Deck 1: An Introduction to Arguments

Question 1

An argument is:

A) A pair of reasons that jointly entail a specific conclusion.
B) A debate between two or more people about a particular claim.
C) A set of claims, one of which is supposed to be implied by the other(s).
D) A set of reasons that one person gives another to convince the other person of something.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

An argument always includes:

A) Exactly two premises and one main conclusion.
B) At least two premises and exactly one main conclusion.
C) At least one premise and exactly one main conclusion.
D) Any numbers of premises and main conclusions.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A premise is:

A) A claim in an argument that is meant to support that argument's conclusion.
B) A true claim that provides evidence for another claim.
C) A set of claims that is sufficient to support a particular conclusion.
D) A shared starting point for a debate or dispute between two people.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a claim, as that term is defined in Chapter 1 of Moral Reasoning?

A) The city of Paris, Texas, is smaller than the city of Paris, France.
B) The planet Venus had intelligent life on it 1.5 billion years ago.
C) Humpback whales are the largest species of fish.
D) Haven't I asked you a million times to do the dishes!?

Question 5

Suppose a toddler pulls a dog's tail and the dog growls at her. If the toddler's parent says, "The dog growled because you pulled his tail," this would be:

A) An argument because the parent is trying to convince the toddler not to pull the dog's tail.
B) An explanation because the parent is trying to help the toddler understand why the dog growled.
C) An argument because the parent is trying to convince the toddler that it's true that the dog growled.
D) An explanation because the parent is trying to teach the toddler how to use the word growl.

Question 6

Early on the morning of November 9, 1979, the U.S. national security adviser received a phone call warning that the Soviet Union had launched nuclear missiles at the United States. Just before he called President Carter, the national security adviser received a second phone call from the base that had detected the attack, saying, "There is no emergency because it was a false alarm caused by a computer error." The second caller gave the national security adviser:

A) An explanation because he was trying to help him understand why there was no emergency.
B) An argument because he was trying to convince him that there was no emergency.
C) Neither (a) nor (b) because the caller could not be sure whether there was in fact an emergency.
D) Both (a) and (b) because the caller's words were both an argument and an explanation.

Question 7

The word because is:

A) Sometimes a premise indicator.
B) Always a conclusion indicator.
C) Always a premise indicator.
D) Sometimes a conclusion indicator.

Question 8

Consider René Descartes's famous argument, "I think. Therefore, I am." The claim "I think" is:

A) The argument's conclusion.
B) A subconclusion of the argument.
C) The argument's premise.
D) Not part of an argument.

Question 9

Consider the following argument: "Red pandas are a kind of bear because they are a kind of panda and all pandas are bears." The claim that "red pandas are a kind of bear" is:

A) The argument's conclusion.
B) One of the argument's premises.
C) A subconclusion of the argument.
D) Background information.

Question 10

Consider the following argument: "Since humpback whale mothers nurse their young, humpback whales are mammals. Therefore, humpback whales are not fish." The claim that "humpback whales are mammals" is:

A) One of the argument's premises.
B) The argument's conclusion.
C) Background information.
D) A subconclusion of the argument.

Question 11

Consider the following argument: "There's a giant plot hole in the Disney version of The Little Mermaid. In the movie, Ariel signs her name on a contract with the sea witch Ursula. That shows that she knows how to write. She could easily have written a letter to Prince Eric to explain the situation, at which point he would have kissed her and avoided a lot of drama. But she never does this." The claim that "there's a giant plot hole in the Disney version of The Little Mermaid" is:

A) The argument's conclusion.
B) Not part of the argument.
C) A subconclusion of the argument.
D) One of the argument's premises.

Question 12

The Catholic philosopher Saint Thomas Aquinas offered the following argument for God's existence: Some things have causes. Since nothing can cause itself, each thing that has a cause must be caused by something else. But if everything had a cause, then the chain of causes would go on forever. It is impossible for the chain of causes to go on forever. Therefore, there must be something that can cause other things but is not caused by anything else. That uncaused cause is God. In this argument, the claim that "it is impossible for the chain of causes to go on forever" is:

A) Background information.
B) One of the argument's premises.
C) A subconclusion of the argument.
D) The argument's conclusion.

Question 13

The three criteria for evaluating an argument are:

A) Premises, conclusions, and subconclusions.
B) Reliability, reference, and sufficiency.
C) Acceptability, relevance, and sufficiency.
D) Acceptable, relative, and soluble.

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT one of the ways that someone can have a good reason to believe a claim, as described in the discussion of premise acceptability in Chapter 1?

