Phil 04 - Spring 05 Second Homework



Phil 04 - Spring 06 Second Homework

Anderson

Problems 1-9, answer T or F.

1. Truth is subjective; what is true for you may not be true for me.

2. Words like "for", "since", and "because" are conclusion indicator words.

3. Sometimes in an ordinary text an entire argument is contained in a single declarative sentence.

4. The set of statements {Angela is younger than Chris. Diana is older than Brenda. Brenda is younger than Chris. Diana is older than Chris.} is a logically consistent set.

5. One great advantage of having a correct explanation of a given kind of event is we can often use that information as a basis for predicting when that kind of event is likely to occur again.

6. An explanation that only partially explains why something happens is of no value to us. To be of value we have to know the full explanation.

7. Some political analysts said the November ’04 presidential election was decided on the basis of moral values. They were giving an agency explanation.

8. Two people can hold opposing positions on a given value statement and yet defend their respective positions by reasonable arguments.

9. It follows from 8 above that value statements cannot be objectively true.

Problems 10-13, write out the conclusion of the following pieces of reasoning in one clear and complete sentence. Reminder: Be sure to leave any of the premises out of the conclusion.

10. It may be true that people, not guns, kill people. But people with guns kill more people than people without guns. As long as the number of lethal weapons in the hands of the American people continues to grow, so will the murder rate.

11. Pornography often depicts women as servants or slaves or as otherwise inferior to men. In light of that, it seems reasonable to expect to find more women than men who are upset by pornography.

12. If you're going to buy a computer, you might as well also sign up for some lessons on how to use the thing. After all, no computer ever did any work for its owner until its owner found out how to make it work.

13. Intravenous drug use with non-sterile needles has become one of the leading causes of the spread of AIDS. Many states passed legislation allowing officials to distribute clean needles in an effort to combat this method of infection. But in eleven states, including some of the most populous, possession of hypodermic syringes without a prescription is illegal. The laws in these foot-dragging states have to be changed if we ever hope to bring this awful epidemic to an end.

14. Text, p. 75, problem 14. (a) Write out in one clear sentence the explanandum. (b) Likewise, write out the explanans. (The explanans will take two or three sentences, depending upon how you word it.)

15. Text, p. 75, problem 16. This passage contains two distinct explanations, each one being - at least in the author's opinion - a partial explanation of the same phenomenon. (a) What are they each partial explanations of; that is, what is the common explanandum? (b) What is the explanans of the first explanation?

(c) What is the explanans of the second explanation? (d) What prediction does the author tell us we can make, assuming his own explanation is correct?

16. Statements are always either true or false.

But there is nothing objective (nothing in the range of our observable

experience) that would make a value statement true or false.

Therefore value statements aren’t really statements; they do not describe

reality and cannot be objective.

Why does the author say (p. 85) this argument begs the question or, in other words, assumes what needs to be proven?

17. Text, p. 91, problem #8. (a) Write out the conclusion in one clear sentence. Note: The conclusion is really a value statement, even though none of the standard value-indicator words appear in it. Try rewriting the conclusion in a way that makes it more obvious what value judgment is being made. (b) How does the writer support that value judgment? In other words, what are the premises of the argument?

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