LOGIC AND CONTEMPORARY RHETORIC:
THE USE OF REASON IN EVERYDAY LIFE
CHAPTER 1
GOOD AND BAD REASONING
I.
Brief Chapter Outline
1. Reasoning and Arguments
Exercise 1-1
2. Exposition and Argument
Exercise 1-2
3. Cogent Reasoning
Believable Premises
No Relevant Information Passed Over
Valid Reasoning
4. Two Basic Kinds of Valid Arguments
Deductive Validity
Inductive Validity
Exercise 1-3
5. Some Wrong Ideas about Cogent Reasoning
6. Background Beliefs
7. Kinds of Background Beliefs
8. Worldviews or Philosophies
9. Insufficiently Grounded Beliefs
Exercise 1-4
Exercise 1-5
Exercise 1-6
Exercise 1-7
Exercise 1-8
10. Two Vital Kinds of Background Beliefs
The Nature of Human Nature
The Reliability of Information Sources
11. Science to the Rescue
Exercise 1-9
Summary of Chapter 1
II.
List of Key Terms
Argument
Background beliefs
Claim
Conclusion
Correct
Deductively valid
Exposition
Fallacious
Form
Induction
Inductively valid
Modus ponens
Philosophies
Premises
Reasoning
Valid
Warranted
Worldviews
III.
Chapter Summary
In this Chapter the authors note that reasoning is the essential ingredient in problem
solving, and that since this is so we need to know how to distinguish good, cogent,
reasoning from bad, fallacious, reasoning. They begin their discussion of this by outlining
the structure of an argument, noting that all arguments have premises and a conclusion,
and distinguishing arguments from exposition.
They then distinguish between cogent and fallacious reasoning, noting that we
reason cogently when our premises are believable, we consider all likely relevant
information, and our reasoning is valid. Here, they distinguish between two basic kinds of
valid arguments; those that are deductively valid, and those that are inductively valid.
They then outline some common mistakes about cogent reasoning, such that what counts
as good reasoning is “culturally relative,” or “individually relative”.
Returning to their discussion of cogent reasoning the authors note that whether
one’s premises are believable, and whether one is using all relevant information, will
depend upon one’s background beliefs. These beliefs can pertain to matters of fact, and
beliefs about values. They can also be divided into those that are true and those that are
false; they also differ in how firmly they should be held. The most deeply ingrained of a
person’s background beliefs tend to be those that constitute her worldview or her
philosophy. We need to make sure that these beliefs are well-grounded, and so we need
to examine them, as well as our other background beliefs. Of these, two kinds are
especially important; those that concern the nature of human nature, and those that
concern the reliability of information sources. We should recognize that the most
accurate information that we have comes from the well-established sciences of physics,
chemistry, and biology, as well as to a lesser extent psychology.
IV.
Practice Questions
A. Objective Multiple Choice
1. The essential ingredient in problem-solving is
a. Information
b. Reasoning
c. Values
d. Knowledge
2. The claim made by an argument is its
a. Form
b. Conclusion
c. Premise
d. Value
3. An argument
a. Will only have two premises
b. Will always stand alone
c. Will always have a conclusion
d. Will always be correct
4. We reason cogently only when
a. Our premises are warranted, we consider all likely information, and our
reasoning is valid
b. Our premises are warranted, we consider all likely information, and our
reasoning is deductive
c. Our premises are warranted, we consider some likely information, and our
reasoning is valid
d. Our premises are warranted, we consider all likely information, and our
reasoning is inductive
5. A bad argument is a
a. Fallacious one
b. Valid one
c. Inductive one
d. Deductive one
6. The first condition of cogent reasoning requires
a. That we use our background beliefs to assess the premises of the argument we
are evaluating
b. That we assess the logical form of the argument that we are evaluating
c. That we reject our background beliefs prior to assessing the premises of the
argument we are evaluating
d. That we use background beliefs to assess the conclusion of the argument we
are evaluating
7. The second criterion of cogent reasoning requires that we
a. Do not pass over any relevant information
b. Ignore relevant information
c. Assess the form of the argument
d. Assess the conclusion of the argument
8. The third criterion of cogent reasoning requires that
a. The premises of the argument in question are all true
b. The premises of the argument in question fit with our background beliefs
c. The premises of the argument in question have the correct form
d. The premises of the argument in question genuinely support its conclusion
9. Validity concerns
a. The connection between the premises and the reader’s background beliefs
b. The connection between the premises and the conclusion of the argument
c. The truth of the premises
d. The truth of the conclusion
10. The fundamental property of a deductively valid argument is
a. That if all of its premises are true, then its conclusion must be true also
b. That if its conclusion is true, then its premises must be true
c. That if all of its premises are true, then its conclusion is likely to be true
d. That if all of its premises are false, then its conclusion is likely to be false
11. The idea behind valid induction is that of
