Chapter 3 - Moral Arguments

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

hypothetical syllogism

An argument of the form - If p, then q - If 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 - P - Therefore, q

deductive argument

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

invalid argument

An argument that is supposed to offer probable support to its conclusion

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

fallacy

A common but faulty argument

invalid argument

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

valid argument

A deductive argument that provides logically conclusive support for its conclusion

argument

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

considered moral judgment

A mora judgment that is as free from bias and distorting passion as possible. We generally trust such a judgment unless there is reason to doubt it - Example = "Equals should be treated equally", "Slavery is wrong"

indicator words

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

begging the question

The fallacy (misconception) 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; such an argument says, in effect, p is true because p is true

appeal to the person

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

appeal to ignorance

The fallacy (misconception) of arguing that the absence of evidence entitles us to believe a claim

equivocation

The fallacy (misconception) of assigning 2 different meanings to the same term in an argument

hasty generalization

The fallacy (misconception) of drawing a conclusion about an entire group of people/things based on an undersized sample of the group

straw man

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

appeal to authority

The fallacy (misconception) of relying on the opinion of someone thought to be an expert who is not

appeal to emotion

The fallacy (misconception) 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 (misconception) of using dubious (doubtful) 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 1st action

conclusion

The statement supported in an argument

faulty analogy

The use of a flawed analogy to argue for a conclusion