Deck 1: Basic Concepts

Question 1

Logic is the study of

A) the way people reason.
B) methods for evaluating arguments.
C) techniques for winning arguments.
D) ways to represent English statements in symbols.

Answer 1

methods for evaluating arguments.

Question 2

As understood by logicians, an argument is

A) a set of statements, one of which is supported by the others.
B) a verbal dispute between two or more people.
C) a major contributing factor to the high rate of divorce in the United States.
D) a sentence that is either true or false.

Answer 2

a set of statements, one of which is supported by the others.

Question 3

The primary purpose(s) of argument is(are)

A) to persuade others to share our views.
B) to discover the truth about something.
C) to intimidate one's opponent.
D) both to persuade others to share our views, and to discover the truth about something.

Answer 3

both to persuade others to share our views, and to discover the truth about something.

Question 4

A sound argument is one that is valid and

A) has a true conclusion.
B) has at least one true premise.
C) has all true premises.
D) is accepted by most people.

Question 5

A term is

A) a 15-week semester of college.
B) a word or phrase that stands for a class.
C) a length of time in public office.
D) a pattern of reasoning.

Question 6

A counterexample to an argument form is a substitution instance whose

A) premises and conclusion are well-known truths.
B) premises are well-known falsehoods.
C) premises are well-known truths and conclusion a well-known falsehood.
D) conclusion is a well-known falsehood.

Question 7

The statement "Pat is a mother only if Pat is a woman" is a stylistic variant of which type of statement?

A) disjunction
B) conditional
C) negation
D) conjunction

Question 8

Which of the following argument forms is not valid?

A) modus tollens
B) hypothetical syllogism
C) affirming the consequent
D) disjunctive syllogism

Question 9

The fallacy of affirming the consequent has the following form:

A) If A, then B; Not A; So, not B.
B) If A, then B; Not B; So, not A.
C) If A, then B; A; So, B.
D) If A, then B; B; So, A.

Question 10

A disjunctive syllogism has the following form:

A) Either A or B; Not A; So, B.
B) If A, then C; If B, then D; Either A or B; So, either C or D.
C) If A, then B; If B, then C; So, if A, then C.
D) Either A or B; A; So, not B.

Question 11

If an argument is strong, then

A) its premises are all true.
B) it is improbable (but possible) that the conclusion is false on the assumption that the premises are true.
C) it is impossible for the conclusion to be false on the assumption that the premises are true.
D) the conclusion is true.

Question 12

Inductive logic is concerned with methods of evaluating arguments for

A) strength and weakness.
B) cogency and uncogency.
C) validity and invalidity.
D) soundness and unsoundness.

Question 13

"Davy Crockett was executed by Santa Ana." This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 14

"The moon is made of bleu cheese." This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 15

"Will Jean will the election?" This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 16

"Let's go home now." This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 17

"Buttercup is a yellow parakeet." This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 18

"Pigs can fly." This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 19

"Eat your vegetables." This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 20

Identify the following as valid, invalid, strong, or weak: "All men are mortal. Socrates is mortal. ∴ Socrates is a man."

A) valid
B) invalid
C) strong
D) weak

Question 21

Identify the following as valid, invalid, strong, or weak: "No one has ever run a three-minute mile. ∴ No one ever will."

A) valid
B) invalid
C) strong
D) weak

Question 22

Identify the following as valid, invalid, strong, or weak: "If Pete passes the class, then so will Sharon. But, Pete didn't pass the class. ∴ Sharon did not pass the class."

A) valid
B) invalid
C) strong
D) weak

Question 23

Identify the following as valid, invalid, strong, or weak: "Approximately 43 percent of pet owners in America own a dog. Ron is a pet owner, so he must have a dog."

A) valid
B) invalid
C) strong
D) weak

Question 24

Identify the following as valid, invalid, strong, or weak: "Either Williams will win the election or Jarboe will win it. If Williams wins the election, then recycling will become mandatory. If Jarboe wins the election, then universal garbage collection will become mandatory. So, either recycling or universal garbage collection will become mandatory."

A) valid
B) invalid
C) strong
D) weak

Question 25

Which of the following is a statement?

A) "Close the door."
B) "Let's have lunch."
C) "I'm not hungry."
D) "What did you say?"

Question 26

A premise of an argument is

A) a statement intended to provide support for another statement.
B) an underlying assumption.
C) the statement that is being affirmed on the basis of others.
D) a word or phrase whose purpose is to persuade.

Question 27

The main feature of a valid argument is

A) it is possible for the conclusion to be true.
B) it is not necessary that if the premises are true, then the conclusion is true.
C) it is necessary that if the premises are true, then the conclusion is true.
D) it is not possible for the conclusion to be false.

Question 28

An argument form is

A) a word or phrase that stands for a class.
B) a pattern of reasoning.
C) a statement that is used as a premise.
D) a worksheet for identifying the premises and conclusion of an argument.

Question 29

Which of the following is a substitution instance of the argument form "All A are B; No B are C; So, no
A are C"?

