Logic (from the Greek logik)[1] refers to both the study of modes of reasoning, which are valid and

d which falacious,[2] and also to the use of valid reasoning. In the latter sense, logic is used in most intellectual activities, including philosophy and science, but in the first sense is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science. It examines general forms that arguments may take. In mathematics, it is the study of valid inferences within some formal language.[3] Logic is also studied in argumentation theory.[4] What is an argument? An argument is, to quote the Monty Python sketch, "a connected series of statements to establish a definite proposition". There are three stages to an argument:Premises, inference, and conclusion. Stage one: Premises One or more propositions will be are necessary for the argument to continue. They must be stated explicitly. They are called the premises of the argument. They are the evidence (or reasons) for accepting the argument and its conclusions. Premises (or assertions) are often indicated by phrases such as "because", "since", "obviously" and so on. (The phrase "obviously" is often viewed with suspicion, as it can be used to intimidate others into accepting dubious premises. If something doesn't seem obvious to you, don't be afraid to question it. You can always say "Oh, yes, you're right, it is obvious" when you've heard the explanation.) Stage two: Inference The premises of the argument are used to obtain further propositions. This process is known as inference. In inference, we start with one or more propositions which have been accepted. We then derive a new proposition. There are various forms of valid inference. The propositions arrived at by inference may then be used in further inference. Inference is often denoted by phrases such as "implies that" or "therefore". Stage three: Conclusion Finally, we arrive at the conclusion of the argument, another proposition. The conclusion is often stated as the final stage of inference. It is affirmed on the basis the original premises, and the inference from them. Conclusions are often indicated by phrases such as "therefore", "it follows that", "we conclude" and so on. Types of argument There are two traditional types of argument, deductive and inductive. A deductive argument provides conclusive proof of its conclusions; if the premises are true, the conclusion must also be true. A deductive argument is either valid or invalid. A valid argument is defined as one where if the premises are true, then the conclusion is true. An inductive argument is one where the premises provide some evidence for the truth of the conclusion. Inductive arguments are not valid or invalid, but we can talk about whether they are better or worse than other arguments. We can also discuss how probable their premises are. There are forms of argument in ordinary language which are neither deductive nor inductive. However, this document concentrates on deductive arguments, as they are often viewed as the most rigorous and convincing. Here is an example of a deductive argument:

Every event has a cause (premise) The universe has a beginning (premise) All beginnings involve an event (premise) This implies that the beginning of the universe involved an event (inference) Therefore the universe has a cause (inference and conclusion) Note that the conclusion of one argument might be a premise in another argument. A proposition can only be called a premise or a conclusion with respect to a particular argument; the terms do not make sense in isolation.

PAGES: 1 2 3 4

Arguments and Non-Arguments - 1452 Arguments and Non-Arguments

Read pages 1-4 in the textbook. This will give you some backgro arguments. I will expand on these pages in the following lecture notes. Arguments: Definition 1) Linguistic devices used to of defend an points of view for

2) A combination of statements in no particular order, whereby o premises), are offered as reasons for another statemen

Note: In this class, we will only be examining those arguments th conclusion. One of the premises will be of the form 'if..then..', i.e., it is containing TWO

3) An argument also means a dispute, for example two people having a This is NOT the meaning of an argument that we will be Example:

If its been raining then the ground would be wet. It has been ra Note that the order of statements is PPC, which means Example:

John must be a liberal. Anyone who protested the Gulf War must be a li that Note We that can the order the of the order statements and get is CPP; the

Co

change

same

Anyone who protested the Gulf War must be a liberal and John was a pr a

statement is usually fairly easy to discover Premise, Premise, Conclusion. Example: Here is one in which a Later in this unit, I will discuss how to determine the validity of an argument. Noticing the order of the statements in an argument will be essential in determining an argument's All validity. Italians In order to analyze like pasta. Hence, M the validity of an argument, it is crucial that the argument already comes in PPC order or that we resequence the statements into ANALYSIS: PPC The conclusion is order. 'Maria likes pasta', since it follows the con implied is a premise that 'M Identification of an argument and it's elements: Example: Here is another one in which a 1) To identify whether a combination of statements is an argument, try to decide if there is an intent to persuade. Words such as ought and should generally indicate Kelly anis intent in tofavor persuade. of a tax cut. So, she Now it is in the proper order of PPC;

