Philosophy

Definitions: (Pertaining to Philosophy in own words Argument – refers to a set of ments or propositions that are normally aimed to support or justify the truth of another statement or proposition based on evidence at hand; one or more premises and a conclusion may substantiate an argument
2. Statement – is a definite expression or a clearly asserted remark or declaration in oral or written speech which is made of either facts or opinions
3. Proposition – is regarded as a statement or assertion through which a judgment or opinion is declaratively conveyed with meaningful substance that bears either truth or fallacy in the process of having something affirmed or denied.
4. Valid – is a term that illustrates an argument’s form where premises are associated with conclusion to the extent that whenever the former are found to be true, it follows that the latter ought to be true as well, particularly when such premises and conclusion are a sole basis to the justification of an inference
5. Invalid – is, contrary to the state of validity, a term that identifies an argument’s form that possesses a conclusion which is not aligned or is not expected to correspond to the given premises where as such, a false conclusion may emerge out of true premises
6. Sound – pertains to an argument’s property in which all premises are true, thereby reflecting or guaranteeing truth in the resulting conclusion that altogether manifests the pure validity of an argument
7. Unsound – pertains to a trait by which an argument may be assessed as either invalid or valid with at least one false premise so that false premises determine the validity or invalidity of an argument
8. Deductive Argument – is that argument where it is ‘ necessary’ for the conclusion to satisfy the premise in such a way as when a conclusion is rather false, there can be no way that this would be arrived at coming from a premise or inference that is true; deductive reasoning is applied herein to enable construction of a deductive argument that proceeds from a general premise toward a specific conclusion
9. Inductive Argument – is that argument where it is ‘ probable’ to derive conclusion from an inferred premise such that it would be improbable to yield a false conclusion if the premises are true; inductive reasoning is used herein to establish an inductive argument that develops from a specific premise toward a general conclusion
Identify whether the following statements are true or false
10. A proposition must be either absolutely true or absolutely false. False
11. Logic is the academic discipline that studies the difference between true and false arguments. False
12. An argument is composed of more than one premise and more than one conclusion. False
13. Statements express propositions. True
14. Moral beliefs must be either absolutely true or absolutely false. False
15. An inductive argument seeks to prove the necessity of its conclusion. False
16. An argument is sound if it has a valid form and all true premises. True
Identify whether the following arguments are (Valid or Invalid)
17. All Athenians are Greek
All human beings are Greek
Therefore, All Athenians are human beings — Invalid
18. All collies are dogs
All dogs are animals
Therefore all collies are animals — Valid
19. No a is b
No b is c
Therefore, no a is c — Invalid
Identify the following fallacies. (For example: “ If you dont agree with the president, you will lose your job. Therefore, if you dont want to lose your job, you had better agree with the president,” would be an Appeal to Force)
20. I wouldnt believe anything that Nietzsche says. We all know he was a nihilist and he went insane.  Bandwagon
21. Jim is a college student. That is enough to convince me he drinks alcohol.  Biased Sample
22. Richard Dawkins is an atheist. Therefore, we cannot trust his opinion on morality.  Appeal to Spite
23. I’m going to vote for Sen. Paine because my Spanish teacher says he’s the best candidate.  Appeal to Authority
24. My professor told me that I need to turn in my assignments on time, but she wasnt very prompt giving me back my exam, so there is no point in listening to her.  Ad Hominem Tu Quoque
25. The new movie is going to be awesome because I heard my math professor likes it.  Appeal to Authority