Questions tagged [argumentation]
The construction, deconstruction and presentation of arguments for a position;
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It is best humans don't destroy each other, because then there is less humanity to them: what might be the missing assumption?
It is best humans don't destroy each other, because then there is less humanity to them: what might be the missing assumption? It sounds a little Aristotelian, but also fairly reasonable and intuitive,...
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Do philosophers tend to overthink?
As an example, an enormous amount of effort seems to go into thinking about solipsism. In my view, and as an example, solipsism is easily eliminated by reasonable inference. Reasonable inference is a ...
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Can these statements really be arguments?
https://learn.saylor.org/mod/book/view.php?id=64908&chapterid=57428
I was doing practice 12,14 and I am very confused as to how these are arguments. They seem to be statements
12:"The reason ...
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What is the "opposite" of equivocation?
Simply put, the fallacy of equivocation involves mapping more than one concept to a single word, thereby causing ambiguity or confusion.
Is there a name for its opposite, where a single concept gets ...
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Do we live in Hell? [closed]
WARNING this is a negative view of life so if you are a sensitive to negativity I'd recommend not to continue reading.
Now, if we define hell like a location or state in which souls are subjected to ...
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What logical fallacy is an accusation of "ad hominem" attacks?
An "ad hominem" attack is a fallacious tactic of deflection and shifting the focus of the argument. Equally so is an accusation of "ad hominem" attacks, where the accuser perceives ...
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How well does the following argument work as a counter towards unfalsifiable supernatural claims?
Human perception is solely naturalistic; as such, empiricism and logic generated by human perception and interpretation of reality is strictly naturalistic as well.
Absence of evidence is not evidence ...
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Is it a "shifting of the burden of proof" if I show evidence in favor of a position, and ask the audience to debate that evidence if they disagree?
As far as I know, the "fallacy of shifting the burden of proof" is to refuse to show any evidence for my position, demanding the opponent to show evidence against my position, and claiming ...
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How does Bias affect the reliability of a process?
So my attempt is to define a process and test it on its reliability.
In a discussion, an argument was made that a consensus on the reliability of the process is needed for a process to be reliable.
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Orderings in Philosophy
First of all, I’m a mathematician, not a philosopher, so I apologize in advance for any oversights or if my question maybe isn’t too relevant in philosophy.
When reading popular philosophical content, ...
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What is an argument (in philosophy)?
Closely related (sub)question: is there some way to tell a piece of (spoken, or writen, or...) text that is an argument from one that isn't? If 'yes', how?
[Notice the question is not asking "...
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Give advice on justifying belief in the existence of other minds [duplicate]
Solipsism has the fewest entities (only my mind) and therefore it is the most minimal explanation.
Does that make it more likely than the existence of other minds? Because other minds offer billions ...
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Explain what the simplicity in this argument is based on
Other people have minds because it is the best explanation for other people's behavior because the existence of other minds is a simpler and more understandable explanation:
It does not make me ...
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What type of reasoning is this? Abduction, inference to the best explanation, induction?
My mind is responsible for my behavior.
Other people are very similar to me biologically.
Other people have behaviors similar to mine.
Possible explanations:
Solipsism says that my mind created other ...
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Is the principle of uniformity of nature an abduction or an analogy?
Is the principle of uniformity of nature an abduction or an analogy?
To what type of reasoning does the principle of uniformity of nature belong? Is it abduction, analogy, deduction?
Here they refer ...
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What are the main terms and their (relatively) proper definitions that a beginner in metaphysics/philosophy should know of?
I've recently come across many intelligent individuals in the field of metaphysics. Their intellectual prowess impressed me; since their field of expertise informs all other fields, they demonstrated ...
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How to teach people hypothetical 'what if' scenarios and how to deal with them
Some people can't think of any hypothetical 'what if' situations. They always ask for real life examples. Real life example don't always match with hypothetical scenarios. Then the conversation gets ...
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Is there a name for the widespread logical fallacy in which you prove your point by 'eliminating' anyone who contradicts you?
I've encountered this relentlessly in my life. You offer proof that someone is wrong, or even simply state something more obvious than the sun that they don't like, they ban you or do something else ...
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Doubts about common sense through recourse to an alleged authority
Given is following dialog:
A: So you deny that the sun will rise again tomorrow?
B: No, I just say we do not know for sure. There are other variants.
A: What other variants are there?
B: What do I ...
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If philosophy is based on reason and rationality, then why is there so much disagreement?
If philosophy is based on reason and rationality, then why is there so much disagreement?
Is it due primarily to operating with different premises absent consensus on their truth, so that dissenters ...
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Precise definition of valid argument using model theory
In philosophy 101, I learned that a valid argument is any argument that satisfies this property: if all of its premises are true, then its conclusion must hold true.
Now, I am taking a class on ...
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Should reducing and simplifying explanations be a core aspect of Philosophical practice?
I'm an Engineer, and a Computer Programmer. But I repeat myself... For me, my life and breath is getting to the bottom of complex things and rendering an explanation or instantiation (for programs) ...
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A question on contrapositives and predicates
So I am a freshman taking an intro class to logic. And the question started off from a class exercise we've got which asked us to identify the covering generalization for the following conditional ...
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Do arguments arising from probability convincingly argue a mass human extinction event in the near future? [closed]
One such argument is the Doomsday argument which is taken seriously by a number of academics. But more simply, if we look at the modern population trajectory, it's something of an exponential curve. ...
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Is there a name for the argumentative tactic where you play dumb and ask for extreme simplification?
