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    Philo wk2

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    Philo wk2

    Uploaded by

    proximate andal
    6 views16 pages

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    Philo-wk2

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    6 views16 pages

    Philo wk2

    Uploaded by

    proximate andal

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Study Guide

    • In essence, the philosopher uses ​Logic as his toolbox. He


    deals with arguments and all sorts of statements and uses
    careful rational thought to arrive at the truth. Note that
    when we talk about arguments, we don’t necessarily refer to
    a battle of wits. Rather, we’re talking about statements in a
    discourse or discussion. In effect, to excel as a philosopher,
    one must sharpen his tools of reasoning. More importantly,
    he must keep in mind that the goal of argumentation or
    discourse is not to win but to know the truth.
    • In its simplest form, ​Logic is the use of
    arguments—also called ​ premises​—
    correctly. The goal of philosophical
    discourse, therefore, is to provide
    arguments logically and avoid thinking
    fallaciously.
    • Deductive arguments are often said to start
    from the general and end with the specific. In
    philosophy, to argue deductively is to provide
    successive premises which lead to certain
    conclusion. That is, if all of your premises are
    true, your conclusion will be true as well.
    For instance,
    • Premise 1:​All dogs are mammals.
    • Premise 2:​Lassie is a dog.
    • Conclusion:​Therefore, Lassie is a mammal.
    • In the example above, it is impossible for the
    conclusion to be false if all of the premises are
    true. In this case, we call such a deductive
    argument as ​valid​. Simply put, if the conclusion
    drawn from the premises makes sense, then the
    argument can be considered valid. If the
    conclusion doesn’t make sense, it can be
    classified as ​invalid​, as in the example below.
    • Premise 1:​All dogs are mammals.
    • Premise 2:​Dumbo is a mammal.
    • Conclusion:​Dumbo is a dog.
    • The argument as a whole is invalid because the flow of
    reasoning didn’t necessarily follow the flow
    of general to specific. Premise 2 is almost as broad or as
    general as Premise 1, and so no clear
    conclusion about the nature of Dumbo can be made.
    However, you must remember that not all valid arguments
    are necessarily true. Yes, they may make
    sense argumentatively, but you’ll notice that something’s just
    not right. For instance
    • Premise 1:​All birds can fly.
    • Premise 2:​An ostrich is a bird.
    • Conclusion:​An ostrich can fly.
    • The argument in itself is valid but that doesn’t make it true.
    There is no known record of an ostrich
    ever taking flight. The error in reasoning stems from the false
    premise—specifically, that all birds can fly. That
    said, one very important thing to remember about deductive
    arguments: If all of your premises are true
    and factual and the flow of your argumentation is
    valid, then your argument will ​always​be true.
    • Inductive arguments​, meanwhile, are characterized more by their
    predictive power. That is, they don’t deal with certainties but with
    probabilities and likelihood. Perhaps it’s best to give an example first
    before explaining:

    Premise 1:​Most Filipinos have black hair.


    Premise 2:​Pedro is Filipino.
    Conclusion:​Pedro has black hair.
    • In the example above, it is very likely that Pedro has black
    hair based on the premises. Note that it
    is possible that Pedro has brown or maybe even blonde hair,
    and so the conclusion doesn’t rule that
    possibility out. Still, since the conclusion is very likely, this
    inductive argument is ​
    strong​. In other words, the “proofs” presented in the
    premises are strong enough to lead us to believe that the
    conclusion is likely.
    • Let’s consider another example:

    Premise 1:​Most Filipinos have black hair.


    Premise 2:​Pedro has black hair.
    Conclusion:​Pedro is Filipino.
    • In contrast to the first inductive argument, this
    example can be considered ​weak since the likelihood
    that Pedro is Filipino based solely on his hair color is
    very small. We know this because black hair is
    abundant and prevalent in the make-up of many other
    nationalities. Chinese and Indians alone (more than 2
    billion people) are predominantly black-haired.
    • Philosophy is about engaging ideas and other
    individuals in a discourse aimed at knowing the truth.
    With this in mind, knowing how to argue correctly—
    whether deductively or inductively—can only help in
    your journey for the truth.
    Check Your Understanding
    • Determine whether the following arguments are valid or invalid.
    1. Premise 1:​All men are mortal.
    Premise 2: ​Socrates is mortal.
    Conclusion:​Socrates is a man.

    2. Premise 1:​All fish have gills.


    Premise 2:​A shark is a fish.
    Conclusion:​A shark has gills.
    Determine whether the following arguments are
    strong or weak.

    3. Premise 1:​Grey clouds usually bring heavy rains.


    Premise 2: ​Clouds are grey today.
    Conclusion:​It will most likely rain today.

    4. Premise 1:​Mike just moved here from the United States.


    Premise 2:​Mike has blonde hair.
    Conclusion:​Most people from the United States have blonde
    hair.

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