2) To identify the premises and the conclusion in an argument, look for ANALYSIS: KEYWORDS. The A keyword conclusion normally is 'she must be a Republican', since it follo comes BEFORE the premise What or is implied conclusion. is a premise that 'All who favor a Premise Keywords: because, since, for the reason that, for, in Example: as much as, Here as, and,isif...then another one in which

Note that the premise keyword 'and' connects 2 premises, one BEFOREMary it and one must AFTER it. be Example: a "IfDemocrat because she v the temperature is under fifty degrees then you should wear a sweater AND the temperature is under fifty degrees." Premise 1 is 'If the temperature is under fifty degrees then ANALYSIS: you should The wear conclusion a sweater' is 'Mary and must be a Democrat' and one prem Premise 2 is 'the temperature is This under premise fifty follows the degrees'. keyword 'because'. The other premise is impl 'All who voted for John Kerry are Democrats'. This is the most logica It is important to note than an if...then statement is just one premise, containing implied. an 'if' part and a 'then' part. Note that the presence of an if...then statement almost always indicates that there is an argument involved. Example: Here is another one in which a Conclusion Keywords: so, thus, therefore, consequently, as a result, indicating We ought that, to itpull follows out that, of Iraq weimmediately can for the reason that staying infer that, shows security. that Example:

ANALYSIS: The conclusion is 'We ought to pull out of Iraq immediately' any longer jeopardizes our security'. This premise follows the keyword If you study hard then youll pass this class. You will study hard. Therefore, premise you is implied will pass but this is not class. a generalization. It is an if...then stateme and the conclusion, namely, 'If staying in Iraq jeopardizes our secu ANALYSIS: The conclusion is 'you will pass this class' because it immediately'. follows the conclusion This iskeyword the most logical choice for wha 'Therefore'. An argument can contain only one conclusion. Thus, the other statements must be the premises. Note that the argument is in PPC order, so that no Example: re-sequencing Here is necessary. is one where a co Example: If you get to school early then you'll find a parking space and

Since its wrong to kill a human being, it follows that capital punishment ANALYSIS: isBecause wrong, of since the keyword capital 'and', we should realize that we are punishment takes the life of this a keyword. human What being. is implied is the conclusion 'you ANALYSIS: The conclusion is 'capital punishment is wrong' because it Example: follows the conclusion Here keywords is a tricky one 'it follows that'. Thus, the other statements must be the premises. Note that the argument is in PCP order. The better the ingredients the better the where pizza. a

Mamb

ARGUMENTS WITHOUT KEYWORDS: Some arguments do not have any ANALYSIS: keywords What to is help implied us identify is a conclusion 'Mambos has a better pizza' which statements are premises and which statement is not even is an the argument, conclusion. but there is an intent to persuade. Many a leaving the conclusion Example: Example: Here is one where 2 p Ken is a biology major. Someone who is taking Biology 222 must be a biology major. Ken is taking Biology Surely Joe must be 222. wealthy. Isnt everyone w

ANALYSIS: There are no keywords present. The conclusion is 'Ken ANALYSIS: is a biology This major' argument because is more it is difficult to analyze. 'Isnt everyone w supported by the other statements and is most likely what is intended'If as someone the conclusion. lives in If Tiburon you were then tothey must be wealthy'. Also what is im choose a different statement for the conclusion and say the argument in What PPC order then makes you should the see most sense that the argument doesn't make sense. Premise: If someone lives in Tiberon then t ARGUMENTS WITH AN IMPLIED STATEMENT: Sometimes people don't Premise always state the obvious (implied): in an Joe lives argument, and thus some arguments contain an implied premise or an Conclusion: implied conclusion. Joe must be An wealthy. implied statement in this context is one that is unstated and is assumed to be part of the argument. It is necessary for us to find the missing part of the puzzle, that is, to identify what the implied statement is. The implied

Non-arguments: 1) Unsupported statement(s) of opinion or A combination of statements are called an argument if there is an factconclusion or their combination

A statement or a but combination of statements is called a non-argument Definition of opinion: a belief not based on absolute certainty or positive knowledge; what seems with no intent to persuade and without conclusion keywords. true, valid or probable to one's own mind or judgment. This is tricky because often people will combine a known fact along with an unsubstantiated statement. Arguments on the Internet 2) Descriptions, narratives or anecdotes Definition of narrative: the practice of Arguments from Thinking Straight relating stories or accounts.