My day job is research in economics. In economics seminar culture, a common way to demolish the speaker is to play dumb and say "I don't understand what you are saying", implying that the ...
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How strong is the argument for quantum mind theory?
I know little about philosophy and I've been reading into consciousness. From an uneducated view, David Pearce's argument seems strong.
https://www.biointelligence-explosion.com/parable.html
What ...
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What is a philosophical proposition?
There seems to be confusion on this exchange as to what constitutes a proposition in philosophy. This seems to extend to the burden of proof. The classical burden of proof is "onus probandi ...
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What kind of rhetorical device is 'splaining?
It is quite common for people to respond to an issue or question with the first thing that comes to mind, framed as a convincing explanation. When it appears to be a self-serving or unwarranted ...
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Are transcendental and indispensability arguments reciprocally structured?
This question occurred to me in the course of addressing a recent question about what counts as evidence in philosophy. There, I offered that transcendental arguments are structurally akin to ...
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What constitutes evidence in philosophy?
I have noticed an apparent confusion when posing and answering questions as to what constitutes evidence in philosophy. Especially in scientifically-related areas, I often cite scientific evidence ...
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Do some philosophical questions tend to entertain vacuous ideas?
Empty, inane, devoid of value. This is a dictionary definition of the word "vacuous". Are vacuous ideas worthy of consideration? I mean no offence, but I fail to see the sensible intent ...
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Is reason under challenge? [closed]
I find the resurgence in the new century of pseudoscience, religious extremism, and irrationalism disturbing. Reason was pre-eminent throughout the previous two centuries. Is reason being seriously ...
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What is the burden of proof? Has this principle ever been challenged?
I have been surprised to find that some people doubt this principle. Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat - the burden of proof lies with the speaker, not with the one who negates. I ...
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Should proofs of God involve the infinitary language ℒ(∞,∞)?
If God is an infinite being (per Scotus, say), and if no finite number of steps in an argument is adequate to the scope of the divine majesty, then the strictures of monadic theism aside (God as a ...
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The Likelyhood Principle and Baysean Statistics
I am reading Kotzen's paper Selection Bias in Likelihood Arguments.
The author takes the following principle as a starting point:
I'm confused as to how to formalize this notion in terms of Bayesian ...
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How to best develop writing and argumentation skills on a philosophy self-study track?
I am about to embark on a journey of Philosophy self-study. I have a curriculum I want to pursue, covering all majour branches of philosophy. I also have a reading list which includes set texts, text ...
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Examples of situations where explaining the situation destabilizes the mind [closed]
Could someone please provide, using logic, or some other reasoning or portrayal, an example of a situation where explaining the situation destabilizes the mind?
Thank you.
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Argument analysis question
A simple question for those familiar with argument analysis / formalization. Can you elaborate and explain what is going on in the following two arguments? They appear to lead to opposing conclusions ...
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What is the justification of a complex dilemma?
7.8 The Dilemma in Copi's Introduction to Logic says:
Complex dilemma: An argument consisting of (a) a disjunction, (b) two conditional premises linked by a conjunction, and (c) a conclusion
that ...
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How should an argument containing an exceptive proposition be tested?
IX. Exceptive Propositions in 7.3 Translating Categorical Propositions into Standard Form in Copi's Introduction to Logic says:
Because exceptive propositions are not categorical propositions but
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Word-Pairing Rhetorical Tactic
I am looking for a name referring to a rhetoric/propaganda tactic in which words are paired together to change perceptions? For example, if I said, "a controversial speaker is giving a lecture at ...
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For what kind of P is "if P were the case, I would know that P" true?
Consider arguments of the following form for some proposition P:
If P were the case, I would know that P.
But I don't know that P.
Therefore, it is not the case that P.
I am wondering what kind of ...
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Model of an argument
I have the thought that an informal argument is fundamentally about building a justification graph: a directed acyclic graph from premise propositions to intermediate and conclusion propositions, ...
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Is the Law of Excluded Middle an allowed argument in court?
Is the Law of Excluded Middle a valid deduction rule in court? If not, is it reasonable to say that all arguments in court must be "constructive in nature"?
As an example, consider this ...
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Why is Occam’s razor faulted for being a heuristic when almost everything in philosophy is?
I am confused as to why any sort of discussion about Occam’s Razor, without fail, has the addendum mentioning how the tool doesn’t prove anything. But quite literally, unless something is logically ...
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Is the argument by analogy logically consistent?
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/#ArguAnal
I'm a bit confused by the criticism here.
That is, this argument has no problems with logical sequence and if the premises are correct, then ...
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What is the fallacy called where "Nothing a liar said can be true?"
What is the fallacy called where "Nothing a liar said can be true" (i.e., "false in most things, false in everything")?
For example, consider that 99% of something someone said is ...
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Type of false reasoning?
I don't have extensive background in philosophy but I try to outline my question clearly.
I am arguing with a person who always uses the same logic.
We have an outcome X such a medical disease ...
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Is this argument about computers and consciousness logically valid?
Assume 1) You can make a conscious agent consisting of a robot controlled by some computer; 2) There are no zombies 3) You replace the computer by a chinese-like room version that behaves identically.
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If moral statements aren't supposed to be reports of objective facts, does the practice of "fallacy checking" apply to moral arguments?
Maybe this is just a case of Jörgensen’s dilemma, but so I was reading the SEP article about feminist perspectives on argumentation, more specifically this passage:
The difficulty some philosophers ...
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