PHI 1101 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Principle Of Bivalence, Deductive Reasoning, Enthymeme

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHI 1101
• Professor: Laura Byrne

Document Summary

Statements: the most basic concept of critical thinking is that of the statement, definition: a statement is a sentence used to make a claim. Statements are capable of being either true or false. Logic also calls them assertions or propositions: this property of being either true or false distinguishes statements from sentences which are not capable of being either true or false: commands, questions and expressions of volition (wishes). Logicians and philosophers sometimes like to represent statements with symbols for clarity. They find it convenient to represent statements with letters such as a, b, c or p, q, r. P not-p (can also be written ~p or -p) Lassie is not a dog. not-p: the law of non-contradiction. This law states that it is impossible for both a proposition and its negation to be true at the same time. Professor: yes, you did pass the test. Professor: no, you did not pass the test.