Outline Moral Community & Moral Status

Clea F. Rees
R. M. Hare, ‘What is Wrong with Slavery?’
Moral Community & Moral Status
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Outline
Hare’s Thesis
Moral Community & Moral Status
The Challenge
Hare, ‘What is Wrong with Slavery?’
Argumentation
Recap
Hare’s Premises
Logical Structure
Argument Form
Dr. Clea F. Rees
ReesC17@cardiff.ac.uk
Centre for Lifelong Learning
Cardiff University
Evaluation
What Makes an Argument Good?
Validity: How Good is the Logic?
Truth: How Good are the Premises?
Soundness: How Good is the Argument?
Moral Community & Moral Status
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1. Abortion is the deliberate killing of a
human being.
2. If something is the deliberate killing of
a human being, then it is wrong.
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We noticed last time that these two arguments have the same
logical form:
1. My cat enjoys a good game of
tiddlywinks.
1. .
2. If my cat enjoys a good game of
tiddlywinks, then tiddlywinks is a
game loved by the gods.
2. If , then .
——
3. .
——
That is, they have the same logical structure.
3. Tiddlywinks is a game loved by the
gods.
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Example (Argument)
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3. Abortion is wrong.
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Example (Argument)
Definition (Sub-Argument)
A sub-argument is an argument which forms one part of a larger
argument. The conclusion of a sub-argument is a sub-conclusion
of the overall argument. A sub-conclusion is both a conclusion of
the sub-argument and a premise in a further argument.
Argument Form
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Argument Form
Definition (Argument)
An argument consists of a set of sentences of which one is the
conclusion and the rest are premises. The conclusion is the claim
the argument tries to convince you of. The premises are the claims
which are supposed to support the conclusion.
Argumentation
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Autumn 2013
Clea F. Rees
R. M. Hare, ‘What is Wrong with Slavery?’
Moral Community & Moral Status
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Argumentation
Argument Form
Example (Two Arguments — One Logical Form)
Example (Two Arguments — One Logical Form)
1. My cat enjoys a good game of
tiddlywinks.
1. Abortion is the
deliberate killing of a
human being.
1. .
1. .
2. If something is the
deliberate killing of a
human being, then it is
wrong.
2. If , then .
2. If , then .
——
——
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What Makes an Argument Good?
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What Makes an Argument Good?
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3. .
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——
3. .
3. Abortion is wrong.
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3. Tiddlywinks is a game loved
by the gods.
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Argument Form
2. If my cat enjoys a good game
of tiddlywinks, then
tiddlywinks is a game loved by
the gods.
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Evaluation
What Makes an Argument Good?
What Makes an Argument Good?
Arguments
Evaluating an Argument
Ask two questions:
1. How good is the logic or reasoning?
Logical
Reasoning
Do the premises support the conclusion?
2. How good are the premises?
Good
Premises
Are the premises true?
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Evaluation
Validity: How Good is the Logic?
Arguments
Definition (Validity)
An argument is valid iff if the premises are true, then the
conclusion must be true as well.
Valid
Reasoning
Definition (Invalidity)
An argument is invalid iff it is not valid.
In other words, it is possible that the premises could be true and
the conclusion false.
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Good
Arguments
Good
Premises
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Validity: How Good is the Logic?
In other words, the conclusion follows from the premises.
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Validity: How Good is the Logic?
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Clea F. Rees
Evaluation
Validity: How Good is the Logic?
Validity: How Good is the Logic?
1. .
If two arguments have the same logical form:
either
2. If , then .
——
3. .
What, if anything, can we say about the validity of any argument
with this form?
both are valid,
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both are invalid.
No matter how different their content.
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Truth: How Good are the Premises?
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Evaluation
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Validity: How Good is the Logic?
Truth: How Good are the Premises?
Arguments can be valid with:
Truth
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some false premises and a false conclusion.
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true premises and a true conclusion.
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some false premises and a true conclusion.
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all true premises and a false conclusion.
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Soundness: How Good is the Argument?
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Truth: How Good are the Premises?
Soundness: How Good is the Argument?
Arguments
Valid
Reasoning
Good
Arguments
Definition (Soundness)
An argument is sound iff it is valid and it has all true premises.
True
Premises
(It follows that the conclusion must be true.)
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Is this claim true?
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An argument can be invalid with:
The key question is whether the argument makes any false
assumptions.
For each premise which is not a sub-conclusion, ask:
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The only combination not possible for a valid argument is all
true premises and a false conclusion.
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some false premises and a true conclusion.
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true premises and a true conclusion.
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some false premises and a false conclusion.
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Clea F. Rees
R. M. Hare, ‘What is Wrong with Slavery?’
Moral Community & Moral Status
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Soundness: How Good is the Argument?
Definition (Unsoundness)
An argument is unsound iff it is not sound.
Evaluating an Argument
Two ways an argument can go wrong:
1. Bad logic/reasoning.
An argument is unsound iff:
either
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it is invalid,
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at least one premise is false.
or
One or more premises are false.
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Evaluation
Soundness: How Good is the Argument?
Soundness: How Good is the Argument?
Arguments
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Soundness: How Good is the Argument?
All sound arguments have:
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3. .
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true premises.
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true conclusions.
An unsound argument may have:
What, if anything, can we say about the soundness of any
argument with this form?
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2. If , then .
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one or more false premises and a false conclusion.
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one or more false premises and a true conclusion.
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all true premises and a true conclusion.
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True
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Valid
Reasoning
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The argument is invalid.
2. Bad premises.
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