PHI 2010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Modus Ponens, Deductive Reasoning, Modus Tollens
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The statements providing support are premises, and the statement receiving support is the conclusion: for instance, because all men are mortal, and socrates is a man, socrates is mortal. Conclusion (c): socrates is mortal: argument is the set of statements which can be true or false. Facts are statements: sentence like questions ( is the door closed? ) or commands ( close the door! ) cannot be the part of arguments. As these types of sentences are not statement with true or false. My laptop is not working. is just a collection of unrelated sentences; the truth or falsity of each has no relevance on that of others. Hence, this set of statements cannot count as an argument: however, ryan is a physician. So, ryan went to medical school, since all physicians have gone to medical school. is an argument because, it has a conclusion which is derived from its premises.
