Logic Notes - PHIL 10101

a claim that can be true or false

T/F imperatives are statements

T/F exclamations are statements

T/F Interrogatives are statements

property of statements which are the case

property of statements which are not the case

a set of two or more interconnected statements

statements which are used to prove a position

the statement that results from a set of premises

the process of reasoning from premises to conclusions

the study of arguments

what makes an argument good? (2)

T/F there are subtypes of inference

arguments in which the truth of the premises ideally provide a guarantee of the conclusion's truth.

T/F deductive arguments can say more than what was present in their premises

a deductive argument of 2 premises and a conclusion

statements asserting relationships between or within classes or groups of things

T/F most categorical arguments contain all/none/some/etc

statement in which either one or the other component is asserted true

T/F disjunctive statements usually have either/or

statements containing a hypothetical

two parts of a conditional statement

2 properties of good deductive arguments

conditions for validity:

T/F an argument is valid if it is impossible that using valid premises provides a false conclusion

T/F validity depends on the actual content of the argument

2 common forms of valid argument

"the way that affirms via affirming"

Structure of a modus ponens argument

T/F affirming the consequent is a valid argument

form of an "affirming the consequent" argument

"the way that denies via denying"

form of modus tollens argument:

synonym for modus tollens

T/F denying the antecedent is a valid argument

structure of denying the antecedent

validity + true premises

T/F validity and true premises do not guarantee true conclusions

T/F arguments can be valid but not sound

T/F validity and soundness can refer to statements

an argument that reiterates the truth or falsity of a single statement

T/F tautology is a valid argument

T/F tautology is a sound argument

T/F tautology is a good argument

T/F If P, then Q, and given Q necessarily implies P.

logical defect in an argument

T/F if an argument is fallacious, its premises do not decisively support its conclusion

T/F fallacies include false statements

T/F fallacies include bad reasoning

2 categories of fallacy

defect in the structure of an argument

examples of formal fallacy

T/F inductive arguments can also be formally fallacious

fallacy not attributable to form

conclusion is derived from premises that presuppose its own truth

other names for begging the question (4)

argument which paraphrases the premises in the conclusion

Type of argument:
If God exists, then the Bible is His word
God exists
The bible is the word of God 
If the bible is the word of God, God exists
-> God exists.

argument based on premises irrelevant to the argument's conclusion

other name for ad hominem

2 kinds of ad hominem

T/F ad hominem arguments are only fallacious if they're negative

T/F if the quality of the person in question is a premise in the argument, then the argument is not ad hominem

T/F it's fallacious to doubt the plausibility of someone's testimony regarding a claim even if we accept the claim itself

argument which hinges on ambiguous terms

argument which depends upon ambiguous phrasing (e.g. misplaced modifiers)

argument which causally connects A -> B-> C -> D -> ... Z without supporting any of the links in between

T/F all long causal arguments are slippery-slope

argument which relies upon someone's "expert" testimony

other name for argument from authority

T/F all arguments from authority are fallacious

T/F if argument from authority is unnecessary, the argument is weakened

T/F if there is no authority on a subject, then argument from authority is still valid

T/F Bias can weaken an argument from authority

T/F holding decidedly non-mainstream positions increases the probability that the argument is weak

arguments which attempt to (dis)prove statements from the fact that there is no evidence for/against it

other name for argument from ignorance

T/F scientific research often relies on the argument from ignorance

fallacy which requires that option A be the only possibility because it is the only option we know of

T/F it's fallacious to assume that an argument containing a fallacy produces a false conclusion