Basic Logical Concepts “Circuit courts are useful, or they are not useful.

”
 Logic - Abraham Lincoln , 1861
Study of the methods and principles used to 2. Disjunctive / Alternative Proposition
distinguish correct from incorrect reasoning. - No one component is asserted
- This example is true, but either one of its
components might be false.
“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to
invent
him.”
- Voltaire
 Propositions and Arguments
- Is the building blocks of arguments 3. Hypothetical or Conditional Proposition
- A declarative statement that asserts - No one component is asserted
something or something that is not - Might be true even if its components are
- Is either true or false, but not true and false.
- false, also known as truth value
Simple and Compound Propositions
a. Simple Propositions
Propositions that convey a single idea
b. Compound Propositions
Propositions that convey a multiple idea
Contains other propositions within themselves
- A question, a command, or an exclamation is
Inference
not a proposition because they are neither
true nor false. A process by which one proposition is arrived at
- Propositions are also sometimes called a and affirmed on the basis of some other proposition
statement or a sentence. or propositions.
Simple and Compound Propositions It ties together cluster of propositions or arguments
a. Simple Propositions Arguments
- Propositions that convey a single idea
b. Compound Propositions Any group of propositions which one is claimed to
- Propositions that convey a multiple idea follow from the others, which are regarded as
- Contains other propositions within providing support or grounds for the truth for that
themselves one and exhibits some inference.

COMPOUND PROPOSITIONS Structure of an Argument

“The Amazon Basin produces roughly 20 percent of a. Conclusion

the Earth’s oxygen, creates much of its own rainfall, Proposition that is affirmed on the basis of the other
and harbors many unknown species.” propositions of the argument
1. Conjunctive Proposition b. Premise
- We assert each component propositions
separately Those other propositions, which are affirmed (or
assumed) as providing support for the conclusion
 UNICEF, more than 10 million children die
every year—about 30,000 per day—from
avoidable, poverty-related causes (NOT
Premises and Conclusion EXPLANATION NOR ARGUMENT)

- The simplest argument consists of one Recognizing Arguments

premise and one conclusion.
“Before we can evaluate an argument, we must
No one was present when life first appeared on recognize it.”
earth. Therefore, any statement about life’s origins
Conclusion Indicators
should be considered as theory, not fact.
A word or phrase (such as “therefore” or “thus”)
- Both premise and conclusion may be stated
appearing in an argument and usually indicating
within the same sentence.
that what follows it is the conclusion of that
Since it turns out that all humans are descended argument.
from a small number of African ancestors in our
recent evolutionary past, believing in profound
differences between the races is as ridiculous as
believing in a flat earth.
- Conclusion of the argument may come first
before the premises.
A record that promises to endure for all time was
attained on Navin Field today when Babe Ruth
smashed his seven-hundredth home run in a Premise Indicators
lifetime career. It promises to live, first because few
players in history have enjoyed the longevity on the In an argument, a word or phrase (like “because”
diamond of the immortal Bambino, and, second, and “since”) that normally signals that what follows
because only two other players in the history of it are statements serving as premises.
baseball have hit more than 300 home runs.
- Conclusion of the argument may come first
before the premises and can be contained
in one sentence.
Every law is an evil, for every law is an infraction of
liberty.
EXAMPLES: Arguments in Context