A) By thinking about the meaning of the words in the claim.
B) Because the claim is common knowledge.
C) On the basis of a good argument.
D) By feeling extremely confident about the truth of the claim.

Question 15

A premise is acceptable on the basis of testimony if:

A) You learn the premise from a trustworthy person who is in a position to know whether the premise is true.
B) You learn the premise from someone who is under oath to tell the truth, such as a witness in a courtroom.
C) More than one eyewitness confirms the truth of the premise.
D) Enough people have heard the premise and believe it to be true.

Question 16

A premise in an argument is relevant to that argument's conclusion if:

A) The premise is related to the argument's conclusion.
B) The truth of the premise counts in favor of the argument's conclusion.
C) The truth of the premise guarantees the truth of the argument's conclusion.
D) The premise is acceptable whenever the conclusion is acceptable.

Question 17

An irrelevant premise in an argument:

A) Gives you no reason to believe the argument's conclusion.
B) Would give you a reason to believe the argument's conclusion if it were true.
C) Might be true, but you do not have a good enough reason to believe it.
D) Gives you some reason to believe the argument's conclusion, but not a sufficient reason.

Question 18

The premises of an argument are sufficient if:

A) There is sufficient reason to believe those premises.
B) There are enough premises in the argument.
C) The premises, taken together, give a strong enough reason to accept the conclusion.
D) The premises, taken together, prove the conclusion with certainty.

Question 19

An argument is cogent if:

A) All of its premises are acceptable and relevant.
B) It fails to satisfy any of the three criteria for argument evaluation.
C) Anyone who understands the argument will be convinced by it.
D) The acceptable, relevant premises are sufficient to support the conclusion.

Question 20

Consider the following argument: "The moon is made of cheese. In films of astronauts walking on the moon, they are clearly not walking on cheese. Therefore, the films were faked." One problem with this argument is:

A) The first premise is not acceptable.
B) The premises are not relevant to the conclusion.
C) The argument commits the fallacy of wishful thinking.
D) The conclusion is not knowable by testimony.

Question 21

Consider the following argument: "George Washington was a man. Thomas Jefferson was a man. Abraham Lincoln was a man. Teddy Roosevelt was a man. John F. Kennedy was a man. Barack Obama is a man. Therefore, all U.S. Presidents have been men." One problem with this argument is:

A) Some of the premises are unacceptable because no living person ever saw Washington, Jefferson, or Lincoln for themselves.
B) The premises are not relevant enough to the conclusion.
C) The premises are not sufficient to support the conclusion.
D) The argument lacks an adequate subconclusion.

Question 22

Consider the following argument: "The SS Central America, a steamship carrying almost 600 passengers and 21 tons of gold from the California gold rush, sank off the Carolina coast in 1492. The oil tanker Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in 1992, spilling tens of millions of gallons of oil in Alaska. Therefore, the Exxon Valdez spill was the largest oil spill in history." Which of the following is NOT a problem for this argument?

A) At least one of the premises would be unacceptable to the average person.
B) At least one of the premises is irrelevant to the conclusion.
C) The premises are not sufficient to support the conclusion.
D) At least one of the premises is invalid.

Question 23

A fallacy is:

A) An argument that superficially appears to be a good argument but actually violates at least one of the three criteria for argument evaluation.
B) An argument that fails to satisfy any of the three criteria for argument evaluation.
C) A cogent argument that is neither valid nor sound.
D) A valid argument that is not cogent.

Question 24

Someone commits the fallacy of wishful thinking when he or she:

A) Argues that a claim is true because it can't be proven false.
B) Argues that a claim is true on the grounds that it would be good if it were true.
C) Insists on taking a positive attitude even when the evidence doesn't justify it.
D) Insists on thinking that an argument is cogent when it is not.

Question 25

If we can imagine a situation in which the premises of an argument are true but the conclusion of the argument is false, then:

A) The argument is cogent.
B) The argument is not cogent.
C) The argument is valid.
D) The argument is invalid.

Question 26

The difference between a valid argument and a sound argument is that:

A) If the premises of a sound argument are true, then the conclusion must be true.
B) The premises of a sound argument are true, whereas the premises of a valid argument are not true.
C) The premises of a sound argument are true, whereas the premises of a valid argument can be false.
D) The premises of a sound argument seem true, whereas the premises of a valid argument really are true.

Question 27

Which of the following is true?

A) All valid arguments are sound.
B) All sound arguments are valid.
C) All cogent arguments are sound.
D) All sound arguments are cogent.

