PHIL 12 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Statistical Syllogism, Syllogism
Document Summary
Phil 12 lecture 4 inductive arguments. Deductively valid: if the premises are true, the conclusion has to be true. Sound: a deductively valid argument in which the premises are true. Unsound arguments can still have true conclusions. Validity unaffected by new information: monotonicity, validity a function of the form alone, soundness can be affected by the truth of the argument. 98% of women who take the pill will not get pregnant. Jo will not get pregnant: to make this into a deductive syllogism, change the 98% to 100% Anything short of 100% is going to count as a statistical syllogism: not deductively valid, but, the conclusion is reasonable, strong because the conclusion is plausible/probable. Closest thing to validity for an inductive argument. Strength of a statistical syllogism easy to quantify. Higher the proportion p, stronger the argument. Proportion p of a"s are b x is an a.
