PHIL 2110: Study Sheet for the 4^th (and final!) Exam

Dr. Magada-Ward

W.r.t. Chapter 8, you need to know:

-          definitions of the following terms: simple statement, compound statement, statement variable, argument form, substitution instance, the specific form of an argument, statement form

-          the truth table definitions of the dot, the wedge, the curl, the horseshoe, and the biconditional and how to translate conjunctions, disjunctions, etc. from English into our artificial language

-          how to use the truth table method to test for validity

-          how to identify a given statement form as a tautology, contradiction, or contingent statement form

-          how to determine if two statement forms are logically equivalent

W.r.t. Chapter 11, you need to know:

-          the differences between deductive and inductive arguments

-          what an analogy is and how to distinguish between analogical arguments and nonargumentative uses of analogy

-          the 6 criteria for appraising analogical arguments and how to use them to evaluate the probability of the truth of the conclusion in a given analogical argument

-          what a refuting analogy is

-          how to identify the position under attack and the refuting analogy in a given refutation by logical analogy

W.r.t. Chapter 12, you need to know:

-          definitions of the following terms: necessary condition, sufficient condition, remote cause, proximate cause, causal law, and inductive generalization

-          what the method of simple enumeration is and its virtue and limitation

-          what Mill’s 5 methods are, their virtues and limitations, and how to identify which method is used in a given description of scientific investigation

Take Home Extra Credit

Worth 10 points; please turn in with your exam.

Your task is to find 3 refutations by logical analogy in the popular press and then (1) identify the positions under attack and (2) the refuting analogies.