CRITICAL THINKING Presentation 7

THE TRUE CONTENT AND LOGIC
CONTENT
Argument 1
Mohammed is the father of Issah
Issah is the father of Musah
So, Mohammed is the grandfather of Musah
• We need to realize that in logic we are
interested in two things:
1. The truth content of a statement
2. The logical content of a statement.
• In the above argument, if the statement Mohammed
is the father of Issah is a factual true statement, then
we would be talking of truth content.
• We would be trying to evaluate the evidence that we
need to establish the truth of this statement.
• So, we will be concerned with the truth content of
the statement.
• If both premises are true
Mohammed is the father of Issah
Issah is the father of Musah
Then whatever would follows it would be the
conclusion
So, Mohammed is the grandfather of Musah
• In such a case we are concerned with the
logical content of the statement.
• When evaluating argument, we take into
account both the truth content and the logical
content
• There may be flaws in the argument both due
to errors in truth content or errors in logical
content.
• When there is some error in logical content,
we are left with an argument that is invalid.
• VALIDITY
• An argument is valid if it is impossible for its
conclusion to be false when the premises are
true.
• A valid argument might well contain false
statements
• Arguments wherein the truth of the premises
definitely leads to a truthful conclusion are
deductive arguments.
Argument 2
Mikael is the father of Ismael
Ismael is the father of Millicent
So, Millicent is the grandfather of Mikael
Argument 3
John Rawlings is the husband of Nana Konadu
Nana Konadu is the mother of Abena
So, Rawlings is the father of Abena
Argument with one false statement and one
false conclusion.
• What is interesting is that there can never be
an argument of the same kind with two true
premises and a false conclusion.
What makes all arguments similar?
• The similarity lies in the pattern, which is
roughly as follows:
• X is the father of Y
• Y is the father of Z
We can arrive at all the possible categories of
arguments simply by replacing the terms X, Y
and Z.
DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS AND VALIDITY
• A deductive argument is an inference in which it is
asserted that the conclusion is guaranteed to be
true if the premises are true.
• A valid deductive argument with true premises and
a true conclusion is known as a sound deductive
argument.
• Deductive arguments have two important features:
1. In a deductive argument, there is a strict relation
between the premises and the conclusion.
2. The relation is strict in the sense that it is
impossible for the conclusion to be false if the
premises are true.
• This is because the conclusion is in fact
contained within the premises.
• In away, in a deductive argument, the
conclusion cannot and does not go beyond the
premises and so it is impossible for it to turn out
to be false when the premises are true.
2. There is something in the very pattern ( or, it is
termed in the study of logic as the form) of a
deductive argument that ensures its validity.
Higher qualification commensurate with higher
pay
Teachers with higher qualification are paid well
So, university lecturers are paid well
INDUCTIVE ARGUMENT
• This is an argument in which the conclusion has a
high probability of being true given that the
premises are true.
Argument A
All vegetables contain Vitamin C.
Spinach is a vegetable
So, spinach contain Vitamin C
Argument B
Most vegetables contain Vitamin C
Spinach is a vegetable
So, spinach contains Vitamin C
• In the case of argument A, We will never find a
situation wherein the premises are true but
the conclusion is false.
• This is not so in the case of argument B.
• In argument B, it could well be the case that
both the premises are true but the conclusion
is false.
• But, the premises of argument B, make it
highly possible for the conclusion to be true.
• In our daily lives, we draw such inferences
very often.
• Inductive arguments may be of many kinds,
these are:
Inductive analogy
I had a Sony sound system earlier on. It had a
great sound box and excellent equalizer .
I just bought another Sony sound system.
So, this one will also have a great sound box and
excellent equalizer.
• Past experience can be regarded as evidence
that makes conclusion more probable in an
inductive analogy
Enumerative inductive generalisation
All swans I have seen in my life are white.
So, all swans are white.
• This happens when we observe a large number of
things or events of a particular kind and also may
have noticed that they all have one feature in
common.
• From this observation, we may conclude that all
things or events of that kind all share that feature.
• This argument of courses not a deductive argument,
and the appearance of a single black swan would
make the conclusion false. Even still, given the
premise, the probability of the conclusion being true
is high.
Restricted enumerative inductive
generalization
• This kind of argument is very similar to
enumerative inductive generalization.
• The only thing that makes restricted
enumerative inductive generalization very
different is that it has a conclusion that is
more restricted:
• All swan I have seen in my life are white
• So, most swan are white.
Inductive argument with a similar conclusion
• In this type of argument, there is a singular
conclusion from a generalization regarding many
or most cases.
Most children of working mothers are stubborn.
Joyce is the child of a working mother
So, Joyce is stubborn.
Statistical inductive argument
• These are arguments based on the principles of
statistical regularity.
• The premises describe a statistical relationship
and the conclusion extrapolates that relationship
from observed cases to unobserved ones.
Twenty-five percent of students who learn the
piano are left-handed
So, twenty-five percent of all pianist are left-
handed.
Causal inductive argument
• In this kind of argument we could say that an
event of one kind is the cause of another kind
of event because the premises show that both
these events occur together.
Whenever Matilda eats shellfish she gets rashes
all over her body.
So, possibly, eating shellfish is the cause of her
rashes.

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THE TRUE CONTENT AND LOGIC

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