1. If a state aims to be a society composed of When words and phrases indicators do not appear,
equals, then a state that is based on the sometimes it is just the meaning of the passage, or
middle class is bound to be the best its setting, that indicates the presence of an
constituted. argument.
2. In the same world in which more than a EXAMPLES:
billion people live at a level of affluence
never previously known, roughly a billion “As we send our young men and women abroad to
other people struggle to survive on the bring order to Iraq, many of its so-called leaders
purchasing power equivalent of less than have abandoned their posts. We have given the
one U.S. dollar per day. Most of the world’s Iraqis an opportunity to iron out their differences
poorest people are undernourished—lack and they throw it back in our faces. Iraq does not
access to safe drinking water or even the deserve our help.”
most basic health services and cannot send
their children to school. According to
 Arguments are sometimes obscure because
onem(or more) of their constituent propositions is
not stated but is assumed to be understood.
Premises or Conclusions Not in Declarative
An argument that is stated incompletely, the
Form
unstated part of it being taken for granted is called
- Premises or Conclusions of an argument that the enthymeme. (Which one premise is not
can be presented in the form of questions. explicitly stated.
- Interrogative sentence can serve as a
EXAMPLES:
premise when its question is rhetorical.
Human cloning—like abortion, contraception,
Rhetorical Questions
pornography and euthanasia—is intrinsically evil
Questions that suggest or assumes an answer that and thus never be allowed
is made to serve as the premise of an argument.
- All evil should never allowed
The sentence may be interrogative even though its
Arguments and Explanations
meaning is declarative.
Passages that appear to be arguments are
EXAMPLE:
sometimes not arguments but explanations.
I am irked by the new set of coins being issued.
EXAMPLES:
While some first ladies have influenced our
country, should we bestow this honor on people Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
who are unelected, whose only credential is having neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves
a prominent spouse? do not break in and steal. For where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also.
- Automatic answer is no.
—Matt. 7:19
Wouldn’t honoring women who have servedas
governors, Supreme Court justices or legislators be - Argument
a more fitting tribute to this nation’s women than
Therefore, is the name of it [the tower] called
coins featuring “First Spouses”?
Babel; because the Lord did there confound the
- Preposition language of all the earth.
- Yes/no question
—Gen. 11:19
- Meaning its declarative
- Explanation
Why didn’t God make a lion to be a man’s
companion? Why didn’t He make a tree to be a Inductive and Deductive Arguments
man’s companion? Or better still, why didn’t He
make another man to be a man’s companion? So Deductive Arguments
even from the creation story you can see that the - Makes a claim that its conclusion is
mind of God, God’s intention, is for man and supported by its premises
woman to be together. - If the claim that the premise (if true) provides
- Declarative meaning grounds for the truth of its conclusion, the
claim will be either correct or incorrect.
If a right to euthanasia is grounded in self- - If it is valid, no additional premise can make
determination, it cannot reasonably be limited to it invalid or make it more valid.
the terminally ill. If people have a right to die, why
must they wait until they are actually dying before Validity
they are permitted to exercise that right? - If the claim is correct, the argument is valid
- Rhetorical question - If the premises (even if true), fails to
establish the conclusion, although claiming
Unstated Proposition to do so, then it is invalid
 - A deductive argument can either be valid or
invalid

Validity: Formal
Validity and Truth
A characteristic of any deductive argument whose
premises, if they were all true, would provide Validity
conclusive grounds for the truth of its conclusion.
- Validity refers to the relation between its
Such an argument is said to be valid. Validity is a
propositions—between the set of
formal characteristic; it applies only to arguments,
propositions that serve as the premises and
as distinguished from truth, which applies to
the one proposition that serves as the
propositions.
conclusion of that argument.
Inductive Arguments - It can never apply to any single proposition
by itself. Thus, we cannot say that a
- Does not make a claim that its conclusion is proposition is valid.
supported by its premises
- Inductive techniques are applied Truth
appropriately, to factual conclusions, most
- Truth, on the other hand, are attributes of
often concerning cause-and -effect
each single proposition.
relationships of some importance.
- It can never apply to the whole argument.
Examples: Thus,we cannot say that an argument is
true or false
1. Medical investigators, using inductive
methods, can learn how to reduce the Truth and Validity
spread of STD’s through empirical research.
- Truth and falsity are attributes of individual
2. As follow up, studies show that circumcised
propositions or statements; validity and
men have lower risk of developing STD’s.
invalidity are attributes of arguments.
3. The casual connection between the absence
- There are many possible combinations of
of circumcision is not known with certainty
true and false premises and conclusions in
but with high probability, so we cannot make
both valid and invalid arguments
this claim.
- Inductive arguments make weaker claims
I. Some valid arguments contain only true
than those made by deductive arguments.
propositions—true premises and a true
- We can say that inductive arguments may be
conclusion:
“better” or “worse,” “weaker” or “stronger,”
and so on
- New discoveries can greatly affect the
strength of its claim.
Example:
Explanation: Since all whales are mammals and
all mammals have lungs, then we can conclude that
all whales have lungs.
II. Some valid arguments contain only false
propositions—false premises and a false
conclusion:

Explanation: Since all spiders have exactly for

legs (false), and all four-legged creatures have
 wings (false), then all spiders have wings (false). Explanation: Not all mammals are whales, thus the
Note here that even though all propositions is false, conclusion is false, making the whole argument
it still supports the conclusion which makes the invalid. Note here that the premises are both false
argument still valid. as well.
III. Some invalid arguments contain only true Truth and Validity
propositions—all their premises are true, and
- The truth or falsity of an argument’s
their conclusions are true as well:
conclusion does not by itself determine the
validity or invalidity of that argument.
- Moreover, the fact that an argument is valid
Explanation: While it is true that I am not wealthy, it does not guarantee the truth of its
cannot be fully supported by the premises, making it conclusion
invalid, even if they are both true as well. See next
example for a clearer understanding.

