Philosophy 103 Logic

CLEARLY IDENTIFY THE PREMISS (ES) AND CONCLUSION IN EACH OF THE 10 ARGUMENTATIVE PASSAGES

a)     A well-regulated militia is necessary to the security of a free state; and, as such, the rights of the people to keep and bear arms shall or must not be infringed upon.

a.     Tortured prisoners will say or do anything in order not to relieve that tormenting and painful experience. As a result, torture is not a reliable method of interrogation.

b)    Expectant mothers should never use recreational drugs,since the use of such recreational drugs can jeopardize the full development and health of the fetus.

c)     Contrary to what many people think, a positive test for HIV is not necessarily a death sentence. For one reason, the time from the development of antibodies to clinical symptoms averages nearly ten years. And for another reason, many reports are suggesting that a significant number of people who test positive may never develop clinical AIDS.

d)    Forbear to judge other people, for we are all sinners before God.

e)     Wisdom is the most important thing in this life. So get wisdom and be happy in life.

f)     Mad cow disease is spreading by feeding parts of infected animals to cows, and this practice has yet to be completely eradiated. Thus, mad cow disease continues to pose a threat to people who eat beef.

g)    Thinking is a function of a human being’s immortal soul. Human beings have immortal soul and can think. Hence human beings are immortal and can also think.

h)    Titanium combines readily with oxygen and other chemical substances can have an adverse effect on burning substances. In conclusion, titanium must not be processed in the vicinity of substances like nitrogen, hydrogen and similar elements.

i)      The classroom teacher is crucial to the development and academic success of the average student, and administrators are simply ancillary to this effort. Hence, classroom teachers ought to be paid the equivalent of what the administrators and superintendents make.  

3)    IDENTIFY AND NAME THE SPECIFIC INFORMAL FALLACY/FALLACIES COMMITTED IN EACH OF THE THESE ARGUMENTATIVE PASSAGES

a)     Ms. Oprah Winfrey is an incredibly popular television personality, very influential black entertainer, and one of the richest women in the world today. She said recently that taking Vitamin X & Z products are good and can reduce obesity. So if you do not feel well, take Vitamin X & Z!    _______________________________________________

b)    Everyone these days is on a low-crab diet. Therefore, you should go on a low-crab diet too in order to do what everyone else is doing! _________________________________

c)     Television entertainer and social critic Mr. Bill Maher argues that religion is just a lot of foolish nonsense. But Mr. Maher is an arrogant, shameless, and self-righteous pig. His argument is not worth listening to. _________________________________________

d)    Can I ask you this questions: “have you stopped cheating on our examinations, yet”? And also “why do you always like to cheat during examinations?” _____________________

e)     Whoever trusts a knife into somebody else or uses it to cut another individual should be arrested and send to jail (prison). But medical doctors and some surgeons, at various medical clinics and hospitals, use knife to cut people up during surgeries or other medical procedures. Therefore, there is no question that surgeons and other medical professionals should be arrested and send to prison. _____________________________

f)     The editors of the Daily Register have accused our company of being one of the city’s worst water polluters. But come to think about it, the Daily Register has been responsible for much more pollution than any other business enterprise in the area. After all, they own the Western Paper Company, and evidence shows that that company discharges tons of chemical residue into the city’s river or waterways every day and seven days a week. _____________________________

g)    The position open in the accounting department should be given to Mr. Arah. He has six hungry children to feed, take care of and support. Worse still, his beautiful wife is about to divorce him, because he desperately needs an eye surgery to save his eyesight. Mr. Arah really needs some help! _____________________________________________

h)    Surely, you are smart and we welcome you to our association with fantastic benefits for joining. If you had not joined, I would ask you to imagine or think of all the money that you could have lost from broken windows, overturned cars/trucks, and the damaged merchandize in your store by our young thugs. _______________________________

i)      So many people have been trying for centuries to provide conclusive evidence for the claims of astrology, and no one has yet succeeded. So we must conclude that the truth of astrology is a lot of nonsense. _________________________________________

J)   Successful business executives and corporate leaders everywhere are paid salaries in excess of $100.000 for working hard and making proper investments that enable them dress well and look sharp. As a result, the best way to ensure that students will become highly successful entrepreneurs is for them to dress well. ________________________

PART 4:

a)         What is the difference between stipulative definition and lexical definition?  __________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b)         What is the difference between fallacy of equivocation and fallacy of amphiboly? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

c)         What is the difference between formal fallacy and informal fallacy? ________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

e)         What have you learned so far from taking this philosophy/logic course? ______________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

f)         What have you learned so far in this course (in terms of the nature of the discipline, value or benefits of studying/majoring in philosophy, and being exposed to logic?