SSH 105 Study Guide - Final Guide: Moral Nihilism, Artistic Merit, Critical Thinking
19 Jun 2018
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SSH105 Exam Review
Lecture 1
Terms and concepts
Statement/clam: an assertion that something is or is not the case
- “Today is Friday” “It is not raining” “She will win the race”
Proposition: the specific thought or idea that the statement expresses
- It is possible for different statements to express the same proposition. Consider “it is
snowing”, and “ill-neige” and “het sneewt”
- It is possible for the same statement to express different propositions, depending on who
states it, when and where etc.
Premise: a statement that is offered in support of a conclusion
- The reasons or evidence stated for accepting a conclusion
Conclusion: statement that is held to be supported by one or more premises
- This is what the speaker want you to accept or believe
Argument: set of statements, one in which the conclusions is taken to be supported by the
remaining statements (premises)
Inference: process of reasoning from a premise to premises to a conclusion, based on those
premises
- Steps you take from premises to conclusion
Steps of argument analysis
1. Figure out if it really is an argument or not
2. Reconstruct the argument
3. Evaluate the argument
About step 0
- Not all texts contain arguments
a. Some texts are just descriptive (narrative of events, description of a thing)
b. Some texts might be an author’s opinion without reasons to support it
c. An “if-then” statement, by itself if not an argument (if it is raining, then the party will be
cancelled”
d. Explanations by themselves are not arguments: they simply tell us why or how something
is the case
Step 1.
- Arguments are not always presented/written/stated in the clearest way
Step 2.
- This is not evaluating its literary merit or rhetorical power
- This is evaluating the rational strength of an argument
Literary merit: argument that uses verbal eloquence, flowery language, original, interesting and
well-written
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Rhetorical power: an argument that can persuade or convince- a person who speaks clearly, has a
strong manner and honest appearance has rhetorical power but that does not mean it is a good
argument
Rational strength: when the premises offer good reason to think the conclusion is true
Critical thinking: systematic analysis or formulation of arguments by rational standards
- It is systemic because it involves distinct procedures and technical methods (not just gut
feelings)
- It is used to analyze existing arguments and to formulate new ones
- It evaluates arguments in terms of how well their premises support their conclusions; in
other words, their rational strength
Ways people deal with arguments
Credulous person: overly generous, need strong reason not to believe something
Person of contradiction: wants to prove you wrong, always trying to say something opposite of
you
Dogmatist: very rooted in beliefs, thinks everything he believes is true
Skeptic: does not believe anything
Relativist: person who insists in controversial cases everyone is right
Rational thinker’s abilities
- Distinguish genuine evidence and reasons from other things
- Understand and interpret arguments
- Evaluate arguments
Factors that affect good argument analysis
- Lack of an adequate vocabulary (not knowing the right terminology) to describe the
strengths and weaknesses of an argument or even to think of the arguments clearly
- The desire to be tolerant and open-minded (not to be confused with the right to have an
opinion)
- Missing the point of argument analysis (rational strength vs. rhetorical power vs. literary
merit)
- Misconceptions about truth and rationality (no truths just opinions to things)
- The use of argument stoppers (cutting off an argument)
Knowledge
Three types
1. Knowledge by acquaintance “I know my friend”
2. Knowledge- how “I know how to ride a bike”
3. Propositional knowledge (knowledge-that) “I know that today is Friday”
Three key ingredients in knowledge
- Belief: if you know something, at the very least you must believe it
- Truth: if you know something, it must be true
- Justification: need good reasons to believe something
Declarative sentences: express propositions, used when describing a sentence “I fed the dog”
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find more resources at oneclass.com
Imperative sentences: used when we are commanding an order “shut the door”
Interrogative sentences: used when we ask questions “could you close the door?”
Realism: truth in some subject area but they are objective
- There are truths in that subject area; and
- What these truths are does not depend upon anyone’s belief about them (objective)
- We are realists about mathematical equations (2+2=4)
- Pros: either true or not, we can all agree
- Cons: fit into our intuition, cannot apply to some subject areas (art, beauty)
- We will assume realism about truth is at the very least, the best default position in most
areas
Jelly bean scenario
- Objective amount of jelly beans in jar that is independent of our beliefs (only one correct
answer)
- Answer does not depend on anyone’s belief
Two realist models of what makes a statement/proposition true
- These models assume realism have truth-values, are objective and they can be known
Nihilism: no truths
- No truths whatsoever
- Moral nihilism: view that moral statements have no truth-value (neither true/false)
- Politics, how to run the society, religion etc.
- Pros: keeps you on neutral grounds, easier to say there are no truths
- Cons: extremely implausible in many subject areas, nihilism about everything is self-
defeating (there are no truths and that statement is true), saying it is not a fact 2+2=4
Relativism: truths exists but are subjective
- There are truths in that subject area: but
- What the truths are depends upon what we (or someone) believes them to be
- Similar to realism because both believe truths exist but relativism believes truths are
subjective whereas realism believes they are objective
- Subjective relativism: truths depend upon individuals “there is my truth and there’s
yours”
- Social relativism: truth depends on what a society or culture believes “it is true in our
culture that women are equal, but it is true for that culture that women are inferior”
- Pros: have your own opinion and not be wrong, open-minded, tolerant, balance between
two extremes (realism and nihilism)
- Cons: might not be tolerant (slavery isn’t acceptable in some places can be conflict if one
group thinks racism is okay but other group does not, suggests we as individuals/societies
are infallible, never wrong, self-defeating
Philosophical skepticism
- There are truths; but
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find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Statement/clam: an assertion that something is or is not the case. Today is friday it is not raining she will win the race . Proposition: the specific thought or idea that the statement expresses. It is possible for different statements to express the same proposition. Consider it is snowing , and ill-neige and het sneewt . It is possible for the same statement to express different propositions, depending on who states it, when and where etc. Premise: a statement that is offered in support of a conclusion. The reasons or evidence stated for accepting a conclusion. Conclusion: statement that is held to be supported by one or more premises. This is what the speaker want you to accept or believe. Argument: set of statements, one in which the conclusions is taken to be supported by the remaining statements (premises) Inference: process of reasoning from a premise to premises to a conclusion, based on those premises.