IV. Some invalid arguments contain only true

premises and have a false conclusion.

Sound Argument
Explanation: Even if the premises are true, it still When an argument is valid and all of its premises
does not support the conclusion, which is false, are true, we call it sound. The conclusion of a
making the argument invalid. sound argument obviously must be true—and only
V. Some valid arguments have false premises a sound argument can establish the truth of its
and a true conclusion: conclusion.
If a deductive argument is not sound—that is, if the
argument is not valid or if not all of its premises are
true—it fails to establish the truth of its conclusion
even if in fact the conclusion is true.
Explanation: Since all whales are fishes (false),
and all fishes are mammals (false), then all whales Analyzing Arguments
are mammals (true), which still makes the
Paraphrasing
argument valid.
- Paraphrasing an argument sets forth its
VI. Some invalid arguments also have false
propositions in clear language and in logical
premises and a true conclusion:
order.
- It requires the reformulation of sentences,
and therefore great care must be taken to
ensure that the paraphrase put forward
captures correctly and completely the
Explanation: Even if all whales are mammals
argument that was to be analyzed.
(true), it cannot be supported by the premise that all
mammals are wings (false) and all whales have Example:
wings (false), making the argument invalid.
Archimedes will be remembered when Aeschylus is
VII. Some invalid arguments, of course, contain forgotten, because languages die and
all false propositions—false premises and a mathematical ideas do not.
false conclusion:
It can be paraphrased as…
1. Languages die.
2. The plays of Aeschylus are written in a
language.
 3. So the work of Aeschylus will eventually die.
4. Mathematical ideas never die.
5. The work of Archimedes was with
mathematical ideas.
6. So the work of Archimedes will never die.
7. Therefore Archimedes will be remembered
when Aeschylus is forgotten.
Diagramming Arguments
- Represents the structure of an argument Some arguments, however, the premises support
graphically. the conclusion only when they are considered
- When an argument is complex, with many jointly. In such cases, we use brackets.
premises entwined in various ways, a (1) General Motors makes money (when it does) on
diagram can be exceedingly helpful. new cars and on the financing of loans. (2) Car
- Number all the propositions in the argument dealers, by contrast, make most of their money on
in the order in which they appear, circling servicing old cars and selling used ones. (3) So car
each number. dealers can thrive even when the automaker
- Use arrows between circled numbers shows languishes.
the relations of premises and conclusions.
Conventions in Diagramming
- A conclusion always appears in the space
below the premises that give it support.
- Coordinate premises are put on the same (1) Desert mountaintops make good sites for
horizontal level astronomy. (2) Being high, they sit above a portion
Example of the atmosphere, enabling a star’s light to reach a
telescope without having to swim through the entire
(1) There is no consensus among biologists that a depths of the atmosphere. (3) Being dry, the desert
fertilized cell is alive in a sense that an unfertilized is also relatively cloud-free. (4) The merest veil of
egg or unused sperm is not. (2) Nor is there a haze or cloud can render a sky useless for many
consensus about whether a group of cells without astronomical measures.
even a rudimentary nervous system is in any sense
human. (3) Hence there are no compelling
experimental data to decide the nebulous issue of
when “human” life begins.

(1) To hasten the social revolution in England is the

most important object of the International
Workingman’s Association. (2) The sole means of
hastening it is to make Ireland independent. Hence
(3) the task of the “International” is everywhere to
(1) Football analysis is trickier than the baseball put the conflict between England and Ireland in the
kind because (2) Football really is a team sport. (3) foreground, and (4) everywhere to side openly with
Unlike in baseball, all eleven guys on the field are Ireland.
involved in every play. (4) Who deserves the credit
or blame is harder to know than it looks.
(1) Older women have less freedom to fight sexual
harassment at their jobs or (2) to leave a battering
husband, because (3) age discrimination means
they won’t easily find other ways of supporting
themselves.