Assignment: Discuss the fundamental issue of the argument
Assignment: an argument that you recently had with a friend
INSTRUCTIONS: Please choose one of the following questions and post an answer/response by Thursday 11:59pm ET. Also please make sure to respond to at least two posts of your classmates and/or the instructor by Sunday 11:59pm ET. To earn full credit for this discussion assignment you need to make three substantive posts (see Discussion Guidelines under Course Home). Make sure to include references to the course materials in your responses.
(1) Consider an argument that you recently had with a friend, co-worker, supervisor, family member or someone else. Identify the fundamental issue of the argument and then present the argument in the form of deductive logical argument, making sure to clearly identify the premises and conclusion. Is this argument a valid argument? Is the argument sound? Why or why not?
(2) Many people have strong opinions about ideas that they believe to be true. It certainly is important to stand up for true beliefs; however, it also can be helpful for critical thinkers to consider perspectives that are different from their own beliefs. What are some of the advantages of taking into consideration an opposing viewpoint? Why is it important for critical thinkers to take time to understand opposing perspectives?
(3) Many people spend a lot of time thinking about various issues throughout the day. What is the difference between critical thinking and other types of thinking? Provide an example of situation where you demonstrated good critical thinking in your own life. How does the study of critical thinking help us improve our analytical reasoning abilities and decision-making skills? Assignment: an argument that you recently had with a friend. Assignment: an argument that you recently had with a friend
Deductive and Inductive Arguments
When assessing the quality of an , we ask how well its premises support its conclusion. More specifically, we ask whether the argument is either deductively valid or inductively strong.
A deductive argument is an argument that is intended by the arguer to be deductively valid, that is, to provide a guarantee of the truth of the conclusion provided that the argument’s premises are true. This point can be expressed also by saying that, in a deductive argument, the premises are intended to provide such strong support for the conclusion that, if the premises are true, then it would be impossible for the conclusion to be false. An argument in which the premises do succeed in guaranteeing the conclusion is called a (deductively) valid argument. If a valid argument has true premises, then the argument is said also to be sound. All arguments are either valid or invalid, and either sound or unsound; there is no middle ground, such as being somewhat valid.
Here is a valid deductive argument:
It’s sunny in Singapore. If it’s sunny in Singapore, then he won’t be carrying an umbrella. So, he won’t be carrying an umbrella.
The conclusion follows the word “So”. The two premises of this argument would, if true, guarantee the truth of the conclusion. However, we have been given no information that would enable us to decide whether the two premises are both true, so we cannot assess whether the argument is deductively sound. It is one or the other, but we do not know which. If it turns out that the argument has a false premise and so is unsound, this won’t change the fact that it is valid. Assignment: an argument that you recently had with a friend