Examples: Definition of anecdote: a short entertaining account of some happening, usually personal or biographical 3) Definition of explanation: the act of clearing from

Determine whetherExplanations the following are arguments or non-argument conclusion. Write down your answers and then see ne obscurity and making intelligible.

1) The class was canceled because of lack of enrollment. Most of the st [Note: The textbook describes the above non-arguments as being forms of exposition, which is defined as the setting forth of facts, statements and2) If a detailed persons deskinformation.] is organized then their mind is organized. Sues de Examples: organized. 3) This Thai food is 1) This class began in January and will end in May. The final exam will be comprehensive. (unsupported statements of fact; There sure hot. this Can you

4) Since the Gulf War, is no conclusion and no intent to persuade)

committee

ha

5) Only adult citizens can vote and Peter is not a 2) President Bush lied about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He also pushed through his tax cuts to reward his wealthy supporters. 6) We must begin to develop alternative energy sources, for our existen stake. (unsupported statements of a combination of opinion and fact; There is no conclusion and no intent to persuade. Note that although there is a great deal of substantiated weapons 7) facts Most about doctors want to of setmass their own fees. So, doctors are natural o destruction NOT being found in Iraq, there are no facts to prove that Bush knew this. In the second statement concerning Bush's tax cuts, it is a fact that the tax cuts benefited the very raises wealthy the most, wequestions because abortion involves t 8) Abortion serious moral do not have proof that this was done solely as a rewardthat to his involves wealthy supporters.) taking a life raises ser

3) We went to Tahoe on our summer vacation. We had a great time. Then went tobig Reno and won $25 9) Iwe dont like -time college football and I dont like pro football on TV played the slots. After that, we went to Wine Country and visited the best wineries there. period. (narrative; 4) I was There late There is to is no class no conclusion because conclusion about I and no 10) intent Some to persuade) people are good space. to come at math the and some because are she

couldnt and

find Heather a parking 11) didnt

party

(explanation; Notes

no 12) Heather intent couldnt to persuade) have come to the party because she was with h with him, she do Non-Arguments:

13) Barry doesnt have health insurance. So, hes sure to be in 1) Sentences are claimed to be true without showing they are true. 2) Takes the truth for granted, that is, assumes there is no doubt part ofburger the listener. 14) on Thethe bigger the the better the burger. The burgers are bigger 3) Does not attempt to persuade by offering reasons that support a conclusion. 4) Lacks conclusions keywords and argument keywords such as ought or if...then deals with the and evaluation of arguments. 5) May contain premise keywords, such as Logicbecause or analysis since. 6) Sometimes there is a fine line between an argument and an explanation. You must decide the in language, the study of Since arguments arethrough expressed context. arguments requires that we should pay carefully attention to 7) The difference between an argument and a non-argument is based on the intent or purpose to in which arguments are expressed. If you reflect on establish the truth. Arguments intend to persuade; language Non-arguments do not. 8) Non-arguments provide no reason to accept the statements as facts other than the of the how language is authority used are everyday life, you can notice that writer or speaker. our ordinary language has different uses. 9) Sometimes non-arguments will lead to arguments. Language has a variety of functions. By using language we do Conclusion about arguments and non-arguments: various things like stating facts, reporting events giving orders, singing songs, praying God, making requests, cutting

