Premise vs.

Conclusion Notes
When you think of the word 'argument,' you probably imagine two people yelling at one another
or having some sort of a fight. However, when we're discussing critical thinking, an argument is
a term used to describe something that can be far less dramatic than that. An argument, in this
context, is simply a statement, or set of statements, that includes at least one premise and a
conclusion. A premise includes the reasons and evidence behind a conclusion.
A conclusion is the statement that the premise supports and is a way of promoting a certain
belief or point of view. To help us better identify the premise and conclusion of an argument, we
can take a look at indicator words.

The Role of Indicator Words

Consider the following argument:
Since carrots are full of vitamins, it follows that your body will benefit if you eat them.
In this argument, how do we know which part is considered the premise and which part is the
conclusion? The premise here is the fact that carrots are full of vitamins. The conclusion is that
your body will benefit from you eating carrots.
This statement about carrots includes indicator words. Indicator wordsprovide assistance to
you when you are trying to identify an argument and its parts. The phrase Since carrots are full
of vitamins uses the indicator word 'since' which is often associated with premises. The last part
of the sentence uses the phrase, 'it follows that' to show that it is a conclusion.
Examples of words or phrases that are typically included in premises:
 because
 since
 given that
 seeing that
 as shown by
 assuming that
 considering that
 for the reason that

Examples of words or phrases that are typically included in conclusions:

 therefore
 thus
 it follows that
 which proves/implies that
 which means that
 as a result
 so
 we may conclude

Missing Indicator Words

A premise and a conclusion may not always look so neat and easy to identify. Sometimes the
order will be different than our example. Often there are multiple sentences instead of just one
sentence, like we've used here. Sometimes there will be no indicator words used at all! It's
important to consider all of the information you are receiving to help you determine if an
argument is being made and which is the premise versus the conclusion.
Let's consider another statement about carrots:
Carrots have significant vitamin content, according to research. Eating them will benefit your
body.
This argument includes a premise and a conclusion without ever using any indicator words.
However, you can identify that it is an argument, and which part is which, by thinking through
what is being discussed. Clearly, the person making the statement is making the case for eating
carrots and giving evidence for why this is a good thing to do. Indicator words can be helpful
when you want to make an argument or when you are trying to identify one, but they don't
always have to be included. They are clues that are nice to have and can make things clearer,
but they are not always present in arguments.

Introduction to Logic

Basic Definitions

Logic is the study of the criteria used in evaluating inferences or arguments.

An inference is a process of reasoning in which a new belief is formed on the basis of or in
virtue of evidence or proof supposedly provided by other beliefs.

An argument is a collection of statements or propositions, some of which are intended to

provide support or evidence in favor of one of the others.

A statement or proposition is something that can either be true or false. We usually think of a

statement as a declarative sentence, or part of a sentence.

   How many statements are there in the example below?

           I have two brothers, and I have no sisters. (The answer is 3!)

The premises of an argument are those statements or propositions in it that are intended to
provide the support or evidence.

The conclusion of an argument is that statement or proposition for which the premises are
intended to provide support. (In short, it is the point the argument is trying to make.)

(Important note: premises are always intended to provide support or evidence for the
conclusion, but they don't always succeed! It's still an argument, and there are still premises
and a conclusion, even if the premises don't really provide any support at all.)

Some Example Arguments

God is defined as the most perfect being. A perfect being must have every trait or property
that it's better to have than not to have. It is better to exist than not to exist. Therefore, God
exists.

Hillary Clinton must be a communist spy. She supports socialized health care, and everyone
who supports socialized health care is a communist spy.

It has rained more than 15 inches per year in Amherst every year for the past 30 years. So you
can safely bet it will rain more than 15 inches in Amherst this year. 

Professor Chappell said that the ratio of female to male students in the class was exactly 3:1.
This means that there are 112 female students in the class, because there are 148 students in
the class total.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica has an article on symbiosis. It stands to reason that the
Encyclopaedia Americana has an article on symbiosis as well, since the two reference works
tend to cover the same topics.

