Arg Quiz

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California State University, Northridge *

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424

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Philosophy

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Oct 30, 2023

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ARGUMENTS Deductive, Inductive, and Invalid Arguments 25 problems: 4 points each Test each argument: How strongly do the premises (reason/evidence) support the conclusion? Decide if the argument (argument = premises + conclusion) is inductive, deductive, or invalid. The three options for judging the strength of the logical inference in each passage: (i) Deductive: IF the premise(s) are true (assumed to be true), then the conclusion must be true (has to be true). (ii) Inductive = IF the premise(s) are assumed to be true, then the conclusion is probably (51%—99% likely) to be true. (iii) Invalid = Even if the premises were true, the conclusion is still 50% or less likely to be true, based on those premises. For each argument, imagine all the premises given to be true. Further, necessary truths must always be assumed to be true: 6 is greater than 5, planets are not cats, etc. You are judging the strength of the inference from premises to conclusion given the evidence plus what is necessarily true. In the following arguments, the conclusion has been underlined for you. You are deciding if the conclusion follows deductively, inductively, or not at all (invalid) ASSUMING all the premise(s) are true and that necessary truths are true. Your choices for the strength of the inference are: Deductive, inductive, or invalid argument. All words have their standard definitions. 1. Dale says he was in the circus. He knows all the lingo and I’ve seen him juggle. And when the circus people were in town they all knew him. So Dale was in the circus . 2. Now that we have the internet, we can watch whatever movies we want to at home. Going out to the movies is more expensive. It is time-consuming. And you can catch covid. So, we should avoid going to the movie theater. 3. Due to the fact that more nonviolent kids are born every day, every year, every decade, we can say with confidence that over time, we will see an overall decrease in violence among humans worldwide in the coming centuries . 4. If you can’t fly faster than a speeding bullet, you can’t be Superman. You can’t fly faster than a speeding bullet, so you can’t be Superman .

5. Life is meaningful if there is a heaven; life is meaningful, so there is a heaven . 6. Caffeine usually causes children to behave in unpredictable ways. That little girl is drinking her mother’s coffee, so she’ll behave in unpredictable ways . 7. Shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater (when there is no fire and you know it) creates a “clear and present danger.” Creating a “clear and present danger” is not protected by the First Amendment. Thus shouting “Fire!” in a theater is not protected by the First Amendment. 8. Children spend an average of five hours per day watching TV or playing on the internet, time that used to be spent reading. That is why Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) English scores have been dropping for many years nationwide . 9. Anyone who is unmarried and pregnant at age 10 should be allowed to abort. Renee is unmarried but only 9 years of age (the average age of menstruation today). Thus, Renee should not be allowed to abort . 10. When I was a kid, I was told that smoking marijuana stunts growth . That must have been true, since Uncle Giovanni gave me marijuana when I was 13, and I only grew to be 5’0”. 11. Guns don’t kill people: people kill people. Whatever doesn’t kill people should be legal. So, semi-automatic rifles should remain legal . 12. It takes three seconds to operate the bolt of this rifle in order to fire it, thus no one could have gotten off three shots in a span of five seconds with this rifle , as it is alleged the defendant managed to do. 13. There are 100 marbles in the box. 99 of the marbles in the box are blue. 1 of the marbles in the box is red. One can conclude IF a marble is picked, it will probably be blue . 14. The defendant’s fingerprints were found at the scene of the crime, and the defendant previously tweeted he hates the victim’s guts. An eyewitness said the defendant was at the scene around the time of the murder. The defendant is guilty . 15. Robert De Niro’s girlfriend just gave birth to a baby girl—confirmed by DNA to be his daughter. Dinero is 79 years old. His girlfriend is younger than he is .

16. James and Bill both did action x, and their circumstances, motives, and their situations were the same including their records and past violations; so, if you ought to put Bill in prison for action x, you ought to put James in prison for action x . 17. If Iran is developing nuclear weapons, then Iran is a threat to world peace. Iran is not developing nuclear weapons. So, Iran is not a threat to world peace . 18. Dominic tried but failed to pass calculus three times. Calculus is mental. If something is mental, it is a preference; and if something is a preference, you can control it; therefore, Dominic’s inability to pass calculus is under his control . 19. Since my opponent continues to support the death penalty, he must not have read the most recent studies , which show that the death penalty does not deter crime. 20. 81 is not prime because it is divisible by 3, and all prime numbers are divisible by only themselves and 1. 21. Abraham Lincoln could not have met George Washington because George Washington was dead before Abraham Lincoln was born. 22. An act is cruel if it inflicts harm that is much worse than what is necessary for any legitimate purpose. The death penalty inflicts harm that is much worse than what is necessary for any legitimate purpose. So, the death penalty is cruel . 23. Since homosexual couples can’t reproduce, genes for homosexuality would have died out long ago. Therefore, homosexuality can’t be genetic . 24. The United States does not always allow the person who received the most total votes to win the presidential election; therefore, the president of the U.S. is not chosen democratically . 25. Insects are a nuisance, as anyone who has ever had a picnic can attest. They can spread disease. In addition, they damage crops. We should destroy them .

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