12 Questions
What is the primary purpose of critical reasoning in arguments?
To justify existing arguments
Deductive reasoning involves providing evidence to support a hypothesis.
False
What is the key characteristic of a good analogy in reasoning by analogy?
The similarity outweighs the dissimilarity and is clarifying
In deductive reasoning, one moves from ______ to specific conclusions.
generalities
Match the types of reasoning with their descriptions:
Reasoning by analogy = Explains one thing by comparing it to something else Deductive reasoning = Applies a principle to a situation Inductive reasoning = Involves providing evidence to support a hypothesis
What is the issue with the deductive reasoning in the example: 'All swans are white. Jane is white. Therefore, Jane is a swan.'
The conclusion makes an invalid assumption
In deductive reasoning, the conclusion is always true if the premises are true.
True
What is the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning?
Deductive reasoning guarantees a true conclusion if the premises are true, while inductive reasoning provides some support but may still lead to a false conclusion.
Just because Tom Cruise is handsome, it does not necessarily mean he is an __________.
actor
What can an educated guess become through research and outside sources?
A hypothesis
In the example 'All farmers like burgers. Jethro likes chicken wings. Therefore, Jethro is not a farmer.', the premises are false.
False
Match the following types of reasoning with their characteristics:
Deductive Reasoning = Guarantees a true conclusion if premises are true Inductive Reasoning = Provides some support but may still lead to a false conclusion
Study Notes
Types of Reasoning
- Critical reasoning is used to uncover errors in arguments and justify our own arguments.
Reasoning by Analogy
- Compares one thing to another similar thing to explain it.
- A good analogy has a stronger similarity than dissimilarity and is clarifying.
Deductive Reasoning
- Applies a principle to a specific situation.
- Moves from generalities to specific conclusions.
- The statements used to draw the conclusion must be true.
Inductive Reasoning
- Involves providing evidence to support a hypothesis.
- The more evidence available, the more reliable the hypothesis.
Invalid Deductive Reasoning
- Overgeneralization can occur in deductive reasoning, even with true premises, leading to incorrect conclusions.
- Examples of invalid deductive reasoning:
- All swans are white, Jane is white, therefore Jane is a swan (false assumption)
- All farmers like burgers, Jethro likes chicken wings, therefore Jethro is not a farmer (false assumption)
- All actors are handsome, Tom Cruise is handsome, therefore Tom Cruise is an actor (false assumption)
- In these examples, the premises may be true, but the conclusions make invalid assumptions.
- The conclusion "c" is an overgeneralization, and does not necessarily follow from "a" and "b".
Deductive vs. Inductive Reasoning
- In deductive reasoning, the conclusion is necessarily true if the premises are true.
- In inductive reasoning, the conclusion might be true, but may nonetheless be false.
- Inductive reasoning can lead to an educated guess, which can be developed into a hypothesis through research and outside sources.
Learn about different forms of critical reasoning, including reasoning by analogy and deductive reasoning, to improve argument justification and error detection.
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