Some Argumentation and Logic Basics Part 1

      Perhaps one of the scariest things you can hear is when someone refers to logic as "their logic". When I hear this I often think to myself that they have no idea how right they actually are, as often times, their rules of logic are just that, their own and no one else would dare to lay claim to them. Often times too, people get critical thinking confused with logic, but this is something we will cover in another series. In this series I want to cover the basics, being as how I am not a professional philosopher or logician myself, this is probably the only area I should be covering. Let's start with arguments; what they are, different types and what makes them sound.  

So what is an argument?

It's not a heated quarrel that often times leads to physical altercations, or hair pulling (if you play in the NBA). Well, it can be, but that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about an argument in the philosophical sense, which is a group of statements called premises which lead to a conclusion.  

What kinds of arguments are there?

There are two kinds of arguments. There are deductive arguments, whose conclusions are guaranteed from their premises and inductive arguments, whose conclusions are more probable than their negations. 

What makes for a sound argument?

Four things: 

1) It must be formally valid, which is to say that it's conclusion must follow from it's premises via the rules of logic. 

2) It must also be informally valid, which is to say that although it may be formally valid, it commits an informal fallacy in one or more of it's premises thus negating it's conclusion or must be reformulated.

3) It's premises must be true.

4) It's premises must be more plausible than their negation. You do not need to be 100% certain, and the more you get into philosophy, the more you realize that only your own existence can be 100% certain. A lot of people seem to forget this, or are just ignorant to it and presuppositions go a long way in what side of the argument you end up on.

So that is a quick introduction into argumentation. Next we will get into the 9 laws of inference. For a deeper discussion on philosophy from a Christian perspective - and what I am using as a reference - I would suggest picking up a copy of Philosophical Foundations For A Christian Worldview . I can't stress enough how important it is that if you are a Christian, and interested in philosophy, to be learning this from a Christian perspective. 

For a more in-depth discussion on inductive and deductive arguments I would suggest going here:

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 

In Christ

P.L.