PHIL 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Intelligent Design, Natural Selection, Begging
Document Summary
Every swan i have ever seen is white, so all swans must be white. Invalid, making an absolute claim without having observed everything to make it more valid you can; make it less universal, broaden observation base, moderate the statement: ex. Still doesn"t have the certainty of deductive arguments: If x then y, but x, therefore y. With inductions, you have to be careful about how the observation and claim relate. With deductive statements, they are either true or false. I(cid:374)du(cid:272)ti(cid:448)e argu(cid:373)e(cid:374)ts are (cid:373)ore de(cid:271)ata(cid:271)le, (cid:862)gre(cid:455)(cid:863), less certainty. Problem with inductive arguments is that your personal biases can distort your view or affect the way you generalize. If we put our biases aside, we can see which is better through inference to the best explanation. Petitio principii begging/asking the principles, loading the question: the bible says god exists, the bible was inspired by god, therefore god exists.
