Are deductive arguments strong or weak?
Argument Basics A deductive argument is intended to provide logically conclusive support for a conclusion; an inductive one, probable support for a conclusion. Deductive arguments can be valid or invalid; inductive arguments, strong or weak. A valid argument with true premises is said to be sound.
Can an argument be weak and valid?
1:516:39What is a "STRONG" argument? - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThis difference is what the distinction between weak and strong arguments amounts to the argument onMoreThis difference is what the distinction between weak and strong arguments amounts to the argument on the left is what we call a logically weak argument. It does not satisfy the logic condition.
What is the weakest argument?
So a weak argument is one that fails either logically or the person considering the argument doesn't accept one or more of the premises. An argument may be weak, therefore, because it is ill-formed. Or in cases where it is valid or cogent, then it may be weak because you fail to believe that the premises are true.
What do you call a weak argument?
4 deficient, faulty, inadequate, lacking, pathetic, poor, substandard, under-strength, wanting. 5 feeble, flimsy, hollow, inconclusive, invalid, lame, pathetic, shallow, slight, unconvincing, unsatisfactory. 6 defenceless, exposed, helpless, unguarded, unprotected, unsafe, untenable, vulnerable, wide open.
What makes an argument deductive?
A deductive argument is the presentation of statements that are assumed or known to be true as premises for a conclusion that necessarily follows from those statements. Deductive reasoning relies on what is assumed to be known to infer truths about similarly related conclusions.
What is a weak inductive argument?
To summarize, a strong inductive argument is one where it is improbable for the conclusion to be false, given that the premises are true. A weak inductive argument is one where the conclusion probably would not follow from the premises, if they were true.
What makes a deductive argument invalid?
A deductive argument is said to be valid if and only if it takes a form that makes it impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion nevertheless to be false. Otherwise, a deductive argument is said to be invalid.
Can a weak argument have a true conclusion?
If an invalid argument has all true premises, then the conclusion must be false. FALSE: It is possible for an invalid argument to have all true premises and a true conclusion.
Can an invalid argument be strong?
To say an argument is cogent is to say it is good, believable; there is good evidence that the conclusion is true. A weak argument cannot be cogent, nor can a strong one with a false premise(s).
What is the difference between inductive and deductive arguments?
Broadly speaking, an inductive argument (or inductive reasoning) is one that is based on experience and observation, whereas a deductive argument (or deductive reasoning) relies on logic to reach a conclusion.
What does invalid mean in deductive argument?
(One can show that a deductive argument is invalid by producing a counterexample wherein the premises are true and the conclusion is false. )
What is deductive reasoning?
Deductive reasoning, however, is all about reaching a sure conclusion as long as the logic is valid and the premises are actually true. It works best when the the premises must be true due to being definitional in nature. For example:
Why is inductive reasoning flawed?
Inductive reasoning often involves arguing from specific to general, such as concluding that all swans are white because every swan you have personally observed is white. As such, inductive reasoning is subject to being flawed if your sample size is too small to justify the conclusion (to use an example one of my college philosophy professors liked to use, “All Indians walk single file — at least the one I saw did.”) Inductive reasoning may certainly lead to a true conclusion, but since it is based primarily on experience and observation there is no way to tell for sure.
What is the meaning of "valid" in argument?
For an argument to be “valid” means that, if the premises are true, then the conclusion cannot be false, but must be true — i.e., it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion not to be true. A deductive argument whose conclusion must [would] be true if its premises are [were] true is valid.
What does "sound" mean in argument?
sound — the premises are true and the conclusion must be true. (A sound argument is valid and does not admit any counterexample.)
What happens if the conclusion doesn't follow from the premises?
First way: if the conclusion doesn’t follow from the premises—if the argument contains an error in reasoning. In that case, the argument is invalid.
When is an argument weak?
1) An argument can be weak for a person when she considers the premises and she believes that one or more premises is false, or she suspends judgment about one or more of the premises. That is, if she thinks any premise is false, or if she suspends judgments about any premise, then that argument is weak. So consider this argument:
Why is an argument defeated for S?
