PHL 214 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Deductive Reasoning

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHL 214
• Professor: Catherine Stinson

Document Summary

Devising an argument: try to show that a statement or claim is worthy of acceptance. Evaluating an argument: to see whether this task has been successful. Whether the argument shows that the statement (conclusion) really is worthy of acceptance. Good argument: when the argument shows that the statement is worthy of acceptance. Bad argument: when the argument fails to show that the statement is worthy of acceptance. Deductive argument: is intended to provide logically conclusive support for its conclusion. Inductive argument: is intended to provide probable, not conclusive, support for its conclusion. Valid: a deductive argument that succeeds in providing such decisive logical support. Invalid: a deductive argument that fails to provide such support. Strong: an inductive argument that succeeds in providing probable (but not conclusive) logical support for its conclusion. Weak: an inductive argument that fails to provide such support. It is possible to reach the true conclusions despite bad facts, bad reasoning, or both: