3 ways of getting someone to “believe” or do something?
- Causes - alcohol causes you to be like…
- Motives …alcohol is booze, u booze you lose
- Reasons…harmful effects of this because of alcohol.
Why are REASONS different from Causes and Motives?
- Reasons set you free…
- Truth and Falsity
Reasoning produces
arguments for a subject/topic.
Recognising arguments…
Distinguishing arguments from non-arguments is
NOT THE SAME
as distinguishing GOOD argument from BAD ones
ARGUMENTS & REASONING COME IN MANY FORMS… 4
1 * Might be in PROSE, but sometimes in POETRY
2 * OFTEN it is NOT even SPOKEN OR WRITTEN:
BUT If we want to examine an argument we have to
represent it in some way.
- Certain ACTIONS can be EXPRESSIVE of REASONING
- We have to USE SENTENCES even though they USED in the ORIGINAL CASE
What is a Declarative sentence?
- The main tools of the trade in reasoning BECAUSE
their
FUNCTION is to ASSERT, to make CLAIMS,
to STATE FACTS,
to DECLARE things to be TRUE or FALSE
EXAMPLES…
Sentence 1 (‘Grannie has eaten the budgie.’)
Sentence 5 (‘A psychoanalyst should be able to uncover her repressed memories of her childhood sexual fantasies; they’re responsible for her present dysfunctional
behaviour.’)
WHAT is Grammatical form and function?
- WE ARE INTERESTED IN GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
- Grammatical form and function DO NOT ALWAYS CORRESPOND
3 * FORM is a guide to function but it is not always reliable
- We want to know how a sentence is actually functioning in its context.
- in spoken English, DECLARATIVES = often function as QUESTIONS
- INTERROGATIVES = can function as DECLARATIVES
An argument almost entirely comprised of rhetorical questions…
An argument almost entirely comprised of rhetorical questions…
The first problem of recognition –
= FORM AND FUNCTION
- Statements
What are Compound statements?
- CONJUNCTION (and)
— where we combine two (or more) statements to
make third which says that EACH OF THE SIMPLE ARE TRUE. - DISJUNCTION (or)
—where we combine two (or more) statements
into a compound statement which says that
EITHER ONE OR OTHER OF THE SIMPLE ONES IS TRUE.
Examples of Conjunctions
‘and’, semi-colon, ‘while’, ‘but’, ‘although’ etc
What makes a conjunction true?
- If we assert a that a conjunction is true then
we are saying that EACH OF ITS CONJUNCTS ARE ALSO TRUE. - So, the WHOLE COMPOUND STATEMENT will be TRUE ONLY IF BOTH OF ITS CONJUNCTS ARE TURE.
Roles of statements in arguments: PREMISE AND CONCLUSION
- An arguments is a discourse in which some statements are offered
as justifying, proving or making probable some other statement. - The statement being justified is the CONCLUSION
- The statements acting to justify the conclusion are the PREMISES
- The terms PREMISE and CONCLUSION
refer to ROLES which statements play within arguments - The same statement may act, at different times, as conclusion and premise.
Example of Premise and Conclusion
- The statement ‘The cat died’
is a PREMISE in:
“The cat died”, but the dog didn’t, so it must be
the cat food which is poisoned
but it is a CONCLUSION in:
The cat food was poisoned, and there is a putrid smell coming from the cat basket, so I infer that “the cat died.”
PREMISES AND CONCLUSIONS EXAMPLE 2
“It is now three weeks since the python was fed.”
PREMISE
“So, the python will eat anything it can find.”
(SUB-CONCLUSION of FIRST sub-argument AND
PREMISE of SECOND sub-argument)
“So, I’m afraid that poor Featherstonehaugh has
cashed in his chips.”
(MAIN CONCLUSION, or CONCLUSION to second SUBARGUMENT)
How do we tell something is an argument?
To determine whether a discourse contains reasoning, ask yourself
“DOES THE DISCOURSE CONTAIN STATEMENTS?
—WHICH ARE PUT FORWARD AS “JUSTIFYING”, “PROVING”, “DISPROVING”, “MAKING PROBABLE OR IMPROBABLE”, OTHER STATEMENTS WITHIN THE SAME DISCOURSE.
Understanding inference:
So, argument has to do with the relationships of
TRUTH and FALSITY among statements,
relationships expressed by the term INFERENCE.
When the truth or falsity of one statement is INFERRED from the truth or falsity of another,
we have A PIECE OF REASONING, OR AN ARGUMENT.
What are Inference indicators?
There are words and phrases whose characteristic FUNCTION IS TO INDICATE WHEN INFERENCE IS TAKING PLACE. = INFERENCE INDICATORS
(Govier – indicator words!)
There are two kinds of inference indicators:
- Premise indicators (because, since, as, for the reason that..etc)
- Conclusion indicators
(so, therefore, thus etc)
Inference indicators can be
misleading
Inference indicators can be
misleading…
THUS
The word ‘thus’ OFTEN serves to INTRODUCE the
CONCLUSION OF AN ARGUMENT.
=== and for this reason it is a CONCLUSION INDICATOR ,
BUT
sometimes it MERELY introduces an ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE.
THUS…eaxmple
We cannot take the least action in this world without killing numerous minute creatures.
Killing per se must THUS be a morally neutral matter.
CONCLUSION INDICATOR)
Mrs Jones was a conscientious mother;
THUS, when she took Nipper for a walk, she always made sure that his horns were concealed from view.
(ILLUSTRATIVE)
Inference indicators can be
misleading…
AS
As’ often serves to INTRODUCE a REASON for a CONCLUSION,
that is, it is often a PREMISE indicator
BUT
It can sometimes mean something like ‘WHILE’.
And sometimes it is HARD TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE.
AS… EXAMPLE
As…. the present state of the universe cannot be
measured exactly [PREMISE], future events cannot be
predicted exactly [CONCLUSION].
(PREMISE INDICATOR)
As….. he went past the graveyard, he heard a low moan.
(while)
As… his muscles began to ache under the strain, his
attention was distracted.
(???)
