child discipline methods

What I am looking for are a series of line-by-line premises followed by a conclusion. Each premise is one sentence long.

Sometimes it is tempting to write a long premise and I sometimes do the same. What we all should strive towards in this course is to be short and precise with each premise.

A Standard Form Argument from the Textbook

Example from the textbook:

I live in Boston.

I like clam chowder.

My family lives in Boston.

My family likes clam chowder.

My friends live in Boston.

My friends like clam chowder.

Therefore, everyone I know in Boston likes clam chowder.

This is out of the text book

The Standard Argument Form

In informal logic the main method for identifying, constructing, or examining arguments is to extract what we hear or read as arguments and put this in what is known as the standard argument form. It consists of claims, some of which are called premises and one of which is called the conclusion. In the standard argument form, premises are listed first, each on a separate line, with the conclusion on the line after the last premise. There are various methods for displaying standard form. Some methods number the premises; others separate the conclusion with a line. We will generally use the following method, prefacing the conclusion with the word therefore:

Premise

Premise

Therefore, Conclusion

The number of premises can be as few as one and as many as needed. We must approach either extreme with caution given that, on the one hand, a single premise can offer only very limited support for the conclusion, and on the other hand, many premises risk error or confusion. However, there are certain kinds of arguments that, because of their formal structure, may contain only a limited number of premises.

In the standard argument form, each premise or conclusion should be only one sentence long, and premises and conclusions should be stated as clearly and briefly as possible. Accordingly, we must avoid premises or conclusions that have multiple sentences or single sentences with multiple claims. The following example shows what not to do:

I live in Boston, and I like clam chowder.

My family also lives in Boston. They also like clam chowder.

My friends live in Boston. They all like clam chowder, too.

Therefore, everyone I know in Boston likes clam chowder.

If you want to make more than one claim about the same subject, then you can break your declarative sentences into several sentences that each contain only one claim. The clam chowder argument can then be rewritten as follows:

I live in Boston.

I like clam chowder.

My family lives in Boston.

My family likes clam chowder.

My friends live in Boston.

My friends like clam chowder.

Therefore, everyone I know in Boston likes clam chowder.

The relationship between premises and the conclusion is that of inference—the process of drawing a claim (the conclusion) from the reasons offered in the premises. The act of reasoning from the premises serves as the glue connecting the premises with the conclusion.

Practice Problems 2.1

Determine whether the following sentences are claims (propositions) or nonclaims (nonpropositions). Click here to check your answers.

Moby Dick is a great novel.

Computers have made our lives easier.

If we go to the movies, we will need to drive the minivan.

Do you want to drive the minivan to the movies?

Drive the minivan.

Either I am a human or I am a dog.

Michael Jordan was a great football player.

Was it time for you to leave?

Private property is a right of every American.

Universalized health care is communism.

Don’t you dare vote for universalized health care.

Nietzsche collapsed in a square upon seeing a man beat a horse.

Hooray!

Those who reject equality seek tyranny.

How many feet are in a mile?

If you cannot understand the truth value of a claim, then it is not a claim.

Something is a claim if and only if it has a truth value.

Treat your boss with respect.

Men are much less likely to have osteoporosis than women are.

Why are women less likely to have heart attacks?

Do as we say.

I believe that you should do as your parents say.

Socrates is mortal.

Why did Freud hold such strange beliefs about parent–child relationships?

A democracy exists if and only if its citizens participate in autonomous elections.

Do your best.

The unexamined life is not worth living.

Ayn Rand believed that selfishness was a virtue.

Is selfishness a virtue?

What people love is not the object of desire, but desire itself.

Hey!

Those who cannot support themselves should not be supported by taxpayer dollars.

Particle and wave behavior are properties of light.

Why do we feed so many pounds of plants to animals each year?

Go and give your brother a kiss.

Because the mind conditions reality, it is impossible to know the thing as such.

The library at the local university has more than 300,000 books.

Does the nature of reality consist of an ultimately creative impulse?

You are taking a quiz.

Are you taking a quiz?