CRITICAL THINKING

Course code: PE008IU (3 credits)

Instructor: TRAN THANH TU
Email: [email protected]

1
Validity
 A valid deductive argument is an argument
in which it is impossible for all premises to
be true and the conclusion false.

Deductive argument

valid invalid

Sound Unsound
 A LITTLE
CATEGORICAL LOGIC

“One of the most fundamental and

pervasive of all human psychological
activities is the propensity to
categorize” – David A. Levy
3
CATEGORICAL LOGIC

VENN DIAGRAMS
 Categorical statements

 A categorical statement makes a claim about

the relationship between two or more categories
or classes of things.

Standard-form categorical statements:

 All S are P.

 No S are P.

 Some S are P.

 Some S are not P.

In logic, “Some” always means “at least one”!

 Simple Venn diagrams

 Exercise 9.1 in page 230.

1 No artichokes are fruits. 2 Some rectangles are squares.

 Simple Venn diagrams

 Exercise 9.1 in page 230.

3 All architects are professionals. 4 Some skateboarders are jazz

fans.
 Simple Venn diagrams

 Exercise 9.1 in page 230.

5 Some tattoo artists are 6 All persons born in the United

not archbishops. States are U.S. citizens.
 Simple Venn diagrams

 Exercise 9.1 in page 230.

7 No women are persons who have 8 Many dwarves are
been U.S. presidents or vice bachelors.
presidents.
 Simple Venn diagrams

 Exercise 9.1 in page 230.

9 Not a single chess 10 Some of the world’s greatest soccer
master is a rock star. players are South Americans.
 Translating into standard
categorical form statements
The standard categorical forms have four basic
parts:
1.Begin with the word all, no, or some: quantifiers.

2.Have a subject term (S): a word or phrase that names

a class or that serves as the grammatical subject of
the sentence.
3.Have a predicate term (P): a word or phrase that
names a class or that serves as the subject
complement of the sentence.
4.Have a copula (linking verb): some forms of the verb
“to be”
tips Standard form:
All/Some/No + S + are/are not + P

1. Rephrase all nonstandard subject and

predicate categorical form:
EX:
All actors are vain.

 All actors are vain people.

Someroses are white.
 Some roses are white flowers.
tips Standard form:
All/Some/No + S + are/are not + P
2. Rephrase all nonstandard verb: (are/ are not)
EX:
Some students walk to school.

 Some students are persons who walk to school.

All the northern countries were flooded.
 All the northern countries are places that were
flooded.
tips Standard form:
All/Some/No + S + are/are not + P
3. Fill in any unexpressed quantifiers: to be
charitable, it’s better to add “SOME” instead of
“ALL”
EX:
Californians are health nuts.

 Some Californians are health nuts.

Texans are friendly.
 Some Texans are friendly.
(Not: All Texans are friendly.)
tips Standard form:
All/Some/No + S + are/are not + P
4. Translate singular statement as all or no
statement:
A singular statement makes a claim about a
particular person, place or thing.
EX:
Paris is the capital of France:
 All places identical with Paris are places that
are the capital of France.
An wasn’t born in HCMC.
 No persons identical with An are persons who
were born in HCMC.
 tips Standard form:
All/Some/No + S + are/are not + P
5. Translate stylistic variants into the appropriate
categorical form:
Stylistic variants: different way of saying
essentially the same thing.
5.1 Common stylistic variants of “ All S are P”
-Every S is a P
-Whoever is a S is a P
-Any S is P, …
-The only S are P
-Something is a S only if it is a P
-Only S are P “All P are S” [not “All S are P”]
-Only if a thing is a S is it a P
tips Standard form:
All/Some/No + S + are/are not + P
5.2 Common stylistic variants of “ No S are P”
• No P are S
• S are not P
• No one who is a S is a P
• All S are not P, …
5.3 Common stylistic variants of “ Some S are P”
Many S are P; A few S are P, Some P are S, …
5.4 Common stylistic variants of “ Some S are not P”
A few S are not P, Not all S are P, …
 Translating into standard
categorical form
For simplicity, you may, if you wish, assign variables to
each of the three terms.
CD S

All caffeinated drinks are stimulants.

C
All forms of coffee have caffeine.

All forms of coffee are stimulants.

All CD are S
All C are CD
All C are S
 Deductive argument:
Categorical Syllogisms

 A syllogism is a three-line deductive argument that

consists of two premises and a conclusion. (All
statements are categorical statements)
EX:
No islands are part of the mainland and Hawaii is an
island. Therefore, Hawaii is not on the mainland.

Some modems are cable connections; and some

cable connections are digital. Thus, some modems
are digital.
 Venn Diagram

 The beauty of the Venn Diagram is that it allows

you to determine whether a categorical
syllogism is valid or invalid and to do so with
absolute assurance.

 Since we know how important it is to be able to

test the validity of syllogisms, it is worth the
time to learn to use Venn Diagrams correctly.
 Venn Diagram

A Venn Diagram consists of three overlapping circles

which represent the three terms in the syllogism and
their relationship with each other.
For convenience it is best to be
consistent in assigning terms to the
circles.
All CD are S
All C are CD  The subject term of the
All C are S conclusion is assigned at the
lower left circle
 The predicate term of the
conclusion is assigned at the
lower right circle
 Venn Diagram
What you draw in the Venn Diagram represents
exactly what is in the premises of the syllogism;
nothing more and nothing less!!!
There are three steps in this process:
1. Draw premise one. CD
2. Draw premise two.
3. Check the validity.
All CD are S
All C are CD
All C are S C S
 Venn Diagram
All CD are S
So, to represent “All CD are All C are CD
S” we focus on the CD and S All C are S
circles only. Our rule is to
shade EMPTY areas.
CD

Imagine that we don’t know how

many things are inside these circles,
or where exactly they are inside the
circles, but we know that all the
things in CD are also in S. C S
 Venn Diagram
Look at the first premise and then at All CD are S
the shading. Since we know all CD All C are CD
are in S, we know the rest of CD All C are S
is empty.

