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Problems of Philosophy
Arguments:
 Philosophy is a discipline as much as it is a subject; as well as something one does
 Philosophy=Logical Argument

Argument: a series of statements or premises given in support of another statement, the

conclusion. The argument supplies reason for the conclusion

Good Arguments
 Deductively Valid
 Not deductively valid—Inductively strong

--Abductively strong
*Inference to best observation

Deductively Valid: If the premises are true, than the conversation would have to be true
 Validity-It’s impossible for a deductively valid argument to have true premises and a false
conclusion
P1 – All fish swim P1 – All particles have mass
P2 – All sharks are fish P2 – All electrons are particles
C – All sharks swim C – All electrons have mass

o Validity is a property of arguments, and only arguments

o Statements & Ideas are never valid or invalid
o An argument can be valid even if the statements that it contains are really
plausible

P1 – All plants have minds

P2 – All ladders are plants →Deductively Valid Argument, Premises aren’t
true
C – All ladders have minds *If premises are true, conclusion has to be
true

P1 – All B’s are C’s

P2 – All A’s are B’s
C – All A’s are C’s

 Soundness: a deductively valid argument is sound when it actually does have all the
premises
All plants have minds *Sound (good) – valid and true
premises
All ladders are plants
All ladders have minds →Valid, not sound