An argument is defeated for S if and only if, the argument is cogent, the premises are reasonable for S to believe, but S believes the conclusion is false because it conflicts with S's total background evidence.
What if you suspend judgment about a premise?
If you suspend judgment about a premise, then it wouldn't be true to say that it is reasonable for you to believe. You're not sure, so you wouldn't consider the premise and believe that it is true. So if a person suspends judgment about any of the premises, then the second condition for deductive strength is not met, and this argument cannot, therefore, be deductively strong. It will be weak in this case.
What does it mean when the premises are reasonable?
If the premises are reasonable for S to believe, that means that S thinks they are true. And if the argument is valid, then it is an argument where the truth of the premises would guarantee the truth of the conclusion. So S is rationally committed to accepting the conclusion. The argument supports the conclusion for S. A deductively strong argument, then, is the best argument one can give for a conclusion. If you consider an argument that is valid and the premises are true, then you should accept the conclusion as true or reasonable.
What is a strong argument?
Very generally, strong arguments are ones whose conclusions we should accept because they support the conclusions well. Previously, we focused just on logical form of the arguments, but not the actual truth of the premises or conclusions. We saw that a valid argument is one where the premises, if they were true, would guarantee the truth of the conclusion. And a cogent argument is one that is invalid, and the premises, if they were true, would make the conclusion likely to be true. Ill-formed arguments are ones that are neither valid nor cogent.
What is the third category of arguments?
All arguments will be either deductively strong, inductively strong, or weak. A weak argument is one that should fail to convince us of its conclusion. Given the way we are analyzing arguments, there are three ways that they can be weak.
What is an ill formed argument?
An Ill formed argument is one that is neither valid nor cogent.
Can a valid argument have a false conclusion?
By definition, a valid argument cannot have a false conclusion and all true premises. So if a valid argument has a false conclusion it must have some false premise.
Is a deductive argument valid?
A deductive argument is said to be valid if and only if it takes a form that makes it impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion nevertheless to be false. Otherwise, a deductive argument is said to be invalid.
Can a deductive argument have all false premises?
A valid deductive argument cannot have all false premises and a true conclusion. A valid deductive argument can have all false premises and a false conclusion. 9. Whether an argument is valid has nothing to do with whether any of it's premises are actually true.
How to differentiate a strong argument from a weak argument?
How to differentiate a strong argument from weak argument can be confusing if you do not know the criteria that is used for it. The differentiation is very similar to what is obtainable in the soundness for a deductive argument. A strong argument that has true proof or premises is considered cogent. When an essay writing is said to be cogent, it ...
What is the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning?
However, inductive reasoning or logic is totally based on conclusion that is taken generally from behavior in some cases.
What does it mean when an argument is cogent?
When an essay writing is said to be cogent, it means that the argument is very good and believable with strong evidence to back up the conclusion. A weak argument is not cogent because is not true and has premises that is false.
Why can't weak evidence be supported?
While a weak evidence cannot be supported in a lot of places because it is not convincing and has no backing when it is researched. How to differentiate a strong argument from a weak argument can be easily noticed if the above facts are taken into consideration.
What is a strong argument?
Strong argument. A strong argument is solely based upon reasons, facts and figures that can be proven without reasonable doubts. Weak argument. A series of facts that are based on personal beliefs that may not true if investigated deeply. grid] [grid w=full] [writers] [/grid] [grid w=narrow]
What is the difference between weak evidence and strong evidence?
Weak Evidence vs Strong Evidence. A strong reason or claim requires a writer to come up with evidence that are strong and trustworthy. The evidence must be convincing and relevant to what is been argued upon. While a weak evidence cannot be supported in a lot of places because it is not convincing and has no backing when it is researched. ...
Is an argument based on deductive logic valid?
If you are taking arguments based on deductive logic and reasoning, they can either be invalid or valid. When it comes to invalid arguments, you should know that they are unsound or weak. Valid arguments are known to be very sound when the premises is true. Arguments based on inductive reasoning can either be weak or strong.
