The Logicians Promise: My approved kinds (or forms) of arguments will not lead you from believing something

true into believing something false. TRUE Premises Logicians Approved Arguments TRUE Conclusions ButGarbage In, Garbage
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SEPARATING ARGUMENTS FROM NONARGUMENTS Billboard for a development: A really nice home is hard to find. So is Heather Oaks. [???] P1. A really nice home is hard to find. P2. Heather Oaks homes are hard to find. C. The homes at Heather Oaks are really nice. Not an argument. (Of course, there are bad arguments.)
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SEPARATING ARGUMENTS FROM NONARGUMENTS The count is 3 and 2. A beautiful day for baseball here in Beantown. Capacity crowd of over 33,000. Theres the pitch, the hitter swings and misses, strike three. Thats the tenth strikeout Roger Clemens has notched in this game. He has the hitters off stride and is pitching masterfully." Not an argument.

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IDENTIFYING THE PREMISE(S) AND CONCLUSION Since my spoon is dry I must not have sugared my coffee, because the spoon would be wet if I had stirred the coffee and I would not have stirred it unless I had put sugar in it. My spoon is dry (i.e., not wet). If I had stirred the coffee, then the spoon would be wet. I would not have stirred it unless I had sugared it. I must not have sugared it.

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PUTTING ARGUMENTS INTO STANDARD FORM Premise Premise [] Conclusion Since my spoon is dry I must not have sugared my coffee, because the spoon would be wet if I had stirred the coffee and I would not have stirred it unless I had put sugar in it. 1 3 [[To save space, sometimes we use numbers]] 4 2
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IDENTIFYING THE PREMISE(S) AND CONCLUSION A crucial experiment was performed by J.M. Soum, who admitted carbon monoxide into the air sacs of birds in which he had blocked the connections to the rest of the respiratory system. If the air sacs had played any role in gas exchange, the birds would have been rapidly poisoned by the carbon monoxide. They remained completely unaffected. We can therefore conclude that the air sacs have no direct function in gas exchange.

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IDENTIFYING THE PREMISE(S) AND CONCLUSION The syllogism is only one kind of deductive argument. In mathematics, whose arguments are wholly deductive, syllogisms hardly ever occur. (B. Russell) Mathematical arguments are wholly deductive. Hardly any mathematical arguments are syllogistic. The syllogism is only one [and not the only] kind of deductive argument.

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IDENTIFYING THE PREMISE(S) AND CONCLUSION An argument from convicted Watergate conspirator after Nixon accepted a pardon: I know he was involved. Only a guilty person accepts a pardon. Only a guilty person accepts a pardon. Nixon accepted a pardon. Nixon is guilty. [?] Pam does not love Jim. She is engaged to Roy. [?]
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DISTINGUSHING PREMISES FROM ONE ANOTHER Sometimes: one sentence, many premises. [Sugar and coffee] Also: many sentences, one premise. Oswalds categorical denial that he shot anyone contains almost no stress at all. Stress is a necessary, but not sufficient condition of lying. The absence of stress is a sufficient condition of truthfulness. If someone is talking about a matter of real importance and shows absolutely no stress, then he must be telling the truth.
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SIMPLE ARGUMENTS with multiple premises v COMPLEX ARGUMENTS with INTERMEDIATE CONCLUSIONS The school has neither AC nor window screens and is surrounded by a stagnant canal. Where there is no AC in Florida, there is heat. Where there is heat, there are open windows. Where there are open windows and no screens, there is easy access for insects, and where there are stagnant canals, there is an overabundance of mosquitoes, gnats, and horseflies.

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P1. The school has no AC or screens. P2. If a school lacks AC, its hot. C1. The school is hot. P3. If a school is hot, windows will be open. C2. Windows will be open. P4. If windows are open and there are no screens, then if there are insects, they will enter. P1. C3. If there are insects, they will enter. P5. The school is surrounded by a stagnant canal. P6. If the school is surrounded by a canal, there will be insects. C4. There will be insects. C3 Final C: Insects will enter.
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