Two Kinds of Reasoning

Critical Thinking
Two Kinds of Reasoning
General Features of Arguments
An argument is used to prove or support a claim.

Descriptions and explanations are not arguments.
An argument must have at least one premise and

exactly one conclusion.
Sometimes a premise, or even the conclusion, is
suppressed or hidden.
Premise and conclusion are relative terms.

One and the same claim can be a premise in one
argument and the conclusion of another.
Sometimes the conclusion of one argument is then used
as a premise in another argument.
Deductive Arguments
These are attempts to demonstrate or prove a

claim.
A good deductive argument must be valid.
This means that it is not possible for the premises to be
true and yet the conclusion be false.
Note that an argument may be valid even if one or

more premises are false.
To successfully demonstrate, a deductive
argument must be both valid and have true
premises; that is, it must be sound.
If an argument is sound then its conclusion has been
demonstrated.
Inductive Arguments
Inductive arguments have premises that support,

but never prove, their conclusions.
Support is a matter of degree; some premises
support a given conclusion more than others do.
But the support can never be 100%, for then it would
be a valid deductive argument.
So inductive arguments are said to be stronger or

weaker.
The more likely the premises make the conclusion the
stronger the argument.
The less likely the premises make the conclusion the
weaker the argument.
Two Senses of Proof or

Prove
The
informal sense: In ordinary

parlance, to prove means to establish
beyond a reasonable doubt.
The formal sense: But in logic, to prove
a claim is to show that it is the
conclusion of a sound deductive
argument.
Unstated Premises
Real-life arguments (in contrast with textbook arguments)

often leave a premise unstated.
Then we are faced with a choice; make the argument
deductive or make it inductive.
Example: Bens a Democrat. Thats why I believe that he voted
for Obama.
Is the unstated premise All democrats voted for Obama or
MostObama or SomeObama?
The first would make the argument deductively valid; the second
and third would make it inductive, with the second producing a
stronger inductive argument than the third.
Usually, context or content indicates what the speaker or

writer intended.
But if it doesnt then we should apply the principle of
charity and assume an unstated premise that at least is
believable, everything considered.
Inference to the Best Explanation
IBE is a form of inductive argument, often called

abduction.
This is where we argue for a claim by saying that it
is the best explanation of something.
What Sherlock Holmes called his method of deduction was
actually abduction.
Given competing explanations of a phenomenon P,

the best explanation is the one that
Explains P most adequately

Leads to the most accurate predictions
Conflicts least with other well-established explanations
Involves the fewest unnecessary assumptions
Things That Arent Premises,

Conclusions, or Arguments
Pictures and movies are neither premise nor conclusion

nor argument.
Because they arent true or false.
Ifthensentences (conditional statements) can be

premises or conclusions, but are not themselves
arguments.
However, there is a connection between valid arguments and what
are called tautologous conditionals.
Lists of facts are potential premises but by themselves they

too are not arguments
A because B causal claims are explanations (which are
either true or false) that can appear as premise or
conclusion, but are not themselves arguments.
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
In his work on rhetoric, Aristotle (384BC 322BC)

suggested that there are three ways for a speaker
to persuade an audience:
ETHOS: By a speakers personal attributes, such as
background, reputation, accomplishments, expertise, and
so forth.
PATHOS: By connecting on a personal level and arousing
and appealing to our emotions by a skillful use of rhetoric.
LOGOS: By using information and arguments.
Sadly, LOGOS is one of the least effective ways of

winning someone over to your point of view.
So we dont want to define an argument as an attempt to
persuade for that would suggest that the more persuasive
argument is always the better one, which is not true.
Techniques For Understanding

Arguments
First, locate the conclusion.

Then, find the premises.
Next, look for any reasons for the premises.
You can then use a diagramming method to
indicate more details about the arguments
structure (see pp. 51-53)
Throughout we must be able to distinguish
arguments from window dressing.
Evaluating Arguments
Regardless of the sort of argument,

evaluation is a two-step procedure:
1. The logic part: If we were to grant the
premises, does the argument either
demonstrate or support its conclusion?
2. The truth part: How acceptable are the
premises?

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What are the two types of arguments discussed?

What are the two types of arguments discussed?

What are the characteristics of a deductive argument?

What are the characteristics of a deductive argument?

Critical Thinking

Two Kinds of Reasoning

General Features of Arguments

An argument is used to prove or support a claim.

An argument must have at least one premise and

Premise and conclusion are relative terms.

These are attempts to demonstrate or prove a

Note that an argument may be valid even if one or

Inductive arguments have premises that support,

So inductive arguments are said to be stronger or

Two Senses of Proof or

informal sense: In ordinary

Real-life arguments (in contrast with textbook arguments)

Usually, context or content indicates what the speaker or

Inference to the Best Explanation

IBE is a form of inductive argument, often called

Given competing explanations of a phenomenon P,

Explains P most adequately

Things That Arent Premises,

Pictures and movies are neither premise nor conclusion

Ifthensentences (conditional statements) can be

Lists of facts are potential premises but by themselves they

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

In his work on rhetoric, Aristotle (384BC 322BC)

Sadly, LOGOS is one of the least effective ways of

Techniques For Understanding

First, locate the conclusion.

Regardless of the sort of argument,

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