Valid and sound Arguments
Counterexamples.
● Truth and falsehood.
● Valid and Sound arguments.
● Counterexamples.
Valid and sound arguments
Arguments
● An argument is not a fight (in this class).
● An argument is an attempt to rationally
persuade. It is putting a case for something.
● Some sentences, the premises are supposed to
support another sentence, the conclusion.
What makes an argument a good
one?
● The truth of the premises is inconsistent
with the falsehood of the conclusion in a
good argument.
● When it is impossible for the premises to be
true and the conclusion to be false, the
argument is said to be Valid.
● In an Invalid argument:
It is possible for the premises to be true
and for the conclusion to be false.
Valid arguments can have false
premises and false conclusions
● Here's one:
All Pigs are Blue.
All Blue things can Fly.
Therefore, all Pigs can Fly.
● False premises, false conclusion.
● But impossible for the premises to be all true
and the conclusion false.
● Use this format for the homework.
the Homework
● The homework asks you to give various
examples of valid arguments with false and true
premises.
● I suggest you use this format:
All X is Y
All Y is Z
So, all X is Z
● All solutions of X, Y and Z are valid arguments.
What is ruled out by valid
arguments?
All the premises Not all premises
are true are true, at least
one is false
The conclusion is Box A Box B
true.
The conclusion is Box C Box D
false
Sound Arguments
● Sound arguments must have two properties:
● They must be valid arguments.
● Their premises must be true.
● What follows from this?
An aside on evidence in Science
Arguments from evidence.
● Sometimes, we cite evidence as premises (in
the natural and social sciences, for example).
● A false conclusion is not, in this case, always
inconsistent with the evidence (at least, not
obviously).
● Either the evidence makes the conclusion more
probable...
● or the evidence we observed is very unlikely if
the conclusion is false.
The nature of scientific reasoning
● This is a topic of debate, sometimes very hot
debate.
● Some people think that, while valid arguments
often appear in science, not every good argument
from evidence is a valid argument, even when fully
spelled out.
● These people are wrong.
● This is a matter of debate.
● You can't understand the debate until you've done
some logic.
● So we'll ignore it.
Counterexamples
What they are.
● Counterexamples are a way to show that an
argument is invalid.
● To show that an argument is invalid, Show that:
There is some situation in which the
premises would all be true and the
conclusion false.
● A counterexample is a description of such a
situation.
To give a counterexample, usually...
● We alter the non-logical vocabulary.
● Here's an argument:
All Republicans are capitalists.
Some capitalists are exploitative.
So some Republicans are exploitative.
● One problem is that the premises might be
false, but the argument is also invalid.
You might as well say...
● All pigs are mammals (which is true)
● Some mammals can fly (true, bats can fly and
are mammals).
● So therefore...
Some pigs can fly.
● This is obviously invalid, but it has the same
form as “All Republicans are capitalists, some
capitalists are exploitative, so some
Republicans are exploitative.”
To present a counterexample...
● Describe a situation in which the premises of
the argument could be all true, while the
conclusion of the argument is false.
● You can describe that situation using the
argument as it stands, imagining a possible
situation or...
● You can present an argument of the same form,
which has true premises and a false conclusion.
Try it yourself
● Important note: 'All' and 'some' are part of the
logical vocabulary. So a counterexample has to
keep the 'all' and 'some' structure:
Some Kansans are farmers
Some farmers support ethanol
Therefore, some Kansans support ethanol
● This is invalid, show it's invalid by keeping the
“some Xs are Ys” structure and presenting a
clearly invalid counterexample.
Another example
● No Capitalists support tax increases.
● No Libertarians support tax increases.
● Therefore All Libertarians are capitalists.
● (or even some libertarians are capitalists. Both
are invalid.)