Why is an argument weak?
An argument may be weak, therefore, because it is ill-formed. Or in cases where it is valid or cogent, then it may be weak because you fail to believe that the premises are true.
What is a strong inductive argument?
A strong, inductive argument is such that that it is improbable that the premises are true and the conclusion is false. Conversely, a weak inductive argument is such that the conclusion does not follow probably from the premises, even though it is claimed to. If not, the argument is weak. Click to see full answer.
What are some examples of inductive reasoning?
Some examples of inductive reasoning include: Jennifer always leaves for school at 7:00 a.m. Jennifer is always on time. Jenni fer assumes, then, that she if she leaves at 7:00 a.m. for school today, she will be on time. Also know, what is a weak argument?
What is a strong argument?
Definition: A strong argument is a non-deductive argument that succeeds in providing probable, but not conclusive, logical support for its conclusion. A weak argument is a non-deductive argument that fails to provide probable support for its conclusion.
Is an inductive argument always stronger?
An inductive argument can always be stronger, always be weaker. Generally, if there is more than a 50-50 chance that the conclusion will follow from the (presumed) truth of the premises, then it is strong; otherwise it is weak. what are some examples of inductive arguments?
What is an example of weak inductive argument?
Another weak inductive argument example, this time from the world of finance, concerns the hedge fund Amaranth (ironically named after a flower that’s “immortal”), which incurred one of the steepest losses in trading history: $7 billion in less than a week. Just days before the company went into tailspin, Amaranth had reminded its investors that the firm employed twelve risk managers to keep losses to a minimum. The problem was that these risk managers—or suckers—based their models on the market’s past performance .
How to not be suckers and make weak inductive arguments?
In order not to be suckers and make weak inductive arguments, we must (1) cultivate an “ empirical skepticism ” —that is, a skepticism steeped in fact and observation—and (2) remain vigilant against the innately human tendencies that leave us vulnerable to Black Swans.
Should we seek empirical evidence?
Rather than trust in “expert” analyses or attempt to extrapolate cause-and-effect narratives from newspapers—materials that are typically based on inductive reasoning— we should seek out empirical experimental evidence (for example, studies conducted by empirical psychologists like Kahneman and Tversky).
What is deductive reasoning?
Deductive Reasoning. Deductive reasoning is the process by which we come to a certain and specific logical conclusion starting from given general premises. Another name for deductive reasoning is deductive logic. This process was first documented by Aristotle in the 4 th Century BC.
What is the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning?
Let’s come back to the brain areas activated in different types of reasoning. Inductive reasoning is an activity that is necessary for solving problems in everyday life or carrying out debates, while deductive reasoning is crucial in scientific demonstrations and discoveries.
What part of the brain is activated when using deductive reasoning?
As far as the brain is concerned, it seems that when employing deductive reasoning, there is an activation in the part of the brain associated with language. The study is probably limited in this area, as this surely depends on the type of problems presented to the subjects. So if the problems were not mathematical, but language related, then this might explain the activation of that part of the brain.
What are the two things that can help you recognize deductive reasoning?
There are two things which can help you recognize deductive reasoning: 100% Certainty. An important characteristic of deductive reasoning is that the conclusion is 100% certain. If we find that the conclusion is incorrect, then we need to re-visit the premises and figure out which one is false.
Which region of the brain is involved in inductive reasoning?
By contrast, using inductive reasoning involves tasks including generalization and abstraction and these activate the medial region of the left prefrontal cortex.
What is an invalid argument?
An invalid argument could be one where although the claims are true, the conclusion is false.
Can frontal lobe brain lesions be deductive?
How can it be that patients with brain lesions in the frontal lobe area often score reasonably well in IQ tests, but experience tremendous difficulty with real problems in their lives? If you ever found yourself acing those tests, but not doing so well with your daily problems, you might be surprised to learn that it might all be a matter of deductive versus inductive reasoning. If you’re not suffering of any brain lesion, like many things in life, this too can be changed as long as you’re committed to work on it.