1 is a prime number. 3 is a prime number. 5 is a prime number. 7 is a prime number.

Therefore, all odd integers between 0 and 8 are prime numbers.

Jason isn't an NRA member. Almost 90% of NRA members are republicans, and Jason isn't a
republican. 

Inductive Logic and Deductive Logic

This can be a tricky subject. Many people think deduction is reasoning from the general to the
specific, and induction is reasoning from the specific to general. This is NOT how these
words are actually used by most logicians, nor in this course.

The distinction actually has to do with how strong the author of an argument intends the
evidence or support to be.

An argument is deductive if the author intends it to be so strong that it is impossible for the
premises to be true and the conclusion to be false, or in other words, that the conclusion
follows necessarily from the premises. A deductive argument attempts (successfully or
unsuccessfully) to provide full proof of the conclusion.

An argument is inductive if the author intends it only to be so strong that it is improbable that
the premises could be true and the conclusion false, or in other words, that the conclusion is
likely if the premises are true. An inductive argument only attempts (successfully or
unsuccessfully) to provide evidence for the likely truth of the conclusion, rather than
outright proof.

Let us focus only on deductive logic.

Validity and Soundness

A deductive argument is valid if it has a form that would make it impossible for the premises
to be true and the conclusion false, or if the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises.
To test whether an argument is valid, you should first imagine that the premises are true—
whether or not they actually are—and then ask yourself, without appealing to
any other knowledge you have, could you still imagine the conclusion being false? If you can,
the argument is invalid. If you can't, then the argument is valid.

Note that validity does not have to do with the actual truth or falsity of the premises. It only
has to do with what would follow from them if they were true. A valid argument can have
false premises. For example:

   All toasters are items made of gold.

   All items made of gold are time-travel devices.
   Therefore, all toasters are time-travel devices.

It may be hard to imagine these premises as true, but it is not hard to recognize that if they
were true, the conclusion would also be true.

So there's more to an argument's being a good one than validity. To be a good argument, an
argument must also have true premises. An argument with true premises is called factually
correct.

A sound argument is an argument that is both valid and factually correct.

An invalid argument may have true or false premises, and a true or false conclusion. A valid
argument may have false premises with either a true or a false conclusion. The only
combination that is ruled out is a valid argument with true premises and a false conclusion.
Sound arguments always have true conclusions.

Argument Form

The validity of a deductive argument is determined entirely by its form. Consider these
arguments.

1)    All tigers are mammals.

   No mammals are creatures with scales.
   Therefore, no tigers are creatures with scales.

2)    All spider monkeys are elephants.

   No elephants are animals.
   Therefore, no spider monkeys are animals.

These arguments share the same form: All A are B, No B are C, Therefore, No A are C. All
arguments with this form are valid. So the examples above are valid. (What is wrong with
#2?)
Now consider:

3)    All basketballs are round.

   The Earth is round.
   Therefore, the Earth is a basketball.
4)    All Jedis are one with the force.
   Yoda is one with the force.
   Therefore, Yoda is a Jedi.

These arguments also have the same form. All A are F. X is F. Therefore, X is an A. All
arguments with this form are invalid. #4 may seem like a good argument because all the
premises and the conclusion are true (at least in fiction), but note that the conclusion isn't
made true by the premises. It could be possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion
false. #4 is invalid, and all invalid arguments are unsound. #4 is not a good argument.

Evaluating Arguments Logically

Logic is very important in philosophy, because so much of what philosophers do involves

putting forth arguments, and assessing those of others. There are two steps in evaluating an
argument. First, ignore for the moment whether or not the premises actually are true, and ask
yourself whether or not, if you imagine that they are, the conclusion follows from them.  If it
does, that is, if the process of reasoning is a good one, then the argument is valid. Next, ask
yourself whether or not the premises are true.  If all of them are true (regardless of the
conclusion), then the argument is factually correct. These are the only two ways of evaluating
an argument that are important for the purposes of this class. If the argument is both valid and
factually correct, then the conclusion must be true.

