Arguments, Premises, and Conclusions

• Logic and epistemology are key aspects of the philosophy of knowledge.

Importance of Argument in Philosophy

• Philosophy requires articulation, argument, analysis, synthesis, and a coherent conceptual framework.
• An argument is not the same as a quarrel, disagreement, or dispute.
• To create an argument is to defend a belief in a logical fashion.

Arguments vs Statements

• A statement differs from an argument.
• An example of a statement is: "I can't understand people who say that smokers shouldn't be allowed to smoke in public places. I think anyone should be allowed to smoke anywhere."
• An example of an argument is: "People should be allowed to smoke anywhere. Smoking's not illegal, and millions of people get huge pleasure from it."

Premises and Conclusions

• An argument contains a conclusion and reasons (premises).
• The reasons (premises) provided should support the conclusion being made.
• The basic formula of an argument is Reasons + Conclusion = Persuasion.

Properties of Arguments

• All arguments must have a conclusion.
• All arguments must have at least one reason.
• Reasons given must support the stated conclusion.
• Reasons should be relevant to the conclusion they are intended to support.
• Reasons must also be adequate for supporting the reason

Types of Arguments: Deductive

• Deductive arguments lead to a conclusion that is necessarily true if the premises are true.
• The form of the argument, not its content, determines logical validity.
• Belief in the premises necessitates belief in the conclusion.
• Disbelief in the premises means one doesn't need to believe in the conclusion.
• Example: All philosophers are wise. Socrates is a philosopher; Therefore, Socrates is wise.
• Deductive arguments are valid regardless of the truth of their premises or conclusion.
• Even with untrue premises, an argument can be valid, for example: All philosophers are blue. Socrates is a philosopher. Therefore Socrates is blue
• An argument in the form "All X's are F, A is an X, Thus A is an F" is valid
• Validity is a property of arguments, while truth is a property of statements themselves.

Invalid Arguments

• Example: All philosophers are wise. Gökhan is not a philosopher. Therefore, Gökhan is not wise.
• This argument is invalid because only philosophers are wise is not true, and the conclusion is indeterminate.

Types of Arguments: Inductive

• Inductive arguments do not guarantee the conclusions, but rather support them.
• They often result from empirical generalizations.
• Example: I've observed a thousand adult swans. They were all white. Therefore, all swans are white.
• However, just one non-white swan refutes the conclusion.

Induction: Hypothesis and Evidence

• A hypothesis need not be a general statement.
• Example: Caesar was murdered in 44 BC in Rome.
• Evidence can include books on history, historical records, Shakespeare's writings, etc.
• The conclusion does not need to be in the form of "All X's are Ys".
• An example of a hypothesis is the claim that the 9/11 massacre was committed by Al Qaeda.

Deductive vs. Inductive Logic

• Deductive logic guarantees the truth of the conclusion if the premises are true with necessity.
  • Example: If Moriarty didn't do it, then Spiderwoman did. Moriarty was in prison; so, Spiderwoman must have done it.
• Inductive logic aims at reasonableness, not necessary truth, and doesn't guarantee the conclusion.
  • Example: The pipe tobacco is the same kind he (Moriarty) uses, and the footprints match his shoes. He was seen in the neighborhood, and he was heard to say he would get even with her; so, the best explanation is that he is guilty.

Fallacies in Argumentation

• Appeals to Authority: Asserts that a statement is true because an authority says so.
  • Example: "P is true because my mom said so."
• Appeals to Personality (Ad hominem): Attacks the person making the argument instead of the argument itself.
  • Example: "P is false because the person who believes in P is a liar."

Criticizing an Argument

• Criticizing isn't focused on the person defending the conclusion, nor is it necessarily negative
• It involves identifying what is wrong with certain beliefs
• It involves analyzing and evaluating the premises or the reasoning
• The criticism involves finding premises that are wrong or inadequate to support the conclusion.
• John Locke in 1689 said, "One unerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant."

Basic Concepts in Argument

• Consistency: Lack of outright contradictions (A≠A).
• Coherence: Consistency + relevance + adequacy.
• No contradiction should be present in the argument
• Premise and the conclusion are relevant to the argument.
• Premises should give enough support to the conclusion.
• Example: The leading party will lose the next election (conclusion). Polls show the leading party is behind the opposition for 5%, and the polls are precise about the outcome.

From Logic to Epistemology

• True knowledge is the ultimate aim in philosophy.
• The search for truth is the goal of philosophy.
• Deductive and inductive reasoning are tools philosophers use to reach true knowledge.
• Epistemology is the field of philosophy that deals with the problems of knowledge.

Problems in Epistemology

• Epistemology asks, Can we know anything at all?
  • Sceptics reject any certain knowledge.
• Epistemology asks, What is knowledge?
  • It explores correspondence theory, fundamentalism, and the coherence theory.
• Epistemology asks, What are the sources of knowledge?
  • It explores empiricism, rationalism, intuitionism, and mixed theories.
• Epistemology also asks, Are there limits to our knowledge?

Skepticism

• A key question of skepticism is whether what you are seeing is real?
• It asks, "Are you dreaming right now?"
• It also asks, "How do you know the world exists? How can you be sure there is more beyond what we experience?"
• A world where you are living in a dream world is possible, like in "The Matrix." How would we tell the difference?

The Two-Worlds Idea

• The world exists, whether or not we percieve it.
• We can only be certain, however, about what we perceive.
• The problem is, how can we know if a "real world exists", and whether it is like our percieved world?
• A conclusion someone may make is that we cannot know anything, nor can we communicate it, as said by Gorgias.

Varieties of Skepticism

• Radical Skepticism: It is the view that all certain knowledge is impossible; an idea remembered by Gorgias.
• Skepticism as a Stance: It is a stance where no view is justified by experience or logic. An essential part of the philosophical thinking.
• Skepticism as a Method: It is when skepticism helps separate trustworthy elements from dubious ones. René Descartes was a master of this concept.

Descartes and the Method of Doubt

• Descartes proved his existence through doubt.
• He concluded he could not trust his senses, due to being decieved
• The existence of the external world is therefore dubious
• Even if one doubts that they are thinking, they are still doubting, and therefore thinking; something more certain
• Hence, his famous saying, "I think, therefore I am," as a way to use skepticism as a way to reach certainty.

David Hume and Skepticism

• According to Hume, our main philosophical ideas are derived from habits of thought.
• Causality is an example of this, in that every effects follows a cause.
• Causation is whenever effects follow causes.
• Simply because matching light cause burning, all that is seen is events, not causal connection.

Hume and Skepticism Continued

• Humans can only be sure of sensation.
• General conceptual ideas, like causation, derive from habits of thought based on experience.
• These thoughts are not derived from mathematical principles of the source of geometry.
• Just because The sun setting in the east does not prove or justify that it will set from the east tomorrow.

Sources of Knowledge: Empiricism

• John Locke proposed that the human mind is initially a "tabula rasa" (blank slate).
• With Locke's proposition, all knowledge is filled with experience.
• Knowledge is gained post birth (a posteriori).
• Some empiricists focus on reducing the mind to just the senses known as sensationalists.
• Condillac was a French sensationalist philosopher in the 18th century.

Sources of Knowledge: Rationalism

• Leibniz argued that the mind itself contributes to knowledge.
• He argues that something must come from the mind instead of just the experiment
• The mind is the only source of knowledge.
• Experience becomes a part of reason.
• Rationalist thinkers include Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, and Hegel.
• A priori knowledge is possible for them.