Logic and critical thinking midterm quiz questions

Aristotle's logic can be described as...

Categorical

Some "Cats" are musicals on Broadway. (universal or particular) or (affirmative or negative)

Particular affirmative; Subject term undistributed; Predicate term undistributed.

According to medieval logicians, what is the difference between physics and logic?

Physics is about contingency, while logic is about possibility and necessity

Aristote's teacher was...

Plato

valid syllogism:

A valid syllogism is one in which the conclu- sion must be true when each of the two premises is true;

Does the following passage contain an argument?She won the lottery, so she will quit her job soon.

Argument

Instructions: Determine whether or not the following passages contain arguments. I got at least a 95 on all my exams in this course. The syllabus says that anything over a 92 is an A. So, I expect to get an A for the course.

Argument

Instructions: Determine whether or not the following passages contain arguments. It follows from the fact that she eats pork, chicken, beef, mutton, veal, venison, turkey, and fish that she must not be a vegetarian.

Argument

As far as we can tell from the historical record, the first person to study logical form (i.e. why some arguments are valid and others are not) was...

Aristotle

What distinguishes Aristotle's approach to the study of arguments from that of classical Indian or Chinese philosophers?

Aristotle was the only one to focus on validity apart from other parts of arguments

Instructions: Determine whether the following arguments are best classified as being deductive or inductive. The exam's range of C scores is 70-79. I got a 98 on the exam. Therefore, I did not get a C on the exam.

Deductive

Is the following argument best classified as deductive or inductive?All elements with atomic weights greater than 64 are metals. Z is an element with an atomic weight of 79. Therefore, Z is a metal.

Deductive

Is the following argument best classified as deductive or inductive?All fires need oxygen. There is no oxygen in that room. So there is no fire in that room.

Deductive

According to Aristotle's theory of the syllogism, a syllogism must have a...

Distributed middle term

Is the following passage an argument or an explanation?The judge agreed with her, but charged too high a bond, so the auction went on.

Explanation

Is the following passage an argument or an explanation?The reason why Battlin' Jack has won eight fights in a row is not due to superior conditioning—he's still just as old and over the hill as he was before this streak began. Nor is it due to inferior opponents. The real cause is that the fights have been rigged. The mob controls the fights in this part of town.

Explanation

A valid argument is automatically a sound argument.

False

An argument is any group of statements.

False

An argument must have at least two premises.

False

An inductive argument is one in which it is claimed that the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises.

False

If an A-Proposition is true, it logically follows that the corresponding O-proposition is...

False

If it is true that "All banshees are screeching ghosts," then the proposition "No banshees are screeching ghosts" must be:

False The two propositions are contraries; therefore, if one is given as true, then the other must be false.

Is the following syllogism valid? 1) All residents of Halifax are residence of Nova Scotia 2) Some residents of Nova Scotia speak Scots Gaelic 3) Therefore, all residents of Halifax speak Scots Gaelic

Invalid

Is the following syllogism valid? 1) No student is a caveman 2) No caveman is a truck driver 3) Therefore, no student is a truck driver

Invalid

Is the following syllogism valid? 1) Some horses are brave 2) Bucephalus is a horse 3) Therefore, Bucephalus is brave

Invalid

The ancient Greeks liked to study elenchos; eventually this led to two separate studies or disciplines. What are they?

Logic and Rhetoric

According to If A, then B, what is one of the things that differentiate logical truths from truths about objects

Logical truths are independent of time and place

What ancient Greek word is our word "logic" derived from?

Logos

The four corners of the square of opposition are known as A, I, E and O. Who came up with these labels?

Medieval Logicians

What is the obverse of the following statement: All vertebrates are animals

No vertebrates are non-animals

Instructions: Pick out the premises and conclusion for each of the following arguments. Argument 1: Hamburgers are loaded with saturated fat and sodium. Pizza is loaded with saturated fat and sodium. Too much saturated fat and sodium is harmful to your heart. Jim takes in too much saturated fat and sodium. It follows Jim is harming his heart. Hamburgers are loaded with saturated fat and sodium.

Premise

Instructions: Pick out the premises and conclusion for each of the following arguments.Argument 1Hamburgers are loaded with saturated fat and sodium. Pizza is loaded with saturated fat and sodium. Too much saturated fat and sodium is harmful to your heart. Jim takes in too much saturated fat and sodium. It follows Jim is harming his heart. Pizza is loaded with saturated fat and sodium.

Premise

What is the subaltern of the following statement: All happy people are thankful people

Some happy people are thankful people

What is the contraposition of the following statement: Some mammals have fins

Some non-fins are non-mammals

The first paid teachers in ancient Greece were known as...

Sophists

According to Aristotle's theory of the categories, how many categories are there?

Ten: substance and the nine accidents

Aristotle's school was known as...

The Lyceum

A single counterexample to a deductive argument is enough to show that an argument is invalid.

True

A strong inductive argument is an argument such that if the premises are assumed to be true, then the conclusion is probably true.

True

A valid deductive argument is one where, assuming the premises are true, it is impossible for the conclusion to be false.

True

An invalid argument is automatically an unsound argument.

True

Every statement is either true or false; these two possibilities are called truth values.

True

If it is false that "All cats are mammals," then the proposition "Some cats are not mammals" must be:

True Since these propositions are contradictories, if one is given as false (the A-proposition), then the contradictory (the O-proposition) must be true.

If it is true that "No humans are reptiles," then the proposition "Some humans are not reptiles" must be:

True Since these fall under subalternation, if the universal (in this case an E-proposition) is true, then the corresponding particular (in this case an O-proposition) must be true, too.

If it is false that "All jabberwockies are slithy toads," then the proposition "Some jabberwockies are slithy toads" must be:

Undetermined If the universal affirmative (the superaltern) is false, then the particular affirmative (the subaltern) is undetermined.

If it is true that "Some dogs are collies," then the proposition "Some dogs are not collies" must be:

Undetermined The two propositions are subcontraries. If a subcontrary is given as true, the truth value of the corresponding subcontrary is undetermined.

No computers are conscious things. (universal or particular) or (affirmative or negative)

Universal negative; Subject term distributed; Predicate term distributed.

No reputable companies are sexist companies. (universal or particular) or (affirmative or negative)

Universal negative; Subject term distributed; Predicate term distributed.

Is it possible to provide a pictorial representations of categorical syllogisms?

Yes: One can use either Euler or Venn diagrams

undetermined syllogism

a neither valid nor invalid syllogism is one in which the conclusion either can be true or can be false when each of the two premises is true.

invalid syllogism

an invalid syllogism is one in which the conclusions must be false when each of the two premises is true;