1) If God existed, then J. Lo and Puffy would still be dating. But J. Lo and Puffy are not
dating anymore. Therefore, God does not exist.

2) If Minnie Driver has agreed to go on date with Kevin, then God exists. Minnie Driver has
not agreed to go on a date with Kevin. Therefore, God does not exist.

3) Either materialism is false or all emotions are physical processes in the brain. If all
emotions are physical processes in the brain, then it is possible to know what love feels like
simply by studying brain chemistry. It is not possible to know what love feels like simply by
studying brain chemistry. Therefore, materialism is false. 

NOTE: An argument may still have a true conclusion even if it is invalid or factually
incorrect (or both). Consider:

Christina Aguilera loves all of Eminem's lyrics. The Eifel tower is made of cheese. Therefore,
Atlanta is the capital of Georgia.

The real upshot of this, however, is that just because you believe a certain conclusion, you do
not logically have to accept the soundness of every argument for that conclusion.
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The Basic Elements of Arguments

I. The Fundamentals of Logic:
Definition - 'Logic' can be defined as the philosophical study and analysis of
arguments.

What IS an argument?

Definition - An 'argument' is a set of claims, one of which is meant to be supported by

the others.

A. The Basic Elements of an Argument:

1. The Premise - why should your assertion be accepted?

Definition - a 'premise' is any statement which acts as the reason or

evidence to support a conclusion.

a. Evidence: facts, statistics, data, authoritative opinion.

b. Appeal: the interpretation of evidence
2. The Conclusion - the proven form of the thesis, or what follows from, or
is supported by the evidence.

Definition - a 'conclusion' is any statement which is supported by a

premise or premises.

Example:
Self defense is a basic human right. - premise
Therefore, everyone should carry a handgun. - conclusion

B. The Connection between the Elements: The Inference

Definition - The logical connection that links a premise and conclusion is an

'inference'.

II. The Object of an Argument: Persuading Your Audience, Through Reason Alone -

A. Credibility - why should anyone believe me?
1. You should be knowledgeable about the subject
2. You should be of good moral character
3. You should have good intentions
B. Establishing Credibility
1. Do thorough and careful research.
2. Adopt, as much as possible, an impartial disposition.
3. Always give a well organized presentation.

III. How to Recognize an Argument:

A. An argument is a set of at least two statements one of which (the premise) must
logically support the other (the conclusion).
 Definition - a 'statement' is a sentence which is either true or false (i.e., that has
a truth-value).

NOTE: There are many kinds of sentences that are not statements.

1. advice or warnings
2. questions
3. imperatives (i.e., commands)
4. opinions or beliefs
5. illustrations and expositions

Definition - a 'proposition' is the meaningful content of a statement.

B. Two Kinds of Inferences:

1. Explicit Inferences - are indicated by signs
a. Premise Indicators:
'Since’, 'Because’, 'For’, 'Seeing that’, 'The reason being’, 'is
implied’ by, etc.
b. Conclusion Indicators:
'So’, 'Thus’, 'Therefore’, 'Hence’, 'Consequently’, 'In conclusion’,
etc.
2. Implicit Inferences - are not indicated by signs
3.
C. Common Statement Forms:
1. Conditional - the 'if . . . then’ statement:

If it's cloudy outside, then it will rain today.

a. Antecedent - what comes before

b. Consequent - what comes after

NOTE: 
Necessary condition - If you were not exposed to the influenza virus, you
will not get sick.

Sufficient condition - If you let go of the hammer, it will fall to the

ground.

2. Conjunctive - the 'both . . . and’ statement:

My pet penguin is a bird, and from Antarctica.

 3. Disjunctive - the 'either . . . or’ statement:
a. absolute disjunction - one or the other, but not both

Lucy is either a cat or a dog.

b. inclusive disjunction - one or both

Lucy is either a cat or a mammal.

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