Ethical Reasoning: Chapter 3: Moral Arguments

Fallacy

A common but faulty argument.

Invalid Argument

A deductive argument that does not offer logically conclusive support for the conclusion.

Valid Argument

A deductive argument that provides logically concluding support for its conclusion.

Argument

A group of statements, one of which is supposed to be supported by the rest.

Considered Moral Judgement

A moral judgment that is as free from bias and distorting passions as possible. We generally trust such a judgement unless there is a reason to doubt it. Examples: "Equals should be treated equally" and "Slavery is wrong."

Sometimes the sticking point in a moral argument is not a moral premise but a nonmoral one-a claim about what?

A nonmoral state of affairs

Moral Statement

A statement affirming that an action is right or wrong or that a person (or one's motive or character) is good or bad.

Nonmoral Statement

A statement that does not affirm that an action is right or wrong or that a person (or one's motive or character) is good or bad.

Cogent Argument

A strong argument with true premises.

Premise

A supporting statement in an argument.

Sound Argument

A valid argument with true premises.

Appeal to the person is also known as what?

Ad hominem

Hypothetical Syllogism

An argument of the form: If p, then q. then r; therefore, if p, then r.

Modus Tollens

An argument of the form: If p, then q; not q; therefore, not p.

Modus Ponens

An argument of the form: If p, then q; therefore q.

Deductive Argument

An argument that is supposed to give logically conclusive support to its conclusion.

Inductive Argument

An argument that is supposed to offer probable support to its conclusions.

Statement

An assertion that something is or is not the case. Also called a claim.

Weak Argument

An inductive argument that does not give probable support to its conclusion.

Strong Argument

An inductive argument that provides probable support for its conclusion.

The fallacy of relying on the opinion of someone throughout to be an expert who is not.

Appeal to authority

What fallacy is relying on the opinion of someone thought to be an expert who is not?

Appeal to authority

We commit this _________________ _______ ______________ fallacy when we try to convince someone to accept a conclusion not by providing them with relevant reasons but by appealing only to fear, guilt, anger, hate, compassion, and the like.

Appeal to emotion

The fallacy of arguing that the absence of evidence entitles us to believe a claim.

Appeal to ignorance

The fallacy of trying to convince someone to accept a conclusion by appealing only to fear, guilt, anger, hate, compassion, and the like.

Appeal to the emotion

The fallacy of arguing that a claim should be rejected solely because of the characteristics of the person who makes it; also known as hominem.

Appeal to the person

______________ _________ _________________ is arguing that a claim should be rejected solely because of the characteristics of the person who makes it.

Appeal to the person

A group of statements, one of which is supposed to be supported by the rest.

Argument

The fallacy of arguing in a critical-trying is, trying to use a statement as both a premise in an argument and the conclusion of that argument.Such an argument says, in effect, p is true because p is true.

Begging the question

We make a fallacious appeal to authority when we what?

Cite experts who are not experts in the field under discussion (though they may not be experts in some other field).

The straw man fallacy amounts to misrepresenting someone's ___________________ or ____________________ so it can be more easily refuted.

Claim or argument

A strong argument with true premises.

Cogent argument

The greater the relvant similarities the more likely the what is true?

Conclusion

The statement supported in an argument.

Conclusion

A moral judgment that is as free from bias and distorting passions as possible. We generally trust such a judgement unless there is a reason to doubt it. Examples: "Equals should be treated equally" and "Slavery is wrong."

Considered moral judgement

Checking a moral premise against possible counterexamples is a way to consult our what?

Considered moral judgments

If we want to test a moral premise (a variety of universal generalization), we can look for what?

Counterexamples

The easiest way to identify implied premises in a moral argument is to treat it as _______________.

Deductive

An argument that is supposed to give logically conclusive support to its conclusion.

Deductive argument

The best way to avoid using fallacies-or being taken in by them- is to study them so you know how they work and you can what?

Easily identify them

The fallacy of assigning two different meanings to the same term in an argument.

Equivocation

A bad argument fails tat least one of those conditions-it has a false premise or a conclusion that does not follow. This faliure, however, can appear in many different argument forms, some of which are what/.

Extremely common

These commonly bad arguments are known as what?

Fallacies

A common but faulty argument.

Fallacy

A claim must not stand on its own merits. True/False?

False - must stand on its own merits

No premise should be left examined. True/False?

False - no premise should be left unexamned

It is obviously false that a fetus is a person, because science has not proven that it is a person. This argument is an appeal to the people. True/False?

False - this argument is an appeal to ignorance

The fallacy of ________________ _____________________ is arguing by an analogy that is weak.

Faulty analogy

The use of a flawed analogy to argue for a conclusion.

Faulty analogy

The fallacy of drawing a conclusion about an entire group of people or things based on an undersized sample of the group.

Hasty generalization

An argument of the form: If p, then q. then r; therefore, if p, then r.

Hypothetical syllogism

Two rules of thumb should guide your sue of expert opinion. What is the first?

If a claim conflicts with the consensus of opinion among experts, you have a good reason to doubt the claim.

