PHIL 101 JMU Adajian

Aquinas's Fourth Way

-Commits the birthday fallacy -Is not valid, as it stands -Is deductive

What kind of design argument focuses on a general feature of the whole universe and explains that it is the product of intelligent design? See chapter 5.

Global design argument

If it's raining, then the street is wet It's not raining Therefore, the street is not wet. This Argument:

Has the invalid form If P, then Q Not P Therefore, Not Q

Your revered professor asserted that philosophical questions have two traits: (i) they are abstract, and (ii) they concern matters taken for granted in everyday life and in other fields of study.

True

Which of the following is an instance of the invalid argument form that our text refers to in chapter 4 as the birthday fallacy?

-Every contingent entity fails to exist at some time. Therefore, there's a time at which every contingent entity fails to exist. -Every alpha has a beta. Therefore, there is a beta which is every alpha's beta - Every city has a mayor. Therefore, there is someone who's the mayor of every city -Every event has a cause. Therefore, there's something that's every event's cause

An incredibly complex system is one that

-Has a function -Is made of many parts -is such that if any of the parts were removed, the system would be unable to fulfill its function

See the chapter on deductive arguments. According to our text if you want to know whether an argument is invalid, you should

-first, ignore the argument's subject matter and isolate the logical form of the argument. -Second, see if you can invent an argument that has this logical form, in which the premises are true and the conclusion is false.

A true theory, according to chapter 6,

-must make true predictions -must not make false predictions -must make predictions that we would NOT expect to come out true if the theory were false

Theistic evolution..

-says that God set evolutionary processes in motion - says that mindless evolutionary processes, once started, suffice to explain the complex adaptations we observe organisms to have

Organisms are intricate and well-suited to the tasks of survival and reproduction. Therefore, Organisms were created by an intelligent designer This is best interpreted as

A non-deductive argument

An argument that puts forward its conclusion as one that's possibly true is...

An abductive argument

An argument for a key premise in Aquinas's Second Way goes like this: Every event we've experienced in the natural world has a cause. Therefore, every event in the natural world has a cause. This is:

An argument from a sample to a population An argument from a small and biased sample to a population A weak inductive argument An inductive argument

A sound argument is defined as...

An argument that 1. Is valid and 2. Has true premises

A contingent entity is...

An entity that exists in at least one but not all possible worlds

An argument that is supposed to make its conclusion probable is..

An inductive argument

Most of the supernatural entities we have experienced are morally good. Therefore, most supernatural entities are morally good. This is best interpreted as

An inductive argument

Researchers tested more than 250 bottles of water, from nine countries, sold under 11 different brands. These included Nestle Pure Life, Aquafina, Dasani, Evian, San Pellegrino and Gerolsteiner. Tiny plastic bits turned up in more than 90 % of them. Therefore, most bottled water bottles contain tiny plastic bits. This is:

An inductive argument

Which of the following claims is NOT part of Thomas Aquinas' Second Way?

Any empty time (time at which nothing exists) would have to be in the past

The concept of a possible world plays a key role in the Third Way. Which of the following is a possible world?

Any total way the world might've been

In class, your revered professor defined an inductive argument as any argument that goes from the particular to the general.

False

Most supernatural entities are morally good. The seventeen entities that designed the universe are supernatural entities. Therefore, the seventeen entities that designed the universe are morally good. This argument is:

Inductive

The claim that no contingent entity exists at all times

Is a premise in Aquinas' Third Way Is disputed in our text AND is a key premise in the third way

According to chapter 6, the idea that all present-day living things are genealogically related

Is not at all controversial in modern science

A deductive argument is an argument that

Is supposed to GUARANTEE its conclusion

In what way does Aquinas's formulation of the Argument from Design commit the Birthday Fallacy?

It assumes that if each mindless object that acts for an end has a designer, there must be a single designer of all mindless objects that act for an end.

