Introduction to Logic and Reasoning

Lecture : Introduction to Logic

Week No: 03 22Nov2022

Instructor Name: Engr Faiza Mehreen

Text Book: irving M. Copi & carl Cohen -15th

edition.
Last Lecture –Review
• How to reason logically
• Critical thinking
• Facing a Decision as a Critical Thinker
• Advice for Logical Reason
• Examples of Good Reasoning
• Analyzing Argument
• Argument
• Inference
• Structure of Argument
• Simple and Complex Arguments
Contents of Today’s Presentation
• Recognizing Argument
• Premise Indicators
• Conclusion Indicators
• Arguments in Context
• Argument and Explanation
• Inductive Argument
• Deductive Argument
• Good Reasoning
• Facing a decision as a critical thinker.
Argument

• To evaluate an argument we need a full understanding of the

propositions that appear in that argument.
Argument
• With propositions as building blocks, we construct arguments. In any
argument, we affirm one proposition on the basis of some other
propositions. In doing this, an inference is drawn.

• Inference is a process that may tie together a cluster of propositions.

Some inferences are warranted (or correct); others are not.

• The logicians analyze these clusters, examining the propositions with

which the process begins and with which it ends.
Example-01 (inference)
• All mammals are warm blooded
• whales are mammals
• therefore, whales are warm blooded
Example-02 (inference)
• Most one-year-olds can walk.
• Jesse is one year old.
• It follows that Jesse can walk.
Example (inference)
• All mammals are warm-blooded – (Major Premise)

• whales are mammals - (Minor Premise )

• Therefore, whales are warm-blooded- (Conclusion)

Argument
• The logician analyzes these clusters, examining the propositions with
which the process begins and with which it ends, as well as the
relations among these propositions.

• Argument is a technical term in logic. It need not involve

disagreement, or controversy.
• In logic, argument refers strictly to any group of propositions of which
one is claimed to follow from the others.
Argument
• An argument is not merely a collection of propositions; it is a cluster
with a structure that captures or exhibits some inference.

• We describe this structure with the terms

• conclusion
• premise
 Structure of An Argument – Premise and
Conclusion
• Premise
• In an argument, the propositions upon which inference is based; the
propositions that are claimed to provide grounds or reasons for
the conclusion.

The term premise comes from medieval Latin, meaning  “things mentioned before.“

OR
A premise is a statement in an argument that provides reason or support for the
conclusion.
• an argument is not concerned with disputes among people; it is a set
of propositions that contain premises offered to support a conclusion
• For Example:

• All humans are mortal. [major premise]

• G.W. Bush is a human. [minor premise]
• Therefore, G.W. Bush is mortal. [conclusion]
Structure of An Argument – Premise and
Conclusion
• Conclusion

• In any argument, the proposition to which the other propositions in the

argument are claimed to give support, or for which they are given as reasons.

• All humans are mortal. [major premise]

• G.W. Bush is a human. [minor premise]
• Therefore, G.W. Bush is mortal. [conclusion]
Conclusion Indicators and Premise
Indicators

• One useful method depends on the appearance of certain common

indicators, certain words or phrases that typically serve to signal the
appearance of an argument’s conclusion or of its premises.
•
• Conclusion Indicator: A word or phrase (such as “therefore” or “thus”)
appearing in an argument and usually indicating that what follows it is
the conclusion of that argument.
 List of Conclusion indicators
Therefore For these reasons
hence If follows that
So I conclude that
Accordingly Which shows that
In consequence Which means that
Proves that Which implies
As a result Which allows us to infer that
For this reason Which point to the conclusion
Conclusion Indicators and Premise
Indicators
• Premise indicator :
• In an argument, a word or phrase (like “because” and “since”) that
normally signals that what follows it are statements serving as
premises.
 List of Premise indicators
Since As indicated by
Because The reason is that
For For the reason that
as May be inferred from
Follows from May be derived from
In as much as In view of the fact that
Examples ( Premise Indicator)
• Since carrots are full of vitamins, it follows that your body will benefit
if you eat them.
• Since covid-19 is pandamic every one should be in lock down.
Examples ( Conclusion Indicator)
• It’s flue season and you work with kids , so you should get a flu shot.

• We must reduce the amount of money we spend on space

exploration. Right now, the enemy is launching a massive military
buildup, and we need the additional money to purchase military
equipment to match the anticipated increase in the enemy’s strength.
Arguments and Explanations
• Passages that appear to be arguments are sometimes not arguments
but explanations.
• The appearance of words that are common indicators such as

• “because,” “for,” “since,” and “therefore”—cannot settle the matter,

because those words are used both in explanations and in arguments.
We need to know the intention of the author.
Explanation

• It’s a rational in which the reason presents a cause of some fact represented
by some conclusion
• Its purpose is to help us understand How and Why that fact occurs.
• Explaination answers the question
• Why is it so?
• This is a request for a cause.

• The event or phenomenon in question is usually accepted as a matter of fact.

Argument
• An Argument is rational in which the reason presents the evidence in
support of a claim made in the conclusion.
• Its purpose is to make you believe that conclusion is true.
• Argument answers the question
• How do you know?
• This is a request for a evidence.
Example

• The sky appears blue from the earth’s surface because light rays from
the sun are scattered by particles in the atmosphere.

• Golf balls have a dimpled surface because the dimples reduce air
drag, causing the ball to travel farther.
• purpose of the explanans is to shed light on, or to make sense of, the
explanandum event.

• Explanans- To show why something is the case. whereas in an

argument, the purpose of the premise is to prove that something is
the case.
• I would like to highlight another property of water, unique but also
vital to making life on Earth possible. As the water cools, approaching
its freezing point, its density suddenly decreases, reversing the usual
“natural convection (heat transportation mechanism)” patterns in
which colder fluids sink. This reversal causes the coldest strata of
water to rise to the top of an ocean or lake. These large bodies of
water now freeze from the top down. Were it not for this unique
property of water, the oceans and lakes would have long and
completely frozen over from the bottom up with dire consequences
for any life-sustaining liquid water on Earth.
Another Example
• Tortured prisoners will say anything just to relieve the pain.
Consequently, torture is not a reliable method of interrogation.

• Identify the premise and conclusion

Quiz –Solution
• A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

• Coal does not exist in infinite supply. Nonrenewable resources do not

exist in infinite supply. Coal is a nonrenewable resource.

• Identical twins often have different IQ scores. Identical twins inherit

the same genes. The environment must play some part
in determining IQ.
Quiz –Solution
• God exists, for the world is an organized system and all organized
systems must have a creator. The creator of the world is God.
Recognizing Argument