Philosophy
ARGUMENTS
Is a valid argument a good argument?
A good argument must be valid but not all valid arguments are good.
For example:
All dogs are human.
Terriers are dogs.
Terriers are humans.
The argument is valid, but it is not a good
argument. It is valid because the conclusion must be true if the
premises are true!
However, in a good argument, the premises actually must be true or,
at least, there must be a strong probability that the premises are true.
Clearly, in the above argument, the first premise is false.
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In philosophy, we call a good argument a sound argument.
A sound argument is a valid argument with true premises.
For example:
All dogs are mammals.
Terriers are dogs.
Terriers are mammals.
This is a sound argument because it is
a valid argument with true premises.
An unsound argument is a valid argument with at least one false
premise.
Exercise 1
In pairs, try to produce sound and unsound arguments.
Remember:
A sound argument must be valid!
Philosophy/SoundUnsoundArguments/SF-C/08.06
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