A) All fish are dogs; No dogs are mammals; So, no fish are mammals.
B) All mammals are dogs; No mammals are fish; So, no fish are dogs.
C) All dogs are fish; No dogs are mammals; So, no fish are mammals.
D) All dogs are mammals; No fish are mammals; So, no dogs are fish.

Question 30

Which of the following is an example of a conditional statement?

A) Either Bob or Jim will ask Mary to the dance.
B) All whales are mammals.
C) It's not the case that Sue loves Bill.
D) If Pamela loves Joe, then Joe loves Pamela.

Question 31

The argument form "If A then B; Not B; So, not A" is called

A) modus tollens.
B) constructive dilemma.
C) hypothetical syllogism.
D) modus ponens.

Question 32

The fallacy of denying the antecedent has the following form:

A) If A, then B; Not A; So, not B.
B) If A, then B; Not B; So, not A.
C) If A, then B; A; So, B.
D) If A, then B; B; So, A.

Question 33

A hypothetical syllogism has the following form:

A) If A, then B; Not B; So, not A.
B) If A, then B; If B, then C; So, if A, then C.
C) If A, then C; If B, then D; Either A or B; So, either C or D.
D) Either A or B; Not A; So, B.

Question 34

When "or" is taken in the exclusive sense, the statement "We'll go swimming or hiking" says what?

A) We are definitely going swimming.
B) We are definitely going hiking.
C) We'll go swimming or hiking, but not both.
D) We'll go swimming or hiking; maybe both.

Question 35

A cogent argument

A) is valid and has all true premises.
B) has all true premises.
C) is strong and has all true premises.
D) cannot have a false conclusion.

Question 36

"Don't go in the water." This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 37

"My brother has a cat named Sully." This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 38

"Go to your room!" This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 39

"Assuming that Peter gets a B on the test, he'll pass the class." This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 40

"Are we there yet?" This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 41

"You don't have any brothers or sisters, do you?" This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 42

"The death penalty is morally wrong." This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 43

"Chocolate ice cream is better than strawberry." This is

A) a statement.
B) not a statement.

Question 44

Identify the following as valid, invalid, strong, or weak: "If whales are fish, they are cold-blooded. Whales aren't cold-blooded. ∴ Whales are not fish."

A) valid
B) invalid
C) strong
D) weak

Question 45

Identify the following as valid, invalid, strong, or weak: "60 percent of Volvos ever made are still running. ∴ My father's Volvo still runs."

A) valid
B) invalid
C) strong
D) weak

Question 46

Identify the following as valid, invalid, strong, or weak: "Assuming Betty's flight leaves on time, she will arrive in Seattle at 6:00 p.m. Betty's flight did leave on time, so she will arrive in Seattle at 6:00 p.m."

A) valid
B) invalid
C) strong
D) weak

Question 47

Identify the following as valid, invalid, strong, or weak: "Peter has been at bat two times per game in each of the last ten games. He struck out every time he was at bat! So, he'll probably strike out the next time he's at bat."

A) valid
B) invalid
C) strong
D) weak

Question 48

Identify the following as valid, invalid, strong, or weak: "We can take a vacation in the Bahamas only if we save enough money. We've saved enough money, so now we can take a vacation in the Bahamas!"

A) valid
B) invalid
C) strong
D) weak

Question 49

All sentences are statements.

Question 50

An argument is any set of statements.

Question 51

Some arguments are false.

Question 52

All

Question 53

Every argument intends to guarantee the truth of its conclusion.

Question 54

All valid arguments have

Question 55

A premises.

Question 56

Any argument with a

Question 57

Every argument with a valid form is valid.

Question 58

The statement "If Archarcharch wins the Belmont Stakes, then Archarcharch will be a Triple Crown winner" is a disjunction.

Question 59

A conditional statement is the same thing as a hypothetical statement.

Question 60

When understood in the inclusive sense, "Either A or B" means "Either A or B (but not both)."

Question 61

If an argument form is invalid, then so is every substitution instance of that argument form.

Question 62

Any argument that is a substitution instance of affirming the consequent is a valid argument.

Question 63

A category statement asserts some relation between sets or collections of things.

Question 64

All weak arguments have false conclusions.

Question 65

All weak arguments are uncogent.

Question 66

Strong arguments with all

Question 67

A statement is either .

Question 68

All arguments have more than one premise.

Question 69

Commands are not statements.

Question 70

An argument's conclusion is affirmed on the basis of its premises.

Question 71

Some arguments intend demonstrating their conclusions to be probably

Question 72

All sound arguments have

Question 73

An invalid argument can have false premises and a

Question 74

The conclusion of a valid argument may be false.

Question 75

The conclusion of an unsound argument must be false.

Question 76

More than one argument can have the same form.

Question 77

An argument that results from uniformly replacing letters in an argument form with terms or statements is a substitution instance of that form.

Question 78

In "If Suzie goes to the party, then John will go," the antecedent is "Suzie goes to the party."

Question 79

The statements comprising an "either-or" sentence are called disjuncts.

Question 80

A counterexample proves that an argument form is invalid.