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Philosophy 105-940, Fall 2016-17, Quiz #5. Covers: Textbook, Chapter 5; also (in Additional Materials folder on BB): "Rules of Inference" and "Validity." Posted by or on Friday, November 18; Due Monday, November 28, by Noon.

NAME: _______________________

GRADE: + points

Directions: In each of the following arguments, you are given only the premises (but all the premises). Your task is to provide the conclusion. Type out the full, accurate conclusion as a [one] grammatically correct sentence. When adding the conclusion, your goal is to create a complete argument that is a valid deductive argument. That's the point, and that's the skill being tested. Knowing the "rules of inference" on BB will be helpful. There are 5 questions. Each is worth 4 points, total 20 points. There is one extra-credit question, worth 4 points.

1. I finally discovered the mystery of why hard beds are good for you. Here's the story: If you have a hard bed, then you cannot stay comfortable for long periods, and when you can't stay comfortable for long periods you roll around a lot. If you roll around a lot, then your joints don't ache from being in one position too long. Let's also assume that your joints do ache in the morning from sleeping too long in one position. It follows that….

Conclusion:

2. If a colored paper flyer is on one of the bulletin boards, then it was approved by the Associated Students, and that yellow paper flyer was approved. Hence….

Conclusion:

3.  If she can play the tuba, then she can play the bassoon. And if she can play the bassoon, then she can play the French horn. We may also assume that she can play the tuba. So, ….

Conclusion:

4. If we don't see the movie tonight, we won't be able to talk about it in class. And if we won't be able to talk about it in class, we won't make Ms. Schmidt happy. Let's not see the movie tonight. That way, ....

Conclusion:

5. It's easy to do logic if you think logically. Fortunately, doing logic is easy for me, so….. 

Conclusion:

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6. Extra credit (+4 points available, 2 points each part).

(a) Which of the following tasks is generally easier than the other task?

(b) After making your selection, explain your choice.

TASK #1: You are given a bunch of randomly selected arguments, with all their premises but without their conclusions, and you are asked to provide the missing conclusion for each argument.

TASK #2: You are given a bunch of randomly selected arguments, without their premises (only their conclusions), and you are asked to provide the missing premise(s) for each argument.

(a) The easier task:

(b) Why?

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