Two rules of thumb should guide your sue of expert opinion. What is the second?

If experts disagree about a claim, you again have good reason to doubt it.

Terms that often appear in arguments to signal presence of a premise or conclusion, or to indicate that an argument is deductive or inductive.

Indicator words

An argument that is supposed to offer probable support to its conclusions.

Inductive argument

A deductive argument that does not offer logically conclusive support for the conclusion.

Invalid argument

An argument of the form: If p, then q; therefore q.

Modus ponens

An argument of the form: If p, then q; not q; therefore, not p.

Modus tollens

Unfortunately, the straw man fallacy is rampant in debates about what?

Moral issues

Our considered ___________________ _________________ are those that are as free from bbias and distorting passions as possible, judgements that we generally trust unless there is a reason to doubt them.

Moral judgements

Though flawed, fallacies are often persuasive an frequently employed to mislead the unwary-even in (or especially in) _________________ ________________.

Moral reasoning

A statement affirming that an action is right or wrong or that a person (or one's motive or character) is good or bad.

Moral statement

A statement that does not affirm that an action is right or wrong or that a person (or one's motive or character) is good or bad.

Nonmoral statement

A supporting statement in an argument.

Premise

Whether a statement is true or false, it must be judged according to the quality of the ______________ and ________________ behind it.

Reasoning and evidence

____________________ __________________ is a fallacy of using dubious premises to argue that doing a particular action will inevitably lead to other actions that will result in disaster, so you should not do the first action.

Slippery Slope

The fallacy of using dubious premise to an argue that doing a particular action will inevitably lead to other actions that will result in disaster, so you should not do the first action.

Slippery slope

A valid argument with true premises.

Sound argument

An assertion that something is or is not the case. Also called a claim.

Statement

The fallacy of misrepresenting someone's claim or argument so it can be more easily refuted.

Straw man

An inductive argument that provides probable support for its conclusion.

Strong argument

The most important principle to remember is that nonmoral premises, like all premises, must be what?

Supported by good reasons

Indicator Words

Terms that often appear in arguments to signal presence of a premise or conclusion, or to indicate that an argument is deductive or inductive.

Begging the Question

The fallacy of arguing in a critical-trying is, trying to use a statement as both a premise in an argument and the conclusion of that argument.Such an argument says, in effect, p is true because p is true.

Appeal to the Person

The fallacy of arguing that a claim should be rejected solely because of the characteristics of the person who makes it; also known as hominem.

Appeal to Ignorance

The fallacy of arguing that the absence of evidence entitles us to believe a claim.

Equivocation

The fallacy of assigning two different meanings to the same term in an argument.

Hasty Generalization

The fallacy of drawing a conclusion about an entire group of people or things based on an undersized sample of the group.

Straw Man

The fallacy of misrepresenting someone's claim or argument so it can be more easily refuted.

Appeal to Authority

The fallacy of relying on the opinion of someone throughout to be an expert who is not.

Appeal to the Emotion

The fallacy of trying to convince someone to accept a conclusion by appealing only to fear, guilt, anger, hate, compassion, and the like.

Slippery Slope

The fallacy of using dubious premise to an argue that doing a particular action will inevitably lead to other actions that will result in disaster, so you should not do the first action.

Conclusion

The statement supported in an argument.

Faulty Analogy

The use of a flawed analogy to argue for a conclusion.

An expert, of course, can be a source of reliable information, but only if he or she is authority in the designated subject area. True/False?

True

Bad people construct good arguments; good people can construct bad arguments. True/False?

True

Begging the question is the fallacy of arguing in a circle-that is, trying to use a statement as both a premise in an argument and the conclusion of the argument. True/False?

True

Ensuring that nonmoral premises are supported by good reasons is sometimes difficult by always worth the effort. True/False?

True

Hasty generalization is a fallacy of inductive reasoning. True/False?

True

In argument by analogy, the probability that the conclusion is true depends on the relevant similarities between the two things being compared. True/False?

True

In strong arguments by analogy, not only must the degree of similarity be great but also the similarities must be relevant. True/False?

True

No one has proven that the fetus is not a person, so it is in fact a person. This argument is an appeal to ignorance. True/False?

True

Our ultimate goal should be to ensure that all our moral belies are as logically consistent as we can make them. True/False?

True

Recall that a good argument has true premises plus a conclusion that follows from those premises. True/False?

True

The fallacy of equivocation assigns two different meanings to the same term in an argument. True/False?

True

The straw man fallacy is not just a bad argument-it flies in the face of the spirit of moral reasoning, which is seeking understanding through critical thinking and honest and fair exploration of issues. True/False?

True

The use of an analogy to argue for a conclusion is known, not surprisingly, as an argument by analogy. It is a type of inductive argument that says because two things are alike in some ways, they must be alike in some additional ways. True/False?

True

We make a fallacious appeal to authority when we cite nonexperts as experts. True/False?

True

A deductive argument that provides logically concluding support for its conclusion.

Valid argument

An inductive argument that does not give probable support to its conclusion.

Weak argument