1 – Explain the difference between each pair of terms and support your explanation with your own examples.

(a) The difference between genus and species.
(b) The difference between deductive and non-deductive arguments.
(c) The difference between modus ponens and modus tollens.
(d) The difference between a reportive definition and a stipulative definition.
(e) The difference between a sound argument and a valid argument.

2 – Explain why the following definitions are problematic, if we regard them as reportive definitions.

(a) A crime is any act committed by a criminal, and a criminal is anyone who has committed a crime.
(b) A table is a piece of furniture that has four legs.
(c) Rain is the precipitation of cumulus bodies of atmospheric dihydrogen monoxide in accord with the dictums of gravitation.
(d) The primary colours are: Blue, red, violet, and yellow.
(e) Hatred is a cold and stormy sea.

3 – For each argument, rewrite the argument in the standard argument form and decide whether or not it is deductively valid. Briefly explain your answer.

(a) Whenever my bones ache in the morning, it rains in the afternoon. My bones did not ache this morning, so it won’t rain this afternoon.
(b) If inflation increases, then unemployment does too. Unemployment is on the rise, thus inflation must have increased.

4 – What is the principle of charity? Explain using your own example.

5 – Decide whether each argument is deductively valid.

(a) No bicycles can fly. All planes can fly. Therefore, no bicycles are planes.
(b) We will buy some ice cream or we will not have ice cream for dessert. We didn’t buy any ice cream, so we must not have had ice cream for dessert.
(c) If Violet goes to the store, then she will buy lemons, and if she is craving lemonade, she will also buy lemons. So, if she goes to the store then she will crave lemonade.
(d) Whenever I get a sore throat, I know that I am getting sick. I got a sore throat. Therefore, I am getting sick.
(e) There’s no point going to a theme park if you aren’t going to ride the rollercoasters. You want to ride the rollercoasters, thus there is a point in you going to a theme park.

6 – Analyse the arguments and determine whether they are: valid, nondeductively successful, or nondeductively unsuccessful.

For those that are nondeductively successful, state whether the premises make the conclusions: barely more likely than not, a great deal more likely than not, or close to certain.

(We are concerned here with the degree to which the premises support the conclusions. Assume the premises are true for this exercise).

(a) In my travels, I have met over one hundred magicians and none of them would reveal the secret to their illusions to me. So I am sure that the stereotype of magicians being secretive about their illusions is correct.
(b) Almost everyone who watches the rugby also watches the footy. So, if someone watches the footy, they likely also watch the rugby.
(c) Whenever I fall asleep on the bus, I lose my wallet. I still have my wallet, which means I must not have fallen asleep on the bus this morning.

7 – Match each of the four causal concepts in list 1 with the single example in list 2 that best illustrates it. (If you give more than four answers, you will not receive full marks.) Explain your answers!

List 1:
(a) Sufficient condition
(b) Controllable condition
(c) Proximate cause
(d) Necessary condition

List 2:
(i) The oxygen in the room allowed the fire to start.
(ii) The poison Duke Weinsworth had unwittingly ingested hours earlier was the cause of his death.
(iii) Getting eight or more hours of sleep the night before was one of the factors that tended to increase a student’s exam results.
(iv) Each of the contestants had brought their lucky charm, but only one of them was able to win.
(v) After many years of political and military struggle, the archbishop lowered the crown onto the princess’ head, making her queen.
(vi) In the final days of the war, morale was at an all-time low as each side contemplated surrender.

8 –Use Mill’s methods, and only the information given, to determine the likely cause in each case.

(a) Imogen bought two chairs of the same design from FurnitureMart, within a day the one that her partner always sat in with the cat had broken and the one that Imogen sat in with the cat was still okay. What was the likely cause of the chair breaking?
(b) A doctor had two patients with similar muscle pain and decided to test which of two treatments was more effective. To the first patient he applied peppermint oil and within a day the patient’s pain had cleared. To the second patient he applied acupuncture and that patient’s pain cleared as well. What is the likely cause of the muscle pain clearing?
(c) Three candidates were running for presidency of the local book club: Albert, Brenda, and Xavier. Albert and Xavier both proposed to allow alcohol to be consumed during meetings. Xavier and Brenda proposed that each member should be required to bring a kitten to meetings. Brenda and Albert proposed that only books written in Latin should be read for the club. Which proposal caused Xavier to win the election?

9 – What method of investigation is being described in the passage below? What is the relationship claimed between potassium and hand-eye coordination? What is the prediction implied by the last sentence?

Researchers asked participants to eat a meal containing 0, 100, 200 or 400 milligrams of potassium and tested their hand-eye coordination (once they had finished eating). They found that participants who had eaten no potassium had the best hand-eye coordination. On this basis, we should encourage athletes to avoid eating potassium prior to competitions.

10 – Complete the following arguments so that they are valid.

(a) You ate too much cheese.
If you eat too much cheese, you will get a stomach ache.
……………………………………………………………..

(b) If you practice every day, then you will master the flute.
……………………………………………………………..
If you practice every day, then people will appreciate you.

(c) We won’t go to the movies if it is too expensive.
…………………………………………………………….
The movies are not too expensive.

(d) I don’t like cats very much.
……………………………………………………………..
I do like dogs.

(e) If we get the day off work on Saturday, then we will go fishing or we will go hiking.
We didn’t go fishing on Saturday.
………………………………………………………………
We didn’t get the day off work.

11 – Rewrite the following arguments in standard form. Determine whether they are valid and, if not, whether you find them convincing. Explain your answer.

(a) If there is life on Pluto, then we would have discovered it by now. Moreover, if there is not life on Pluto, then there are not any aliens on the planet either. Since we have not discovered any life on Pluto, there must not be any aliens there either.
(b) I am quite certain that Mr. Peacock stole the cookies from the cookie jar. Firstly, he is well-known for his fondness for cookies. Secondly, I saw him sleeping around the time that they were stolen. Earlier, I heard him say “If something goes missing while I am asleep, then it is most likely my fault.”

1 – Explain the difference between each pair of terms and support y...