Deductive and Inductive Arguments Essay

Deductive and Inductive Arguments Essay

Deductive and Inductive Arguments Essay

Arguments consist of premises and conclusions. Premises are structured so as to lend support to conclusions. The kind of support that a premise lends to a conclusion allows us to distinguish between deductive and inductive arguments. This week, you will be constructing both kinds of arguments.

1.  In three premises each, construct one example of each following deductive argument form:

·  Modus ponens

·  Modus tollens

·  Hypothetical syllogism

·  Disjunctive syllogism

Make sure your arguments are deductively valid and that your examples are your own. Here are two examples of the general format that your arguments should take:

Modus ponens:

1.  If it is raining, then it is pouring.

2.  It is raining.

3.  Therefore, it is pouring.

Modus tollens:

1.  If Jack went to the grocery store, then he bought cookies.

2.  Jack did not buy cookies.

3.  Therefore, Jack did not go to the grocery store.

2.  After you construct the preceding deductive argument forms, construct a three premise syllogism. For example:

1.  All men are mortal.

2.  Socrates is a man.

3.  Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

3.  After you construct a three premise syllogism, construct one of each of the following inductive argument patterns:

·  Induction by enumeration

·  Reasoning by analogy

·  Statistical induction

·  Higher-level induction

Your examples of inductive argument patterns should not be expressed in premise form. Rather, they should be informally expressed in writing. You should have one paragraph for each pattern. Be as detailed as possible.

Finally, please remember to label your arguments. This makes it easier for them to be graded.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.