should reject his
arguments.

“tu quoque.”
Political operative Newt Gingrich has argued about the need to preserve family
values. But who is he to talk? Gingrich has been married three times. He divorced his
first wife while she was hospitalized with cancer, and he engaged in extramarital
affair while he was married to his second wife. Clearly, Gingrich arguments are trash.

Fallacy of Accident. Example.

- the “fallacy of accident” is committed when a general rule is applied to a

specific case it was not intended to cover.
Example:
Freedom of speech is constitutionally guaranteed right. Therefore, John Q.
Radical should not be arrested for his speech that incited the riot last week.

Fallacy of Straw Man? Example.

- the “straw man fallacy” is committed when an arguer distorts an opponent’s

argument for the purpose of more easily attacking it, demolishes the distorted
argument,and then concludes that the opponent’s real argument has been demolished.
By so doing, the arguer is said to have set up a straw man and knock it down, only to
conclude that the real man (opposing argument) has been knock down as well.

Example:
Mr. Goldberg has argued against prayer in the public schools. Obviously, Mr.
Goldberg advocates atheism. But atheism is what they used to have in Russia.
Atheism leads to the suppression of all religions and the replacement of God by an
omnipotent state. Is that what we want for this country? I hardly think so. Clearly, Mr.
Goldberg’s argument is nonsense.

Missing the Point. Example.

- “missing the point” illustrates a special form of irrelevance. This fallacy occurs
when the premises of an argument support one particular conclusion, but then a
different conclusion , often vaguely related to the correct conclusion, is drawn.

Example:
Crimes of theft and robbery have been increasing at an alarming rate lately. The
conclusion is obvious. We must reinstate the death penalty immediately.

Red Herring. Example.

- the “red herring fallacy” is committed when the arguer diverts the attention of
the reader or listener by changing the subject to a different but sometimes subtly
related one. He or she the finishes by either drawing a conclusion about this different
issues or by merely presuming that some conclusion has been established.

Example:
Environmentalists are continually harping about the dangers of nuclear power.
Unfortunately, electricity is dangerous no matter where it comes from. Every year hundreds
of people are electrocuted by accident. Since most of this accidents are caused by
carelessness, they could be avoided if people would just exercise greater caution.

May 20,2020 (Wednesday)

3.3. Fallacies of Weak Induction

Argumentum ad Verecundiam. Example.

- the “appeal to unqualified authority” fallacy is the variety of argument from

authority and occurs when the cited authority or witness lack credibility. The person
might be lack the requisite expertise, might be biased or prejudiced, might have a
motive to lie or disseminate “misinformation” or might lack the requisite ability to
perceive or recall.

Example:
Dr. Bradshaw, our family physician, has stated that the creation of muonic atoms
of deuterium and tritium hold the key to producing a sustained nuclear fusion reaction
at room temperature. In view of Dr. Bradshaw’s as a physician, we must conclude that
this is indeed true.

Argumentum ad Ignorantiam. Example.

- when the premises of an argument state that nothing has been proved one way
or the other about something, and the conclusion then makes a definite assertion that
thing, the argument commits an appeal to ignorance. The issue usually involves
something that is capable of being prove or something that has not yet been proved.

Example:
People have been trying for centuries to provide conclusive evidence for the
claims of astrology, and no one has ever succeeded. Therefore, we must conclude that
astrology is a lot of nonsense.

Hasty Generalization. Example.

- “hasty generalization” is a fallacy that affects inductive generalizations. The

fallacy occurs when there is a reasonable likelihood that the sample is not
representative of the group. Such a likelihood may arises if the sample is either too
small or not randomly selected.

Example:
Before the last presidential election, three residents of Harlem were quoted
assaying they supported Barack Obama even though they knew nothing about his
policies. Obviously the issues played no role in the outcome of the election.

False Cause. Example.

