Phil 109 Homework: Implicit Premises, Statements and Passages

A. In the following there is an unstated premise. State the implicit premise in the following.

1. “It’s not safe to smoke around an oxygen tank. You need to tell your friend to move.”

2. “The river’s fish are endangered because the river’s water level is falling.”

3. “The newspaper should cover all important stories. So, the newspaper should cover the
election.”

4. “Relaxation would improve my heart health, so I should do yoga to improve my heart

health.”

5. “The moral thing to do is not always what society says people should do. If the moral
thing to do is always whatever your society says, then Nazi brutality was morally OK in
Nazi Germany.

B. In the following determine whether the passages are arguments or non-arguments. For those
that are determine the conclusion and if it is one of the types of passages discussed in class. If
it is not an argument, state what type of passage or statement it is.

1. Since the 1950s a malady called whirling disease has invaded U.S. fishing streams,
frequently attacking rainbow trout. A parasite deforms young fish, which often chase
their tails before dying, hence the name.
2. “There’s love stories. Pain, happiness. It’s three dimensional. There’s taste, touch, sound.
It’s the most entertaining form of entertainment. Just being. We believe time is a man-
made construct. Actually, time and money are both man-made currency.”

3. A man who had oversight over a web of assassins working for the infamous drug
trafficker Pablo Escobar is dead. Jhon Jairo Velasquez, also known as “Popeye,” die on
February 6 at the National Institute of Cancer in Bogota, Colombia, the National
Penitentiary and Prison Institute said in a statement.

4. “I believe I am God, therefore it is true. No dumb atheist can prove I am not. Which
proves that I am. I’m sending any non-believers to hell too.” (from @rickygervais)

5. The brain and the nervous system are composed of two types of cells- neurons and glial
cells. Neurons are responsible for information transmission through the nervous system.
Glial cells constitute the support system for the neurons. For example, glial cells take
away the waste products of neurons, keep the neurons’ chemical environment stable, and
insulate them, allowing neurons to do their work more efficiently. (Richard Griggs,
Psychology: A Concise Introduction)

6. People think bait poison is one of the best ways to kill rats, but in areas where rats are a
problem, it is very difficult to exterminate them with bait poison. That’s because some
rats eat enough poison to die but others eat only enough to become sick and then learn to
avoid that particular poison taste in the future.