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Evaluating Deductive Arguments - Critical Thinking

The document provides an overview of deductive arguments, including their components, types, and evaluation criteria such as validity and soundness. It discusses common deductive fallacies like affirming the consequent, denying the antecedent, and circular reasoning. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of avoiding fallacies to maintain accurate reasoning.

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18 views20 pages

Evaluating Deductive Arguments - Critical Thinking

The document provides an overview of deductive arguments, including their components, types, and evaluation criteria such as validity and soundness. It discusses common deductive fallacies like affirming the consequent, denying the antecedent, and circular reasoning. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of avoiding fallacies to maintain accurate reasoning.

Uploaded by

eahorlu70
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

(ATU 203)
BY
RAYMOND K. BAXEY, APR
EVALUATING DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS
PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Introduction to Deductive Arguments


• Components of Deductive Arguments
• Evaluating Deductive Arguments
• Common types of Deductive Arguments
• Errors in Deductive Reasoning
• Conclusion
QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Deduction is certain and infallible, in the sense that each step


in deductive reasoning will lead us to some result, as certain as
the law itself. But it does not follow that deduction will lead the
reasoner to every result of a law or combination of laws.
–William Stanley Jevons
INTRODUCTION TO DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS

• A deductive argument is one in which the conclusion logically


follows from the premises.

• Example:
➢Premise 1: All humans are mortal.
➢Premise 2: Kofi is a human.
➢Conclusion: Therefore, Kofi is mortal.
COMPONENTS OF A DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENT

• Premises: Statements or propositions providing support for the


conclusion.
• Conclusion: The statement logically following from the premises.

• Key Features:
➢Logical certainty, not probability.
➢If premises are true, the conclusion must also be true.
EVALUATING DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS

1. Validity:
➢An argument is valid if the conclusion logically follows from
the premises.
2. Soundness:
➢An argument is sound if it is valid and all its premises are true.
COMMON TYPES OF DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS

• Categorical syllogism
• Hypothetical syllogism
• Disjunctive Syllogism/Argument by elimination
WHAT IS SYLLOGISM?

• Syllogism is a deductive argument consisting of exactly two


premises and one conclusion
CATEGORICAL SYLLOGISM

• Makes claim about group of things or categories.

• They use statements that refer to the quantity of members of a


category (all, some or none) and denote membership or lack thereof
of members of one category in another.
CATEGORICAL SYLLOGISM

• Example of categorical statements:


• No married man is a bachelor
• Some dark-skinned people are not African
• Some mosquitoes are disease carriers
• All mice are rodents
➢All birds have feathers. A penguin is a bird. Therefore, a penguin has feathers.
➢All Egyptians are Muslims,. No Muslim is a Christian,. Therefore, no Egyptian is a
Christian
HYPOTHETICAL SYLLOGISM

• Hypothetical syllogism has a conditional statement for one or both


premises.
• Hypothetical statement is an “if-then” statement. Hypothetical
statements have two components:
• The “if” portion is referred to as the antecedent
• The “then” portion is called the consequent
HYPOTHETICAL SYLLOGISM

• If you study hard then you will graduate with a first class. If you
graduate with a first class then you will get a good job.
Therefore, if you study hard then you will get a good job.
DISJUNCTIVE SYLLOGISM

• This type of syllogism has a “disjunction” as a premise, that is,


an “either-or” statement.
• This argument seeks to logically rule out various possibilities
until only one single possibility remains.
➢Either John is at home, or he is at the park. John is not at
home. Therefore, John is at the park.
ERRORS IN DEDUCTIVE REASONING

• Error in deductive reasoning, also known as deductive fallacies,


can be caused by faulty logic, false premises, or irrelevant
information. Examples are:
➢Affirming the Consequent
➢Denying the antecedent
➢Circular reasoning
AFFIRMING THE CONSEQUENT

• Affirming the Consequent is a logical fallacy that occurs when someone


assumes that a specific cause must be true if an outcome is true.
• Assuming a certain cause occurred because an expected effect is observed.
➢If it rains, the ground will be wet. The ground is wet. Therefore, it rained.
(Fallacy)
➢If I am sick, then I will feel fatigued. I feel fatigued. Therefore, I am sick.
DENYING THE ANTECEDENT

• Denying the Antecedent is a logical fallacy that occurs when someone if


the initial condition of a situation is not met, then the expected
outcome cannot occur either.
• It is also known as the fallacy of the inverse or inverse error.
➢If an animal is a mammal, then it is warm-blooded. This animal is not
a mammal. Therefore, it is not warm-blooded.
CIRCULAR REASONING

• Circular reasoning, also known as a circular argument, is a logical fallacy that


occurs when the evidence used to support a claim is just a repetition of the claim
itself.
• It is a type of informal logical fallacy, which means the error is in the content of
the argument, not its form.
➢Dogs are man’s best friend because they are the friendliest animals
• Kofi: It is time you go to bed.
• Ama: Why?
• Kofi: Because it is your bedtime
CONCLUSION

• Deductive arguments provide certainty when premises are true.

• Validity ensures logical structure; soundness ensures truth.

• Avoid fallacies to ensure accurate reasoning.


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