Final Exam Study Guide

· Be prepared to use and define the following terms: Argument, Premises, Conclusion, Principle of Charity, Conditional, Subargument, Lemma, Hidden Premise.

· Be able to extract an argument from a text and put it in standard argument form.

· Understand what a conditional statement is. Know what the parts of a conditional are called.

· Understand the issue of scope.

· Understand what a counterexample is and what it does.

· Understand the difference between premises that are linked and premises that converge. Know how you would argue against each type of argument.

· Understand the two ways one might argue against an argument.

· Be able to comment on the cogency of arguments according to the ARG conditions.

· Be prepared to identify the following language issues: equivocation, vague language, loaded language, euphemisms.

· Understand the difference between inductive arguments and deductive arguments. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of each type.

· Understand necessary and sufficient conditions.

· Be prepared to explain and identify the following fallacies: equivocation, begging the question, straw man, ad hominem, guilt by association, ad ignoratium, ad populum, ad misericordiam, ad baculum.

· Be able to coherently explain why a premise might not be acceptable.

· Be able to coherently explain why the premises of an argument might be irrelevant to the conclusion.

· Know the distinction between the two types of logic.

· Know what a Venn diagram is and how to draw one for a simple case.

· Understand the basic forms of logically valid reasoning, and the two basic forms of logically invalid reasoning (knowing the names for these forms is helpful but not necessary).

· Know the difference between inclusive and exclusive disjunction.

· Understand the David Hume’s Problem of Induction.

· Know the following terms that are used in statistics: random sample, stratified sample, and biased sample.

· Understand the difference between a mere correlation and a correlation that is also an example of causation.

· Be able to explain and identify the following fallacies: hasty generalization, post hoc fallacy, fallacy of composition and division, objectionable cause, and slippery slope arguments.

· Understand the distinction between something being intrinsically wrong and being extrinsically wrong.

· Understand the distinction between a priori analogies and inductive analogies. Understand how you would argue against each.

· Be able to identify some of the common problems that arise when writing essays.

· Know what a counterconsideration/objection is and how it is used.