Download Logic Test 1: Diagramming Arguments and Understanding Truth, Validity, and Soundness and more Exams Reasoning in PDF only on Docsity! Phil. 103: Introduction to Logic Test 1: The Structure of Arguments Spring, 2006 c©2006 GFDL 1 Diagramming Arguments Directions: First, indicate whether the passages quoted below are arguments or not. If the passage is not an argument, tell why it is not. Second, only if the passage is an argument, diagram the structure of the ar- gument by referring to the numbered statements using conventional diagramming symbols. (40 points) 1. (1) The Roman Empire collapsed because (2) it lacked the spirit of liber- alism and free enterprise. 2. (1) The earth cannot be the center of the universe (2) as planets are seen at vastly different distances from earth at different times of the year. 3. (1) There is probably gold in Abbeville County because (2) Ranson’s Gems and Minerals of America lists this area as a place to dig for gold. 4. (1) I know that God exists because (2) the world is so well ordered by scientific law, and (3) this order cannot be due to chance alone. 1 DIAGRAMMING ARGUMENTS 5. (1) Trans-fatty acids in margarine raise levels of cholesterol in the blood more than saturated fats in butter raise level of cholesterol. (2) For this reason, butter might be more healthful than margarine. 6. (1) If Lander is one of the best colleges in South Carolina, (2)then I guess that you should go there. 7. (1) Coal seams have been discovered in Antarctica. (2) This means that th climate there was once warmer than it is now. (3) Thus, either the geographical location of the continent has shifted or the whole Earth was once warmer than it is now. 8. (1) A just society cannot possibly pay everyone the same income, since (2) the attitudes and efforts of individuals diverge dramatically, and since (3) the common good is far better served by systematic inequalities of reward. 9. (1) Because houses with pets have higher amounts of bacterial-breakdown products than pet-free homes do, and (2) these products force the immune system to develop response patterns making the immune system less sen- sitive to allergens later in life, (3) scientists conclude that children who never had pets around are far more likely to have allergic responses as were children exposed to pets. 2 4 SHORT ESSAY 4 Short Essay Directions: Explain the difference between the terms in the following tions (20 points) 1. statement and sentence which is not a statement 2. inductive and deductive argument 3. valid argument and sound argument 5 5 OPTIONAL QUESTION 5 Optional Question Directions: Using conventional diagramming symbols, diagram the following argument. (5 points) (1) With regard to good and evil, these terms indicate nothing positive in things considered in themselves, nor are they anything else than modes of thought, or notions which we form from the comparison of one thing with another. (2) For one and the same thing may at the same time be both good and evil or indifferent. (3) Music, for example, is good to a melancholy person, bad to one in mourning, while to a deaf man it is neither good nor bad. name 6