Now draw premise 2. All the

items in C are also in CD.
Thus the rest of C is empty
and should be shaded.
 Venn Diagram
All CD are S
All C are CD
Now for step 3. We’ve drawn each All C are S
premise exactly and can now check for
validity. If valid, the conclusion will be
shown in the drawing to be necessarily
true.

If the drawing allows for the

possibility of the conclusion being
false then the syllogism is invalid.

What do you think? Valid or Invalid?

 Venn Diagram

This is a valid syllogism.

The drawing clearly
shows that the conclusion
is necessarily true. All C
are indeed S.

The only area

of C that is not
empty is the part All CD are S
that is in S. All C are CD
All C are S
 Venn Diagram: 3 rules

1. Always do any necessary shading before placing an X: ALL or

NO statements should be done first
2. When placing an X in an area, if one part of the area has been
shaded, place the X in the unshaded part

3. When placing an X in an area, if neither part of the area has been

shaded, place the X precisely on the line separating the two
parts
 Venn Diagram - Example
E R
All educated people respect books.
Some bookstore personnel are not truly educated.
Some bookstore personnel don’t respect books.
B
All E are R
Translated into
Some B are not E
standard form
Some B are not R

Be clear that:
E = Educated people
R = People who respect books.
B = Bookstore personnel
 Venn Diagram - Example

All E are R
Some B are not E
Some B are not R

E
Draw the first premise.
All E are inside R, so we
know that the rest of E is
empty. We represent this
empty area by shading it.
B R
 Venn Diagram - Example
All E are R
Some B are not E
Some B are not R
X E
Should the “X” go here?

Now the second premise.

We read “some” as “at least
X X
one” and represent it with an
“X.” So we want to put an X B R

inside the B circle but

Or here?
outside of the E circle.

We want to say exactly what the premises say, but no more.

 All E are R
Venn Diagram - Example Some B are not E
Some B are not R

Think about it. If we opt for the blue E

X, we are saying “some B are not

R,” but this is not in the premises
and we can’t draw something that is
not in the premises.
Likewise the red X would say, X? X?
“Some B are R,” and this is not in B R
the premises either.

What we need is an “X” on the line which will mean that

“some B” are on one side of the line or the other, or both, but
we’re not sure which.
 Venn Diagram - Example
E
All E are R
Some B are not E
Some B are not R

So, having drawn exactly

what is in the two premises
and no more, is the conclusion
necessarily true? Is it true that X
some B are not R?
B R

No, this is an invalid argument.

The “X” shows that there may be
some B that are not R, but not necessarily.
 Venn Diagram - Example
I M H

No islands are part of the mainland and Hawaii is an

island. Therefore, Hawaii is not on the mainland.
No I are M
Translated into All H are I
standard form No H are M
 Venn Diagram - Example
I M H

No islands are part of the mainland and Hawaii is an

island. Therefore, Hawaii is not on the mainland.
No I are M
Translated into All H are I
standard form I
No H are M

Draw the first premise. Nothing that is

an I is inside the M circle. So, all the
things inside I, if there are any, are in
the other parts of the circle.
H M
 Venn Diagram - Example
I
No I are M
All H are I
No H are M
Now draw the second premise. Everything
that is in the H circle is also in the I circle.
Thus, the rest of the H circle is empty and
should be shaded. H M
Step 3 asks you to look at what you’ve drawn and see if
the conclusion is necessarily true. Is it necessarily true
from the picture that nothing in the H circle is in the M
circle?
Yes, this is a valid argument!
 Venn Diagram - Example
M C
Some modems are cable connections; and some cable
connections are digital. Thus, some modems are digital.
D
Some M are C
Translated into Some C are D
standard form Some M are D
 Venn Diagram - Example
M C
Some modems are cable connections; and some cable
connections are digital. Thus, some modems are digital.
D
Some M are C
Translated into Some C are D
standard form C
Some M are D
Draw the first premise. At least one thing
in M is also in C. Where should the “X”
go? X
Do you see why the “X” has to go on the
line? From the premise you can’t tell which
side of the line is correct. M D
 C
Venn Diagram - Example
Some M are C XX
Some C are D
Some M are D
Now the second premise. Where should M D
the “X” go to represent ‘at least one’ C
that is inside the D circle? Remember you want to draw
just what the premise says, no more and no less.
Again, the “X” must go on the line. Our drawing can
never be more precise than the premise is. Is it Valid?
No this is an invalid argument. There is no guarantee,
from the premises that the conclusion is true. There
may or may not be an M in the D circle.
 Venn Diagrams

If you apply the step by step approach to using

Venn Diagrams you will quickly become an expert.
Keep these things in mind:
1. Put your syllogism in standard-form categorical
statements
2. Be consistent in how you label your statements
3. Draw each premise exactly and orderly (ALL and
NO statements go first, SOME statements go later)
4. Remember the rules of putting the X and shade
5. Test validity by looking for the necessity of the
conclusion.
 3.1.1 Categorical syllogism

 Do exercise 9.4 I in pages 248-249 and 9.4 II in

pages 249-250.
 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19 are examples.
 Write answers in paper and submit as Homework
(submit in group!!!)
Date:
Group: …
Exercise: 9.4 I, II
Answer:
2. …
3…
5…