Tutorial 3Understanding

Arguments24 August 2015

Make a ______!I _____ that

Engineering is the best major.

The government should raise taxes on the rich.

KL is the capital of Malaysia.

The lottery is a tax on the poor.

What do these four statements have in common?

Make a claim!I claim that

Engineering is the best major.

The government should raise taxes on the rich.

KL is the capital of Malaysia.

The lottery is a tax on the poor.

What do these four statements have in common?

I was born in Singapore.

The sky is blue.

Bigfoot does not exist on earth.

There are more than four billion grains of sand in the Sahara Desert.

Q: What do these claims have in common?

Factual ClaimsI was born in Singapore.

The sky is blue.

Bigfoot does not exist on earth.

There are more than four billion grains of sand in the Sahara Desert.

Q: What do these claims have in common?

A: They can all be tested (in principle).

____ClaimsNUS is the best university.

Reading is good for children.

Monet is a talented painter.

Brazil’s football team is better than Spain’s.

Q: What do these claims have in common?

Value ClaimsNUS is the best university.

Reading is good for children.

Monet is a talented painter.

Brazil’s football team is better than Spain’s.

Q: What do these claims have in common?

____ClaimsSingapore should make health care free.

To be a better student, you should spend more time sleeping.

You should travel to Australia for your next holiday.

Q: What do these claims have in common?

Policy ClaimsSingapore should make health care free.

To be a better student, you should spend more time sleeping.

You should travel to Australia for your next holiday.

Q: What do these claims have in common?

Definitional ClaimsClaim: x is y where y is a larger category

Examples:Lin is a true Singaporean.Drinking coffee is a harmful behaviour.The lottery is really a tax on the unintelligent.

http://www.uky.edu/~tlthom01/defclaim.htm

Definitional ClaimsHow do prove a definitional claim?

First look at the criteria of the definition:

“true Singaporean” 1) speaks Singlish 2) eats chicken rice 3) lives in Singapore

Are these acceptable criteria?

Second, does Lin match these criteria?

Activity ALook at the four claims with a partner.

What kind of claim is it?

What evidence might support this claim?

An argument requires two things:

An argument requires two things:

1) Claim (conclusion)

An argument requires two things:

1) Claim (conclusion)

2) Reason(s) / Premise(s)

Activity BIs it an argument? Discuss in groups of four.

Can you find the main claim and supporting reasons?

Assumptions (page 6)In this text it seems to be assumed that soi dogs

may bite or scratch (therefore don’t wear shorts) and that they carry disease (so wash your hands if you touch them). However, this is not stated explicitly in the text.

This explanation may not be correct. Can you think of a different assumption to explain the previous paragraph?

Activity D.

Activity D -- assumptions

Consider the argumentWe must go to Red Iguana.

Red Iguana is open until 10 pm.

Café Trang is open until 9 pm.

It is now 9:05 pm.

Identify the premises and conclusion.

Identify the form of the argument.http://dgibbs.faculty.arizona.edu/sites/dgibbs.faculty.arizona.edu/files/assign5.pdf

Deductive ArgumentsAll engineers are good mathematicians…

Deductive ArgumentsIn deductive arguments if

the premises are true and The argument is logical (VALID)

Then the conclusion must be true.

This is called a SOUND argument (VALID and true).

In a valid deductive argument If the premises are true, the conclusion must be

true. If one of the premises is false, the conclusion must

be false.

Deductive PracticeIn a small group, identify the logical structure of

the penguin and beer arguments.

Is the argument valid?

Are the premises true?

Is the argument sound?

Susan B. AnthonyActivity F.

Try to fit this argument into a valid or invalid argument form.

Inductive ArgumentsWhite swan

White swan

White swan

White swan

White swan

Therefore, all swans are white.

Discuss Activity G (only first paragraph).

Inductive ArgumentsAn inductive argument consists of specific

examples (the premises) that lead to a general conclusion (the claim)

Regarding the black bird, we can ask: Is this a “true example” (secure)? Is this a specific example of the general conclusion? i.e.:________

Cf. Problems with induction

Inductive ArgumentsTom likes the food at Mr Prata.

When I had an egg prata at Mr Prata yesterday, it was really good.

The Straits Times printed a review of Mr Prata last week declaring it to be the best restaurant in the area.

Therefore, the food at Mr Prata is good.

For next classReview what we have learned in tutorial 3

To review tutorial 3, watch this presentation by Dr Zhou: http://courses.nus.edu.sg/celc/Arguments/index.htm (also in the weblinks)

Look at tutorial 4 Complete steps 1-3 Do an initial reading of the article

We will be annotating and discussing the article in class.

Continue looking at the library assignments and reading about energy in Asia (look at the weblinks in ILVE).