PP217 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Paraplegia, Advance Healthcare Directive, Cultural Relativism
Document Summary
Unit 1: medical ethics: arguments, conclusions and reasons a conclusion is a statement that someone is trying to prove true. If an argument works (is sound, or informally, good) then it proves that the conclusion is true. The most important point here is simply this: arguments and conclusions are not the same thing! Remember, an argument is the set of reasons given for accepting a conclusion; the conclusion to an argument is what it aims to prove. A conclusion can be true even if an argument is not sound; but if an argument is sound, the conclusion must be true. Again: whether an argument is good and whether a conclusion is true are two different questions. Only if the argument is unsound can the conclusion be false (of course, showing that an argument fails is only half the job: one must still show there is no other argument that will establish the conclusion).
