Chapter Two:Good Reasoning

Review

Applying Ethics: A Text with Readings (10th ed.)Julie C. Van Camp, Jeffrey Olen, Vincent BarryCengage Learning/Wadsworth

What is the purpose of an argument?

To show that the conclusion is true OR

To show that it is reasonable to accept the conclusion as true

Deductive arguments

What is a deductive argument? – An argument that claims to follow truth-

preserving rules

What is a truth-preserving rule?– If the first two statements (premises)

are true, the conclusion will be true

Inductive Arguments

What is an inductive argument?– An argument in which supporting

statements, or evidence, aim to show that it is reasonable to accept that the conclusion is true

What is a good inductive argument?– A warranted argument

Fallacies

What is a fallacy?– an unreliable means of arguing, one that does not

provide good reason for accepting the argument’s conclusion

What is a formal fallacy?– Use of invalid deductive rules

What is an informal fallacy?– Unreliable strategies that people tend to use

Informal Fallacies

What is an Ad Hominem Argument?– An attack on the opponent rather than the

opponent’s argument

What is a Faulty Analogy?– Misuse of argument by analogy (an argument that

two things alike in some respects must be alike in other respects)

What is Questionable Authority?– Supporting a conclusion by relying on the judgment

of someone who is not a reliable authority

More informal fallacies

What is begging the question?– Assuming a premise you want to prove

What is equivocation?– Implicit reliance on two different meanings of the

same word to reach a conclusion

What is hand waving?– Claiming something is true (or false) because

everyone knows it

More informal fallacies

What is hasty generalization?– Reaching a general conclusion form a sample

that is biased or too small What is appeal to ignorance?

– Arguing that a claim is true (or false) because we have no evidence proving otherwise

What is Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc?– “after this, therefore because of this”– Claiming that one thing is caused by another

because it follows the other

More informal fallacies

What is a red herring?– An irrelevant issue introduced to distract attention

from the issue at hand What is a slippery slope?

– Assuming an action will inevitably lead to an unwanted outcome as a result of the small steps that inevitably will follow

What is a straw man?– A distortion of an opponent’s actual position to

make it easier to attach