Argumentation & Rhetoric

2024-08-2519:49 Status:Pseudo Tags: Proofs, Western Philosophy

Overview

The formal definition of logic is the study of methods for evaluating whether the premises of an argument adequately supports (or provide good evidence for) its evaluation.

For a better understanding of this definition: an argument is “a set of statements where some of the statements are intended to support another” it is essentially the arrangement of these statements that is the argument; the premises are “the statements offered in support” i.e. facts, observations etc. that exist independently of the argument. Depending on the strength of the argument, the premises logically entail the conclusion (this is only the case when the premises are arranged to support each other.)

There are two major ways to argue the validity of a larger conclusion: Deductive argumentation, and Inductive argumentation. Deductive arguments are founded on absolute truths (where the premises are incontestably true) and the premises guarantee the conclusion is logically correct. All other cases are inductive (the premises are contestable, or depend on less rigorous argumentation).

Validity and Soundness

The inference rules for statement logic: Argument forms,

Types of arguments Abductive argumentation, Analogous argumentation, Reductio ad absurdum  

Socratic Discussion

1. God created human beings
2. If X creates Y, then Y is X’s property
3. Therefore human beings are God’s property
4. We must not harm someone else’s property
5. Therefore we must not harm other human being

Source(s)

The Power of Logic: https://home.iitk.ac.in/~avrs/PH142/Books/Frances_Howard-Snyder,_Daniel_Howard-Snyder,_Ryan_Wasserman_The_Power_of_Logic_4th_Edition____2009.pdf