jokes, asking questions, making promises, greeting friends and so on. These are wide varieties of language uses. We will not make any attempt to provide an exhaustive list of language uses. Rather we shall discuss here a broad classification of some of the important uses of language. There are three important uses of language that we shall discuss here. These are: (a) Descriptive, (b) Emotive, and (c) Directive uses of language. (a) Descriptive Use of Language: Language is often used to describe something or to give information about something. So the descriptive use of language is also called informative use of language. When a sentence is used descriptively it reports that something has some feature or that something lacks some feature. Consider the following two sentences: 1. Birds have feather. 2. Birds are not mammals. The first sentence reports that having feather is a feature of birds. The second sentence reports that birds do not have some essential qualities found in mammals. In, either case it provides information about the world. Both affirmation and denial about things in the world are examples of descriptive use of language. The following are some more examples of language functioning descriptively. 1. Crows are black. 2. Mumbai is not the capital of India 3. A spider has eight legs. 4. Logic is the study of correct reasoning. 5. The 15th of August is Indian Independence Day. All these above statements happen to be true statements. However, it should be noted that only true sentences are instances of informative use of language, but also false sentences are instances of informative use of language. "A spider has six legs" is a false statement since spiders in fact have eight legs. Yet the statement "A spider has six legs", even though false, is nonetheless an example of descriptive use of language. When language functions informatively we can sensibly ask whether what is asserted is or false. In other words, the question "Is it true?" can be meaningfully asked of all such instances. When language is used to affirm or deny any proposition, its function is informative; Language used to present arguments serves informative function. All descriptions of things, events, and their properties and relations consist of informative discourse. The language of science is a clear instance of descriptive use of language. (b) Emotive Use of Language:

Language is often used to express our feelings, emotions or attitudes. It is used either to express one's own feelings, emotions or attitudes, or evoke certain feelings, emotions or attitudes someone else, or both. When one expresses feelings while alone, one is not expressing it to evoke feelings in others. But very often we attempt to move others by our expressions of emotions, in all such cases language is used emotively. Consider the following utterances: 1. Jai Hind! 2. Cheers! 3. its disgusting! 4. its too bad! 5. its wonderful! 6. Let's win this game! In appropriate contexts all these can count as instances of language functioning emotively. If a sentence is followed by an exclamation mark, then very likely it is used emotively. The language of poetry also provides an example of language serving the expressive function Emotive use is different from descriptive use of language. Emotive or expressive discourse is neither true nor false. When language is used emotively, it cannot be characterized as true or false. We can, however, respond to it by asking questions such as "Is the person sincere?" and "How should I feel?" Expressive use of language is also different from directive use of language (c) Directive Use of Language: Language is often used to give direction to do or not to do something. Commands, requests, instructions, questions are instances of directive use of language. Consider the following examples: 1. Finish your homework. 2. Wash your clothes. 3. You should wear helmet when riding a scooter. 4. Don't smoke. 5. Are you feeling well? 6. Will you please help me? In all these above examples language is functioning directively. Anyone who utters any of these sentences, in a typical situation, is directing someone to do something or to respond in an appropriate manner. In all instances of language functioning directively, we can meaningfully ask the question "Should I respond?" You will notice that directive, discourse, like emotive discourse, is neither true nor false. But directive discourse, specially the imperative statements, can figure in some arguments.

A command such as "Close the window", or an advice such as "You should wear helmet while riding scooter" is either obeyed or disobeyed, but it is neither true nor false. Through commands, advices, and requests are neither true nor false, these can be reasonable or unreasonable, proper or improper. These characterizations of imperative statements are somewhat analogous to characterisation of informative statements as true or false. Moreover, imperative arguments often imply or presuppose the truth of some propositions. If I request you to close the window, my request presupposes the truth of the proposition that the window is open. Since reasons can be cited for or against imperative statements, such statements do occur in imperative arguments. We are not going to discuss the logic of imperatives in this book. In our study of logic we shall restrict our discussion to arguments that are stated in the language that functions informatively. The study of logic is concerned with language that functions informatively. So it is important distinguish language that is informative from language that serves other functions. There is, however, no mechanical method for distinguishing informative use of language from language that serves other functions. Grammatical structure of a sentence often provides a clue to its function, mere is no necessary connection between function and grammatical form. We can determine whether the language in a particular context is functioning informatively or not by asking "Is this instance of language being used to make an assertion that is either true or false?" If the answer is yes'' then it is an instance of informative use of language. It should be noted that language, in particular contexts, very often functions in more than way. One and the same sentence might have more than one function. For effective communication language is often used deliberately to serve multiple functions. Language used to the expressive function might contain some relevant information. So also language that is primarily informative may make use of other functions as well. Most discourses in our ordinary communication contain elements from all the three uses of language enumerated above. In logic restrict our attention to those cases where our discourse is at least partly informative or descriptive.