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1. Logical Form
Exercise 5.1
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(P1) p (C) p
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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
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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"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)
ARGUMENT: Critical Thinking, Logic and the Fallacies Chapter 5: Formal and Informal Logic 55
Logical forms I see somebody on the road It is not the case that (I see somebody on the road)
ARGUMENT: Critical Thinking, Logic and the Fallacies Chapter 5: Formal and Informal Logic 56
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
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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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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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")
ARGUMENT: Critical Thinking, Logic and the Fallacies Chapter 5: Formal and Informal Logic 510
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
ARGUMENT: Critical Thinking, Logic and the Fallacies
True False False / Valid False True False / Valid True True False / Invalid False False False / Invalid
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Example Thrifty people save old cardboard boxes and waste paper Therefore, thrifty people waste paper pq q
ARGUMENT: Critical Thinking, Logic and the Fallacies
pq r
Chapter 5: Formal and Informal Logic 513
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
ARGUMENT: Critical Thinking, Logic and the Fallacies Chapter 5: Formal and Informal Logic 514
Other Paradoxes
The Postcard Paradox The Heterological Paradox The Barber Paradox The Protagoras Paradox The Russell Paradox
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