Latin Loanwords
Spell the name of the technical form or reasoning that means “the way or method of affirming”
Modus Ponens
These types of arguments attempt to establish that the conclusion must follow from the premises.
Deductive Arguments
Roger is one of the most unpleasant people I have ever met.
↓
Roger is no good at math.
Nil
To this day scientists have not been able to find life anywhere else in the universe, so we must be the only living things in all of existence.
Argument from ignorance
Evolution is just a theory
Equivocation
Spell the name of the second half of an “if/then” statement
Consequent
What kind of reasoning is the following:
Every scientific theory that we have developed in the past has eventually been shown to be false. So, all scientific theories we develop in the future will eventually be shown to be false as well.
Inductive Reasoning
This year five footballers have been convicted of serious crimes.
↓
Footballers are an arrogant, anti-social bunch of people.
Weak
Einstein said that socialism is the best kind of government so we should transition to socialism immediately.
Argument from Irrelevant Authority
The reason we did not accept the proposal from Gary was because he has shown signs of being timid in the past in relation to his incident management.
Ad Hominem
Spell the name of the technical form or reasoning that means “the way or method of denying”
Modus Tollens
These are the “arrows” on an argument map
Inferences
If pigs had wings they would be able to fly, and pigs do have wings.
↓
Pigs are able to fly.
Deductively Valid
A feather is light and what is light cannot be dark, so a feather cannot be dark.
Equivocation
(formal fallacy) If you are in a self-driving car then you will be safe. You are safe right now, therefore, you are in a self-driving car.
Affirming the consequent.
Spell the name of the first half of an “if/then” statement
Antecedent
What is the technical name for the following type of reasoning:
The policy at this workplace is those wearing blue to work will be sent home. And Peter, even though you claim your shirt is cyan and hence not truly blue, I’m afraid cyan is a shade of blue. So, you have to go home now.
Modus Ponens
The floods have ruined most of this year’s watermelon crop.
↓
We can expect watermelon prices to be higher than usual.
Strong
(formal fallacy) If Jimmy was a good leader then he would have won the election outright but he is a bad leader and therefore, he did not win the election outright.
Denying the antecedent.
When reviewing the research on the nature of chimpanzees there is a surprising lack of evidence to support the notion that they are fundamentally aggressive. Given that we have not found evidence of these natural tendencies it follows that human beings, a close evolutionary relative of the chimpanzee, are not fundamentally aggressive as well.
Argument from Ignorance
Spell the name of the informal fallacy that means “to the man”
Ad hominem
Is the following argument cogent or not? And why?
Democracy should foster equal voting rights for all citizens. Making all people totally equal is impossible. Therefore, democracy is impossible.
Not Cogent. The inference from P1 and P2 is weak.
Bananas are highly nutritious
↓
You would not die of malnutrition if you had to live only on bananas.
Strong
I have a couple of friends who claim to be feminists and they are all annoying, so I think that all feminists must be annoying.
Hasty Generalisation
Many right-leaning politicians will claim marriage equality is not right but we all know that those ideas come from the Churches they attend, and so we can dismiss their claims.
Genetic Fallacy