Constructing a Deductively Valid Argument

Constructing a Deductively Valid Argument

You must post to this discussion on at least four separate days of the week, and your posts must total at least 400 words as you address the questions. Your first post must be completed by Day 3 (Thursday) and the remainder of your posts must be completed by Day 7 (Monday). You must answer all aspects of the prompt at some point during the week. Also, reply to your classmates and instructor. Attempt to take the conversation further by examining their claims or arguments in more depth or responding to the posts that they make to you. Keep the discussion on target, and analyze things in as much detail as you can.

The total combined word count for all of your posts for this discussion, counted together, should be at least 400 words. Answer all the questions in the prompt, and read any resources that are required to complete the discussion properly. In order to satisfy the posting requirements for the week, complete your initial post by Day 3 (Thursday) and your other posts by Day 7 (Monday). We recommend that you get into the discussion early and spread out your posts over the course of the week. Reply to your classmates and instructor. Attempt to take the conversation further by examining their claims or arguments in more depth or responding to the posts that they make to you. Keep the discussion on target, and analyze things in as much detail as you can.

The topic of this week is deductive reasoning. Accordingly, in this discussion your task is to create a deductively valid argument for your position (the same position that you defended in the Week One discussion).

Prepare: To prepare to respond to this prompt, make sure to read carefully over Chapter 3 and the required portions of Chapter 4. View the deLaplante (2013) video What Is a Valid Argument? as well as the other required media for the week. For more guidance about how to construct a valid argument for a controversial position, review the Constructing a Valid Argument video and the document How to Construct a Valid Main Argument. Based on the sources, create a deductively valid argument for the position you defended in the Week One discussion.

Reflect: To make your argument deductively valid, you will need to make sure that there is no possible way that your premises could be true and your conclusion false. Your premises must lead logically to the truth of your conclusion. Make sure that your argument is sound that is in addition to being valid, make sure that the premises are true as far as you can tell. If your argument is invalid or if it has a false premise, revise it until you get an argument that you can stand behind.

Write: Identify the components and structure of your argument by presenting your deductively valid argument in standard form, and explain how your conclusion follows from your premises.

Guided Response: Read the arguments presented by your classmates, and analyze the reasoning that they have presented. In particular, if you believe that their argument is invalid, explain a way in which it would be possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false. If you believe that their argument has a false premise, explain why a reasonable person might take it to be false. Finally, see if you can help them to improve their argument. How can they alter their premises so that all of them are true? What might they change in order to make their argument valid?

Deductive Logic

We have learned this week about deductive reasoning, including what it takes for an argument to be deductive. This discussion allows us to practice identifying and evaluating examples of deductive reasoning.

Prepare: To prepare to respond to this prompt, read the instructor’s guidance and Chapters 3 and 4 (the required portions) of the textbook, and view required media for this week. Contemplate what it means to for an argument to bedeductive.

Reflect: Having studied the concept of deductive reasoning, find sources of reasoning, be it a detective novel, a political blog, a newspaper article, a TV broadcast, or some other source, and identify three arguments that you take to be deductive. If you have a hard time finding all three from media sources, you are able to create one or two of your own deductive arguments, on whatever topic you wish.

Write: 

1. Present each argument in standard from (with the premises listed above the conclusion). 
2. After you have presented each argument, provide an explanation of why the reasoning is or is not valid. 
3. If the reasoning is valid, explain how the truth of the conclusion follows from the premises; 
4. If the reasoning is not valid, show how it would be possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false, and discuss what it might take to make the argument valid.