Written Assignment 6.docx

1 Writing Assignment 6 Thomas Edison State University PHI-1300 Intro to Critical Reasoning Jeff Sellars January 7, 2024

2 Writing Assignment 6 1. In your own words, explain the difference between deductive and inductive arguments. Write down two examples of each. Deductive arguments are when the premises given are proven and accepted, which results in a conclusion that is absolutely true. The conclusion in a deductive argument is guaranteed to be true with absolute certainty as opposed to an inductive argument, where a conclusion may only be probably true. Deductive argument examples: All presidents are over 35 years old. Joe Biden is president. Therefore, Joe Biden is over 35 years old. The first sentence is a premise that categorizes "All presidents" as being over 35 years old. The following sentence identifies Joe Biden as a member of the category "presidents." The conclusion then logically follows the premises and is guaranteed to be true because the premises are true. The bank is closed on holidays. Today is President's Day; therefore, the bank will be closed. The first premise is a known fact. The following premise is that today is the holiday, Presidents Day. The conclusion is drawn from the premises and is guaranteed to be true since the premises are true. An inductive argument is when the premises given are true but not with absolute certainty. Inductive reasons use evidence, observations, and examples to make general conclusions. The conclusion is probably true as opposed to guaranteed.

3 Inductive argument examples: The last three times the 49ers played the Rams, they won, so the 49ers will beat the Rams this Sunday. The dog I own is brown. My friend owns a brown dog. Therefore, all dogs are brown. The premises are based on observations and generalizations. The conclusion draws from the observations and is only possibly true but not guaranteed to be true. 2. Explain the difference between valid deductive arguments and invalid deductive arguments, and then write down two examples of each. A valid deductive argument consists of premises that are true and valid and where the conclusion logically follows the premises. Therefore, the conclusion is guaranteed to be true if the premises are true. An invalid deductive argument is where the conclusion does not logically follow the premises. Therefore, the premises fail to prove the conclusion even if the premises are true. Valid deductive argument examples : All fish breathe underwater. A tuna is a fish. Therefore, tuna can breathe underwater. Tom is over 50 years old, so Tom is over 30 years old. Each premise is true, and the conclusion logically follows the premise; therefore, the deductive argument is valid. Invalid deductive argument examples: All merlots are red. Fruit punch is red; therefore, fruit punch is a merlot. All zebras have stripes. All tigers have stripes; therefore, all tigers are zebras.

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