Correct Inferential Thinking

 Logic

Inference?

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Reasoning vs Merely Stating
The pastoral letter deserves the wide
audience it seeks.

The pastoral letter fully deserves the wide audience it seeks. It is a thoughtful and comprehensive effort to
bring religious and moral principles in dealing with the pandemic.

Carabaos have mammary glands.

Mammals have mammary glands; Argument

A carabao is a mammal;
Therefore, carabaos have mammary glands.
 Argument

“..is any group of propositions of which one is claimed to

follow from the others, which are regarded as providing
support or grounds for that one.”

Structure

Premise Conclusion
 Ah, so you’re a ‘waray’. E di matapang ka
niyan?

Almost every known human carcinogen causes cancer in animals. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that
compounds that cause cancer in animals are also potential human carcinogens.

Human law is framed for the multitude of human beings;

The majority of human beings are not perfect in virtue;
Therefore human laws do not forbid all vices.
 Premise Indicators: Since, Because, For, As, As shown by, Inasmuch as, As
indicated by, The reason is that, For the reason that, May be inferred from, May
be deduced from, May be derived from, In view of that fact, Assuming that,
Seeing that, Granted that, This is true because, Given that, One cannot doubt that

Conclusion Indicators: Therefore, Hence, Thus, So, Accordingly, In consequence,

Consequently, Which proves that, As a result, For this reason, It follows that, We
may infer, I conclude that, Which shows that, Which means that, Which entails
that, Which implies that, Which allows us to infer that, Which points to the
conclusion that, This being so, The moral is
“Moreover, cutting Social Security will not improve the deficit problem. As Martin
Feldstein, chairman of the Council of Economic advisers has noted, Social Security
is funded by separate payroll taxes and contributes not a cent to the deficit.” –
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, The Bankrupt Budget, p.20

If he’s smart, he isn’t going to go around shooting one of them, and he’s smart.
 Deductive Inductive

A mortal being cannot stop the flow of
time;
You are a mortal being;
Therefore, you cannot stop the flow of
time.
The recent SWS survey states that 62% of Filipinos are
satisfied with the performance of the current
administration;
You are a Filipino;
Ergo, you are satisfied with the performance of the
current administration.

Necessary Probable
 Deduction

Valid Invalid

A deductive argument is valid if the truth of the premises successfully proves that the
truth of the conclusion is certain; while it is invalid if it does not do so.
(The validity/invalidity of deductive arguments are solely determined by their form or
structure Formal Logic)

Sound Unsound

A sound deductive argument has a valid structure and contains premises that are all true; while an
unsound argument is a deductive argument that is valid and contains at least one premise that is
false.
 Induction

The truth of the premises intends to prove that the conclusion is highly probable.

Strong Weak

Paper plates and diamonds are both made of atoms. Diamonds are very expensive. Therefore, paper plates are
very expensive.

False Analogy
 Nothing is better than eating pizza;
But eating “pagpag” is better than eating nothing;
Therefore eating pagpag is better than eating pizza.

Fallacy of
Equivocation

Every part of the machine is light in weight. Therefore, the whole machine
is light in weight.

Fallacy of
Composition
 Aliens exist because nobody has proven that they do not exist.

Appeal to
Ignorance

Since Mr. Raphael Tul Poe said that if I am not using the internet in
maligning other persons is not violative of our laws, then I cannot be held
liable if I am going to spread rumors about my neighbor for as long as I am
not using the net.

Appeal to
Inappropriate
Authority
The statement of that Department Secretary should be disregarded, it is
obvious that he is a homosexual.

Appeal to the
Person (Ad
Hominem)

That person deserves to win the singing contest for he comes from a poor
family and his father is really sick.

Appeal to Pity (Ad

Misericordiam)
You should upload a Tiktok video since almost everyone I know is already
doing it.

Appeal to
Popular Will
(Bandwagon
Argument)

Every rational Filipino should agree with the Government’s stand in

resolving the crisis at West Philippine Sea, otherwise we will be relentless
in bashing him/her in our social media accounts.

Appeal to
Force (Ad
Bacculum)
A lawyer who wants to establish that a person A is beating his child asks
this question: "Have you stopped beating your child?"

Complex
Question

Either you are for the administration or you are “dilawan”.

False
Dilemma/
Dichotomy
 I noticed that every time that player makes the sign of the cross before
making a free throw, his shots go in. Now since he did it this time, I am
certain that his shot will go in.

False Cause
(Post Hoc Ergo
Propter Hoc)

The fact that abortion is an intentional killing of a human person proves that
it is murder.

Begging the
Question
(Circular Logic)
 Running is good for the heart, therefore running will be good for Pedro
who is suffering from a heart disease.

Fallacy of
Accident (Dicto
Simpliciter)

On my way to school I saw 5 students wearing Nike shoes therefore I am

certain that everyone in CEU wears Nike shoes.

Converse
Accident (Hasty
Generalization)
 Informal Fallacies
Are also called material fallacies, since they are due to an anomaly or defect in the content in the
argument.

Fallacies of Ambiguity

Fallacies in which the error in reasoning is brought about by the occurrence of ambiguous terms whose
meanings are confused in an argument.

Ex: Fallacy of equivocation, composition and division.

 Fallacies of Relevance

Fallacies in which the error in reasoning is brought about by the irrelevance of the premise or
premises to the conclusion of an argument.

Ex: Argument from ignorance, Appeal to Inappropriate Authority, Appeal to Pity, Appeal to Popular
Will and Appeal to Force

Fallacies of Presumption

Fallacies in which the error in reasoning is brought about by the occurrence of complex or loaded
expressions whose assumptions are questionable or have not yet been proven to be true.

Ex: Fallacy of Complex Question, False Cause, Begging the Question, Accident and Hasty
Generalization