PHIL 237 Midterm: Arguments

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champagnegoat805

10 Mar 2012

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Document Summary

Argument to give reasons in support of a conclusion. Conclusion the thesis for which the writer is arguing; commonly indicated by thus, therefore, hence, it follows that, so, or consequently. Premises the reasons in support of the conclusion; commonly indicated by because, since, given that, or for. Moral principles a general claim which uses moral concepts (right, wrong, permissible) Deductive argument an argument whose conclusion is supposed to follow from its premises; if the premises are true, then the conclusion must be true. Validity the quality possessed by an argument whose conclusion accurately follows from its premises. Soundness the quality possessed by an argument that 1) is valid, and 2) has all of its premises to be true. This means that the conclusion of a sound argument must be true. Therefore, to criticize an argument, one must either show that it is 1) invalid, and/or: that its premises are false, thereby showing that the argument is unsound.

Related Questions

A student claimed that, because of atmospheric refraction, the sun can be seen after it has set and that the day is therefore longer than it would be if the earth had no atmosphere. First, what does the student mean by saying the sun can be seen after it has set? Second, comment on the validity of the conclusion. Does the same effect also occur at sunrise?

Compare (rank order) the speed of sound in the followingsituations:

in air at 37oC
in air at 18oC
a solid at 20oC

Explain the basis of your conclusions.

A parallel-plate capacitor has a charge and plates of area . What force acts on one plate to attract it toward the other plate? Because the electric field between the plates is , you might think the force is . This conclusion is wrong because the field includes contributions from both plates, and the field created by the positive plate cannot exert any force on the positive plate. Show that the force exerted on each plate is actually .