Chapter 5: Formal and Informal Logic
1. Logical Form
Exercise 5.1
2. Formal Logic 3. Equivocation and Amphiboly
Exercise 5.2
4. The Paradox of the Liar
Exercise 5.3
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Logical Form Repetition
Bill has $5 in his pocket Therefore, Bill has $5 in his pocket
Sue has visited California Therefore, Sue has visited California
(P1) p (C) p
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Logical Form Disjunctive Syllogism
Bill is in New York or Bill is in London It is not the case that Bill is in New York Therefore, Bill is in London
Sue went to the movies or Sue left town It is not the case that Sue went to the movies Therefore, Sue left town
(P1) p q (P2) p (C) q
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Grammatical versus Logical Form
The grammatical form of a proposition (or of an argument) is the structure of the proposition (or argument) as indicated by the surface grammar of its natural language
The logical form of a proposition (or of an argument) is the logically effective structure of the proposition (or argument) as indicated by the meanings of the logical terms it contains
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Example Grammatical versus Logical Form
"Tom, Dick and Harry lifted the box" Grammatical form (Tom, Dick, Harry) lifted the box
Potential logical forms (Tom, Dick, Harry) lifted the box (Tom lifted the box) and (Dick lifted the box) and (Harry lifted the box)
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Example Grammatical versus Logical Form
"I see nobody on the road," said Alice. "I only wish I had such eyes," the King remarked in a fretful tone. "To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance too! Why, it's as much as I can do to see real people, by this light!" Grammatical forms I see somebody on the road I see nobody on the road
Logical forms I see somebody on the road It is not the case that (I see somebody on the road)
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Material Content versus Logical Form
Is validity always a function of an argument's logical form? Formalists claim that all logical properties can be explained using logical form alone Anti-formalists claim that not all logical properties can be explained using logical form alone
Example Socrates is a father Therefore, Socrates is male
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Socrates is a father [All fathers are male] Therefore, Socrates is male
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Uniform Substitution Instances
From logical forms to propositions Given a logical form, any number of arguments may be produced by uniformly substituting (atomic or molecular) propositions for propositional variables
From propositions to logical forms Given a proposition, a finite number of logical forms may be produced by uniformly substituting propositional variables for propositions
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Example Uniform Substitution Instances
Find all of the propositional forms for which the following proposition is a uniform substitution instance: Proposition ~A ~B
Propositional forms p pq ~p q p ~q ~p ~q
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The Fallacy of Equivocation
The fallacy of equivocation occurs whenever an argument depends inappropriately on a semantic ambiguity occurs whenever a semantic ambiguity plays a significant but inappropriate role in an argument
Example "The existence of a law means that there must be a law maker. But we know that the law of gravity and other scientific laws have not been made by any human law maker. So it follows that there must be a non-human law maker, God." Here the equivocation is on "law" (i.e. "a prescriptive claim enacted by a government" or "a descriptive regularity in nature")
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Example Equivocation
The end of a thing is its perfection Death is the end of life Therefore, death is the perfection of life Here the equivocation is on the word "end" (i.e. "goal" or "termination")
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(1) The goal of a thing is its perfection Death is the goal of life Therefore, death is the perfection of life (2) The termination of a thing is its perfection Death is the termination of life Therefore, death is the perfection of life (3) The goal of a thing is its perfection Death is the termination of life Therefore, death is the perfection of life (4) The termination of a thing is its perfection Death is the goal of life Therefore, death is the perfection of life
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True False False / Valid False True False / Valid True True False / Invalid False False False / Invalid
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The Fallacy of Amphiboly
The fallacy of amphiboly occurs whenever an argument depends inappropriately on a grammatical, rather than a purely semantic, ambiguity occurs whenever a grammatical ambiguity plays a significant but inappropriate role in an argument
Example Thrifty people save old cardboard boxes and waste paper Therefore, thrifty people waste paper pq q
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pq r
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The Paradox of the Liar
Is the following proposition true or false? This proposition is false If every proposition is either true or false then this proposition will be either true or false If it is true, then it is true that it is false; so it must be both true and false If it is false, then it is false that it is false; so it must be true; so it must be both true and false So in both cases it is both true and false, which is impossible
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Other Paradoxes
The Postcard Paradox The Heterological Paradox The Barber Paradox The Protagoras Paradox The Russell Paradox
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Object-language versus Meta-language
A meta-language is any language used to talk about a (usually separate) language
An object language is any language being talked about
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