PHIL 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Soundness, Ad Hominem
Document Summary
Non-descriptive/ normative (prescriptive): how should people behave rather than how people do behave. Rational argumentation: using logic to distinguish between the quality of arguments. Permissible: does not matter if you do the action or not. Obligatory: to not do the action is wrong. Supererogatory: an action that is good but not wrong if you don"t do it. Set on a scale of bad to worst. Argument: a set of propositions that require an inference. Propositions: claims about the world that possess a truth value (true or false) The way you make a proposition is inconsequential. All whales are mammals + all mammals have hearts > all whales have hearts. Validity: evidence is capable of demonstrating that the premises guarantee the truth of the conclusion. Invalid because the premises are not capable of supporting the conclusion with certainty. Soundness: a valid argument with all true premises. As high a degree of certainty as possible.