- the fallacy of false cause occurs whenever the link between premises and
conclusion depends on some imagined casual connection that probably does not exist.
Whenever an argument is suspected of committing the false cause fallacy, the reared
or listener should be able to say that the conclusion depends on the supposition that X
causes Y, whereas X probably does not cause Y at all.

Example:
There are more laws on the books today than ever before, and more crimes are
being committed than ever before. Therefore, to reduce crime we ,must eliminate the
law.
Slippery Slope. Example.

- the fallacy of “slippery slope” is a variety of the false cause fallacy. It occurs
when the conclusion of an arguments rests on an alleged chain reaction and there is
not sufficient reason to think that the chain reaction will actually take place.

Example:
Immediate steps should be taken to outlaw pornography once and for all. The
continued manufacture and sale of pornographic material will almost certainly lead to
an increase in sex-related crimes such as rape and incest. This in turn will gradually
erode the moral fabric of society and result in an increase in crimes in all sorts.
Eventually a complete disintegration of law and order will occur, leading in the end to
the total collapse of civilization.

Weak Analogy. Example.

- this fallacy affects inductive arguments from analogy. The fallacy of “weak
analogy” is committed when the analogy is not strong enough to support the
conclusion that is drawn.

Example:
Amber’s dog is similar in many ways to Kyle’s cat. Both like being petted, they
enjoy being around people, they beg for food at the dinner table , and they sleep with
their owners. Amber’s dog loves to romp on the beach with Amber. Therefore, Kyle’s
cat probably loves to romp on the beach with Kyle.

May 21, 2020 (Thursday)

Fallacies of Presumption, Ambiguity, and Grammatical Analogy

What is Begging the Question fallacy? 2 Examples- First and Second petitio
principii.

- the fallacy of “begging the question” is committed whenever the arguer creates
the illusion that inadequate premises provide adequate supports for the conclusion by
leaving out a possibly false(shaky) key premise, by restraining a possibly false
premise as the conclusion , or by reasoning in a circle.

Examples:

2 Examples of First Petitio:

1. We know that humans are intended to eat lots of fruit because the human hand
and arm are perfectly suited for picking fruit from a tree.
2. It’s obvious that the poor in this country should be given handouts form the
government. After all, these people earn less than the average citizen.

2 Examples of Second Petitio:

1. Capital punishment is justified for the crimes of murder and kidnapping
because it is quite legitimate appropriate that someone be put to death for having
committed such hateful and inhuman acts.
2. Anyone who preaches revolution has a vision of the future for the simple
reason that if a person has no vision of the future he could not possibly preach
revolution.

Complex Question. Example.

- the fallacy of “complex question” is committed when two (or more) questions
are asked in the guise of a single question and a single answer is then given to both of
them. Every complex question presumes the existence of a certain condition. When
the respondent’s answer is added to the complex question, an argument emerges that
establishes the presumed condition. Thus, although not an argument as such, a
complex questions involves an implicit argument.this argument is usually intended to
trap the respondent into acknowledging something that he or she might otherwise not
want to acknowledge.

Examples:

Have you stopped cheating on exams?

Where did you hide the marijuana you were smoking?

You were asked whether you have stopped cheating on exams. You answered, “Yes”.
Therefore, it follows that you have cheated in the past.

You were asked where you hid the marijuana you were smoking. You answered,
“Nowhere.”. It follows that you must have smoked all of it.
False Dichotomy. Example.

- the fallacy of “false dichotomy” is committed when a disjunctive (either…

or…”) premises premise presents two unlikely alternatives as if they were the only
ones available, and the arguer then eliminates the undesirable alternatives, leaving the
desirable one as the conclusion.

Example:

Either you buy only American-made products or you don’t deserve to be called a
loyal American. Yesterday you bought a new Toyota. It’s therefore clear that you
don’t deserve to be called a loyal American.

Suppressed Evidence. Example.