_________ propositions are true in every possible world, according to chapter 4.

Necessary

According to chapter 4, God is not the only necessary being

TRue

A. If my religious text states something incompatible with our very best science, then our very best science is wrong B. It's not the case that our very best science is wrong. Therefore, C. It's not the case that my religious text states something incompatible with our very best science.

The argument is valid, the argument is denying the consequent and it has the form if P then Q, Not Q, so Not P

At least one entity outside of the natural world exists. Therefore, an all-PKG entity (God) exists.

This argument is invalid, as Aquinas himself realized

A. If my religious text states something incompatible with our very best science, then our very best science is wrong B. My religious text states something incompatible with our very best science Therefore, C. Our very best science is wrong

This argument is valid. it has the form If P, then Q. P. So, Q So, if the conclusion of the argument is false, then at least one of its premises must be false.

A. If astrology is a reliable source of knowledge, then any two humans born at exactly the same time would have identical personalities B. it's false that any two humans born at exactly the same time have identical personalities--in fact, it's absurd C. therefore, astrology isn't a reliable source of knowledge

This is a reductio ad absurdum argument, and reductio ad absurdum is a valid argument form.

Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, has a vast underground ocean of salty water. If there is life on Ganymede, then there would be water on Ganymede. So, maybe there's life on Ganymede.

This is invalid if treated as a deductive argument, but it's fine if treated as an abductive argument.

In "The First Rule of Reason," C. S. Peirce says that the "one unpardonable offense in reasoning" is

To set up a philosophy which barricades the road of further advance toward the truth. (That is, to block the way of inquiry.)

According to our text ( see chapter 3), if a theory makes a prediction that turns out to be false, that is conclusive proof that the theory implying the prediction is false.

True

According to our text (pp. 15 - 16) if you want to know whether an argument is invalid, you should first, ignore the argument's subject matter and isolate the logical form of the argument. Second, see if you can invent an argument that has this logical form, in which the premises are true and the conclusion is false.

True

Chapter 5 discusses deductive, inductive, and abductive versions of the design argument for the existence of God

True

Some of the versions of creationism discussed in chapter 6 are testable, and some of them are not testable.

True

If you come across an argument that is invalid, but seems intended to be deductive, you should

Try to repair it by adding a reasonable premise that would make it valid

truth. (That is, to block the way of inquiry.) If Lee lives in Harrisonburg, then Lee lives in the capital of Virginia. Lee lives in Harrisonburg. Hence, Lee lives in the capital of Virginia. This argument is

Valid, unsound because the first premise is false AND has the form If P Then Q, P. So Q

When presented with an argument that you want to evaluate, the first question you should ask is

What kind of an argument (deductive, inductive, abductive) is it? That is, are the premises intended to guarantee the truth of the conclusion, to make the conclusion probably true, or to offer a possible explanation of an observed fact?

If you come across a deductive argument that is invalid,

You should try to repair by adding a true premise

Review the posted Key Questions about Arguments reading. An inductive argument is defined as

an argument whose premises are supposed to make its conclusion probable.

A valid argument is defined as..

an argument with this trait: IF its premises are true, then its conclusion must be true.

Evolutionary theory..

is neutral on the question of whether there is a God

A deductive argument is an argument that...

is supposed to guarantee its conclusion

According to our text, (pg. 17)

often the price of making an argument valid by adding a premise is that you have to supply a premise you think is false. In making this addition, you are trading one defect (invalidity) for another defect (false premises).

According to chapter 3, if a theory makes a false prediction, then

that is conclusive proof that the theory implying the prediction is false

If 2 + 2 = 4, then an all-PKG being exists. 2 + 2 = 4. Therefore, an all-PKG being exists

this argument is unsound because the premise is false -this argument is valid -This argument has the form If P, then Q. P. Therefore, Q

Aquinas thinks that no cause/effect chain extends infinitely into the past. It was argued in class that

this claim does not follow validly from the premise that if a causal chain lacked a first member, then all subsequent events in the chain could not occur