Question 28

Consider the following argument: "The philosopher James Rachels lived in Birmingham, Alabama. Therefore, the philosopher James Rachels frequently traveled through Atlanta." This argument:

A) Is sound but not valid because the premise does not give sufficient reason to accept the conclusion.
B) Is invalid because even if he lived in Birmingham, Rachels might not have traveled through Atlanta.
C) Is not cogent because the premise is irrelevant to the conclusion.
D) Is invalid because it does not provide enough reason to believe that Rachels really did live in Birmingham.

Question 29

Consider the following argument: "Donald Trump was born in Russia. If a person is born in Russia, then that person is not eligible to be president of the United States. Therefore, Donald Trump is not eligible to be president of the United States." This argument:

A) Is invalid because it is possible for someone to be born in Russia but still be eligible to be president of the United States.
B) Is valid but unsound because it is false that Donald Trump was born in Russia.
C) Is valid but unsound because not everyone knows the rules about who is eligible to be president of the United States.
D) Is invalid but sound because although some people might not know where Donald Trump was born, the premises are still true.

Question 30

An argument is a set of claims, one of which is supposed to follow logically from the other(s).

Question 31

A "claim" is any statement that can be

Question 32

An argument always contains at least two premises.

Question 33

An argument is often, but not always, used to convince someone that something is true.

Question 34

An explanation aims to convince someone that a claim is true by helping them understand why it is true.

Question 35

Whether something is an argument or explanation depends only on the claims used and not on the intentions of the person stating those claims.

Question 36

Argument analysis is the process of identifying the parts of an argument and figuring out how they relate to one another.

Question 37

All arguments include at least one premise indicator or conclusion indicator.

Question 38

Many words that are used as premise indicators are also used for other purposes.

Question 39

Some arguments have multiple premises that provide independent reasons to believe the conclusion.

Question 40

A claim can never be a premise and a conclusion in the same argument.

Question 41

Evaluating arguments is part of analyzing arguments.

Question 42

The three criteria for evaluating arguments are acceptability, relevance, and sufficiency.

Question 43

Some premises are acceptable because they are known to be true by definition.

Question 44

Any premise that is acceptable because you can know it's true just by thinking about it is known to be true by definition.

Question 45

A premise that is common knowledge to one group of people may not be common knowledge to a different group of people.

Question 46

Supporting a premise with an argument is not a way to make the premise acceptable.

Question 47

An acceptable premise is always true.

Question 48

A true premise is NOT always acceptable.

Question 49

A premise can be acceptable to an audience even if the audience doesn't actually accept it.

Question 50

A premise is relevant to a conclusion if it is true relative to the audience's beliefs.

Question 51

An argument's premises are insufficient if, taken together, they do not give a good enough reason to accept its conclusion.

Question 52

An argument that satisfies the acceptability, relevance, and sufficiency criteria is cogent, but it may not be sound.

Question 53

An argument is valid if it is impossible for the premises to be true while the conclusion is false.

Question 54

An argument is invalid if the conclusion is false although the premises satisfy the acceptability, relevance, and sufficiency criteria.

Question 55

In your own words, explain the difference between an argument and an explanation, being sure to give a definition of each.

Question 56

Give one example of an argument and one example of an explanation. Explain why the first example is an argument and the second is an explanation.

Question 57

In your own words, explain the difference between argument analysis and argument evaluation.

Question 58

Consider this argument, adapted from the Chinese philosopher Mencius: "Each person naturally has feelings of compassion for others. If a person cultivates those feelings of compassion, he or she will become a good person. Therefore, people can become good simply by cultivating their natural feelings." Rewrite that argument as a numbered list of claims, clearly indicating which claim is the conclusion.

Question 59

Consider this argument, adapted from the film The Princess Bride: "There's no way we can storm the castle. If we had a giant cloak, we could storm the castle. But we don't have a giant cloak." Rewrite that argument as a numbered list of claims, clearly indicating which claim is the conclusion.

Question 60

Consider this argument, adapted from the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: "God must have created the best possible world because God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good. God created this world. Therefore, this world is the best possible world." Rewrite that argument as a numbered list of claims, clearly indicating which claim is the conclusion.

Question 61

What are the three criteria for evaluating an argument? Explain each criterion in your own words.

Question 62

What does it mean for a premise to be acceptable? In your own words, explain at least six different ways that a premise can be acceptable.

Question 63

Evaluate the following argument, adapted from the economist Allison Schrager: "Many Americans would be healthier if they got more exercise, but they have trouble motivating themselves to go to the gym. Most people would go to the gym more often if they were paying a lot of money for their gym membership. Therefore, most people would be healthier if they joined a very expensive gym."

Question 64

In your own words, explain the difference among cogency, validity, and soundness.