- the requirement of true premises includes the proviso that the premises not
ignore some important piece of evidence that outweighs the presented evidence and
entails a very different conclusion. If an inductive argument does indeed ignore such
evidence, then the arguments commit the fallacy of “suppressed evidence”.

Example:

Most dogs are friendly and pose no threat to people who pet them. Therefore, it
would be safe to pet the little dog that is approaching us now.

Equivocation. Example.

- the fallacy of “equivocation” occurs when the conclusion of an arguments

depends on the fact that the word or phrase is used , either explicitly or implicitly, in
two different senses in the argument. Such arguments are either invalid or have a false
premise and in either case they are unsound.

Example:

We have a duty to do what is right. We have a right to speak out in defense of the
innocent. Therefore, we have a duty to speak out in defense of the innocent.

Amphiboly. Example.

- the fallacy of “amphiboly” occurs when the arguer misinterprets an ambiguous

statement and then draws a conclusion based on this faulty interpretation. The original
statement is usually asserted by someone other than the arguer,and the ambiguity
usually arises from a mistake in grammar or punctuation- a missing comma, a
dangling modifier, an ambiguous antecedent of a pronoun, or some other careless
arrangement of words.

Example:
 Professor Johnson said that he will give a lecture about heart failure in the
biology lecture hall. It must be the case that a number of heart failures occurred there
recently.

Division. Example.

- the fallacy of “division” is the exact reverse of composition. As composition

goes from parts to whole, division goes from whole to parts. The fallacy is committed
when the conclusion of an argument depend on the erroneous of an attribute fro a
whole ( or a class) onto its parts (or members).

Example:

Salt is a nonpoisonous compound. Therefore, its component elements, sodium

and chlorine, are nonpoisonous.

May 22, 2020 ( Friday)

Fallacies in Ordinary Language

How to detect fallacies?

- when fallacies occur in ordinary usage, however, they are often neither clear-out
nor easily recognizable. The reason is that there are enumerable ways of making
mistakes in arguing, and variations inevitably occur that may not be exact instances of
any specifically named fallacy. In addition, one fallacious mode of arguing may be
mixed with one or more others, and the strands of reasoning may have to be
disentangled before the fallacies can be named. Yet another problem arises from the
fact that arguments in ordinary language are rarely presented in complete form. A
premise or conclusion often is left unexpressed , which may obscure the nature of the
evidence that is presented or the strength of the link between premises and conclusion.

- probably, he single most important requirement for detecting fallacies in

ordinary language is alertness. The readers or listeners must pay close attention to
what the arguer is saying. What is the conclusion? Do the reason supports the
conclusion? Are the reason relevant to the conclusion? If the reader o listener is half
asleep or lounging in that passive, drugged-out state that attends much television
viewing, the none of these questions will receive answers. Under those circumstances
the reader or listener will never be able to detect informal fallacies, and he or she will
accept even the worst reasoning without slightest hesitation.

How to avoid fallacies? 3 Examples (appeal to force, ad hominem, and false

dichotomy).

- we can avoid fallacies by identifying the three factors that lead to most informal
mistakes in reasoning. The first is intent. Many fallacies are committed intentionally.
The arguer may know full well that his or her reasoning is defective but goes ahead
with it anyway because of some benefit for himself or herself or for some other
person. All of the informal fallacies we have studied can be used for that purpose , but
some of them are particularly well suited to it.

Examples:

(Appeal to force)
I deserve a chocolate sundae for dessert, and if you don’t buy me one right
now, I’ll start screaming and embarrass you in front of all of the people inthis
restaurant.

(ad hominem)
Professor Ballard’s argument in favor of restructuring our course offering
isn’t worth a hoot. But what would you expect from someone who publishes in
such mediocre journals? And did you hear Ballard’s recent lecture on Aristotle? It
was total nonsense.

(false dichotomy)
 Either you control your eating and get regular exercise , or you’ll have a
heart attack and die. The choice is yours.