Arguments: Foundations, Validity, Soundness

Arguments: Foundations

• An argument is a set of statements
• One statement, the conclusion, is supported by others, the premises
• Premises provide the evidence or reasons for the conclusion
• Arguments can be explicit with stated premises or implicit through conversational context
• Analyzing arguments involves identifying the underlying structure
• Understanding implicit premises, and assumptions is key
• Context and enthymemes (unstated premise arguments) are important when interpreting arguments

Validity: Definition

• An argument is valid if the conclusion logically follows the premises
• True premises must result in a true conclusion
• Validity relates to the structure of the argument, not the truth of its content
• Formal logic assesses validity using tools like truth tables
• Understanding logical fallacies (reasoning errors) is crucial for evaluating arguments
• Deductive and inductive validity vary

Soundness: Definition

• An argument is sound if it is valid and has all true premises
• Soundness combines logical structure with factual accuracy
• Determining premise truth requires empirical evidence, expert knowledge, or reasoned judgment
• Argument soundness depends on available evidence and its interpretation

Identifying and Evaluating Arguments

• Look for indicator words such as "therefore," "because," "since," "thus," "hence," "consequently," and "so"
• Evaluate arguments via validity and soundness
• Consider premise relevance, sufficiency, and strength
• Identify fallacies or weaknesses in reasoning
• Argumentation theory helps analyze arguments in debates, legal proceedings, and scientific discourse
• Rhetoric and persuasion play a part in argumentation
• Argumentative strategies include appeals to authority, emotion, or logic

Eddington's Two Tables

• The practical object is how we experience a table in everyday life
• The practical object is solid, tangible, and directly interacted with
• The scientific object is the table described by physics: mostly empty space with scattered electric charges
• The scientific object is understood through scientific investigation
• Eddington's distinction contrasts our everyday experience of the objects and their scientific understanding
• These perspectives are different levels of analysis
• Eddington's work relates to epistemology, philosophy of science, and metaphysics

Harman's Stance on Eddington's Distinction: Summary

• Harman agrees both the practical and scientific tables are incomplete representations of the object
• Both tables use reductionism and fail to capture the object's independent reality

The Third Table: Definition

• Harman's third table represents the object's independent reality
• Independent reality is distinct from constituent parts (scientific table) and effects (practical table)
• Harmans third table represents the object "in itself," withdrawn from direct access

Characteristics of the Third Table: Summary

• The third table exists autonomously, independently of effects and parts
• The third table is withdrawn and inaccessible to experience or observation
• The third table is real, it represents the genuine reality of an object
• The third table is not reducible to relations or its parts

Undermining, Overmining, and Duomining

• Undermining is a strategy that reduces an object to parts or underlying elements
• Undermining claims that the object is only the sum of its parts
• Overmining is a strategy that reduces an object to its relations or effects
• Overmining claims that the object is its influences and interactions
• Duomining applies both undermining and overmining simultaneously
• Duomining attempts to reduce an object in both directions at once

The Role of Art in Harman's Philosophy

• Art has unique capacity to represent and access the third table
• Art reveals withdrawn reality indirectly, without reducing objects to effects or parts
• Harman's view links to vicarious causation, where objects interact indirectly through sensual qualities
• Art provides a way to approach the withdrawn reality of objects without reducing them

Harman's Unique Approach to Objects: Summary

• Object-oriented ontology (OOO) is a metaphysical system that emphasizes the equal ontological status of all objects
• OOO emphasizes the withdrawn reality of objects and rejects reductionism
• Harman's approach differs from traditional metaphysics by emphasizing withdrawal, affirming the real, and promoting equality

Comparison of Metaphysical Approaches

• Undermining reduces objects to their parts and weaknesses: Ignores objects independent reality
• Overmining reduces objects to their effects or relations and its weaknesses: Ignores objects independent existence
• Duomining combines undermining and overmining, its weaknesses: Fails to account for objects independent reality
• Harman's OOO emphasizes the independent reality of all objects, rejecting reductionism

Facts to Memorize

• Argument: Premises support the conclusion
• Validity: Conclusion of an argument follows logically from premises
• Soundness: All premises in a valid argument are true
• Eddington's Two Tables: Illustrate scientific and practical views
• Harman's Critique of Eddington: Suggests both tables are reductive
• Harman's Third Table: Represents withdrawn and the objects independent reality
• Withdrawal: Refers to the direct inaccessibility of objects to direct experience
• Undermining: Reduces object to its parts
• Overmining: Reduces object to relations
• Duomining: Applies overmining and undermining at the same time
• Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO): Claims all objects have equal status
• Vicarious Causation: Objects interact through interactions between their sensual qualities
• Art's Role in OOO: Give indirect access to the withdrawn reality of objects
• Autonomous Reality: Exists independent of parts
• Emergent Properties: Properties that are not present in its individual components
• Real Objects: The objects how they exits independently of understanding
• Sensual Objects: Objects are how they appear to an observer
• Substance: Reality of an object separate from its parts