a. Learning from mistakes
b. Learning from logic
c. Learning from experience
d. Learning from books
12. Good reasoning is
a. Culturally relative
b. Gender relative
c. Individually relative
d. Not relative
13. Ignorance is
a. Bliss
b. Not bliss
c. Necessary to evaluate arguments
d. Included in our background beliefs
14. Background beliefs
a. Are always true
b. Are always false
c. Can be true or false
d. Are neither true nor false
15. Background beliefs
a. Can be about matters of fact and matters of value
b. Are always about matters of fact
c. Are always about matters of value
d. Cannot be about both matters of facts and matters of value
16. The beliefs that are most deeply ingrained in us are an important part of our
a. Worldview, or philosophy
b. Worldview, but not philosophy
c. Philosophy, but not worldview
d. Value system
17. Two kinds of background beliefs that are extremely important concern
a. Personal preferences and religious views
b. Personal preferences and the nature of human nature
c. The nature of human nature and the reliability of information sources
d. The nature of human nature and religious views
18. We cannot assume
a. That a source is reliable without some reason for thinking this
b. That science is any better than intuition in giving accurate information
c. That logic works in all cases
d. That science is gender-neutral
19. The most reliable information we have comes from
a. Well-established religion
b. Well-established science
c. Personal intuition
d. Personal judgments
20. Common everyday sayings
a. Contain some wisdom
b. Are fallacious
c. Are completely correct
d. Should be rejected
B. True/False
1. Bad reasoning is fallacious reasoning
2. Valid deductive arguments always have true conclusions
3. Invalid deductive arguments can have true conclusions
4. Masculine logic is different from feminine logic
5. Science is a very reliable source of information
6. Our background beliefs are immune from criticism
7. Freud was right about everything
8. Psychology is not as well-established a science as physics
9. Cogent reasoning involves warranted premises
10. Inductive arguments ignore experience
11. How the world works depends on the sex of the person evaluating it
12. Philosophers all agree that there are objective moral truths
13. We have no background beliefs concerning the nature of human nature
14. All information sources are equally reliable
15. Expositions sometimes contain implicit arguments
C. Fill-in-the-Blanks
1. The purpose of Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric is not to _______.
2. The statements in an argument that give reasons for accepting the conclusion
are called _____.
3. Conclusions are sometimes signaled by words such as ____ [thus], _____
[therefore], or ______.
4. Expressions such as “It has been observed that…” are used to indicate _____ .
5. According to the authors, it would be a mistake to think that talk was
generally _____.
6. It is important to understand the difference between rhetoric that is primarily
argumentative and that which is mainly _______ .
7. It is the ____ of an argument that makes it deductively valid
8. Background beliefs can be divided up ___________.
9. We need to examine our background beliefs for _______ and ______ .
10. ________ plays a central place in modern life.
D. Essay Questions
1. Identify one of your most basic background beliefs. Under what circumstances do
you think you could be moved to reject this belief? Could you be argued out of
holding it? Would you be moved to reject it if certain evidence was presented to
you? If you did reject this belief, how would this effect your other beliefs about
the world?
2. Outline the main differences between inductive reasoning and deductive
reasoning. Are there any areas of life in which one form of reasoning might be
more useful than the other? Explain your view.
3. Is science based upon inductive reasoning, or deductive reasoning, or a
combination of both? Drawing from the Chapter’s discussion of these two types
of reasoning, do you think that science can give us absolutely certain knowledge?
Why, or why not?
4. Is reasoning relative to the sex, race, or personality of the person who uses it?
Explain your view fully.
5. How can reasoning be misused, either deliberately or unintentionally? Provide
examples of each type of misuse, making it clear why the reasoning in question is
bad.
V.
Additional Sources for Study and Research
A. InfoTrac Search Terms
Analogy, Aristotelian (Logic), Claims, Contingency, Fallacies, Logic, Critical
Thinking, Syllogism, Hypothetical Syllogism, Induction, Informal Logic,
Probability, Thesis, Valid.
B. Internet Sites
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://plato.stanford.edu/
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://www.iep.utm.edu/
Wikipedia; Logic entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic
Factasia Logic
http://www.rbjones.com/rbjpub/logic/
VI.
Answer Key
A. Objective Multiple Choice
1. b
2. b
3. c
4. a
5. a
6. a
7. a
8. d
9. b
10. a
11. c
12. d
13. b
14. c
15. a
16. a
17. c
18. a
19. b
20. a
B. True/False
1. F
2. F
3. T
4. F
5. T
6. F
7. F
8. T
9. T
10. F
11. F
12. F
13. F
14. F
15. T
C. Fill-in-the-Blanks
1. alter student’s political views
2. premises
3. thus, therefore, consequently
4. premises
5. aimless
6. expository
7. form
8. in many different ways
9. consistency, believability
10. science