Phil 1100 – Critical Reasoning
Final Exam – November, 2014
Name ______
1. ______is a statement that expresses an opinion or point of view, ______is a statement that expresses a reason to believe, and together they make ______.
a) A claim, a premise, a conclusion
b) A claim, a premise, a fact
c) A claim, a premise, an argument
d) An issue, a premise, an argument
e) An issue, an argument, a fact
2. An opinion that expresses that something ought to be done is:
a) always a moral judgment
b) a logical fallacy
c) always totally subjective
d) a normative claim
e) always rhetorical
3. Critical thinking:
a) sometimes involves attacking other people
b) generally requires defending the truth from skeptics
c) will always lead to finding the truth
d) is sometimes subjective
e) expects you to have good reasons for believing what you believe
4. Why do you need to identify the primary claim clearly before you proceed to evaluate an argument?
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5. A strong inductive argument is one in which
a) if the premises are true, then the conclusion necessarily is (I.e. has to be) true.
b) the premises are always true
c) the conclusion is always true.
d) the premises do not give support to the conclusion, but the conclusion might be true.
e) if the premises are true, then the conclusion is probably true, but not necessarily.
6. A valid deductive argument is one in which
a) if the premises are true, then the conclusion necessarily is (I.e. has to be) true.
b) the premises are always true
c) the conclusion is always true.
d) the premises give good support to the conclusion but do not “prove” it..
e) if the premises are true, then the conclusion is probably true, but not necessarily.
7. “You didn’t fire her already? This is the second time you have caught her stealing.”
a. this is not an argument but an explanation
b. this is clearly an argument with a normative claim but there is only a factual premise, so there must be at least one unstated premise
c. this is a complete argument with a factual premise and a factual claim
d. this is a complete argument with a normative premise and a normative claim.
e. this may appear to be a good argument, but actually it is has an unstated premise AND an unstated conclusion.
8. Logical arguments should avoid both vagueness and ambiguity. Ambiguity and vagueness differ in that:
a) An ambiguous statement has multiple meanings but a vague statement only has one meaning but that meaning is easily misunderstood
b) A vague statement has multiple meanings but an ambiguous statement only has one meaning but that meaning is easily misunderstood
c) Both vague and ambiguous statements have only one real meaning, but vague statements always suggest something that they don’t really say.
d) Both vague and ambiguous statements have multiple meanings, so they are really the same thing.
e) Vague statements are usually understood by their context but ambiguous statements are not
9. Consider the following argument: If it is Feb. 14, it is St. Valentine's Day. It is St. Valentine's Day. It must be Feb 14:
a) this is a valid deductive argument because of its logical form.
b) this is a invalid deductive argument because of its logical form.
c) this is a strong inductive argument because of its logical form.
d) this is a weak inductive argument because of its logical form
this thi
e) none of the above.
f)
10. “The U.S. landing on the moon didn’t really happen because nobody has given evidence that it did.” This statement:
a) is a good logical argument because it shows that there is no evidence for a commonly held misconception
b) perhaps a bit skeptical, but a fairly good argument
c) absolutely ridiculous. We don’t need evidence for what we know.
d) seems to be the logical fallacy of “shifting the burden of proof.”
e) true if everyone agrees it is true
11. A rhetorical device that distracts from the current issue but may make a good point about a related issue is:
a) an innuendo
b) a rhetorical analogy
c) a dysphemism
d) an ad hominem
e) a red herring
12. The following is true about vagueness:
a) Any vague claim is totally worthless in a logical argument.
b) What is vague in one context may be perfectly appropriate in another context.
c) In a logical argument, all vagueness needs to be fully resolved before analyzing premises
d) (a), (b), and (c) are all true.
e) In a vague claim, the problem is that multiple and unrelated meanings
a.
b.
c.
d.
f)
g)
h)
a.
are possible.
13. Tracy said her son’s grandmother told her that “her son” “walked out” on his job. Tracy thought this unclear in regard to whether the person in question quit his job permanently or not, but thought it was clear in regard to whom was being discussed, namely Tracy’s son’s father. Do you agree or not? Please give your reasons and identify whether any lack of clarity is due to ambiguity or vagueness.
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14. What kind of ambiguity if any exists in the statement “The average secretary’s salary is $45,000?”
a) Syntactic ambiguity
b) Semantic ambiguity
c) Grouping ambiguity
d) There is no ambiguity
e) (a), (b), and (c) are all true.
15. Rhetoric:
a) Is an attempt to persuade through the emotional use of language and thus has no logical value
b) Is an attempt to persuade through critical thinking and thus is a useful skill
c) Is an attempt to persuade through any means available and thus logical argument is one way to provide good rhetoric
d) Is simply an attempt to confuse someone with more facts than they need
e) Will never influence us if we listen carefully and commit to thinking critically.
16. Joan: “All this criticism of the President is baloney. It just comes from the Republicans wanting to
get elected.” Joan seems to committing what logical fallacy?
a) begging the question
b) a dysphemism
c) wishful thinking
d) a genetic fallacy
e) a straw man
17. The claim “If we legalized marijuana, it would lead to greater use of harder drugs such as heroin. Marijuana is a gateway drug.” is:
a) Clearly an example of “slippery slope” logical fallacy
b) Could be a “slippery slope” logical fallacy if evidence is not presented for the claim.
c) Is an indisputable fact.
d) Is a good argument, although inductive.
e) Is a sound argument.
18. The shading in a Venn Diagram in Categorical Logic represents:
a) all things that may or may not exist.
b) what cannot exist.
c) what can exist.
d) particular things that are asserted to exist
e) what is already known to exist.
19. The claim “All Christians are not atheists” where the classes are understood to be “Christians” and “Atheists” is:
a) an A-claim
b) an E-claim
c) an I-claim
d) an O-claim
e) not a valid claim in categorical logic
20. If a claim uses the phrase “the only”, you know immediately that:
a) it is an O-claim
b) it is an A-claim and “only” introduces the subject
c) it is an A-claim and “only” introduces the predicate
d) it is an E-claim and “only” introduces the middle term
21. For all four types of logical forms in Categorical Logic, a claim is equivalent to its:
a) converse
b) obverse
c) contrapositive
d) converse and contrapositive
e) obverse and contrapositive
22-24. Determine whether the following argument is valid or invalid using the long form truth table method. Show all steps!!!
(P v S) -> Q
~Q
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~ (P & S)
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25. You have drawn an overlapping three-circle Venn Diagram representing the premises of a categorical syllogism. You notice that to draw the conclusion, you just need move an “x” off of a line. Dude, you have just:
a) Proven the argument valid
b) Proven the argument invalid
c) Demonstrated that the argument was NOT a categorical syllogism in the first place.
d) Not done squat yet to determine if the argument is valid
e) Proven that the premise and conclusion are not both true.
26. A good translation in categorical logic for “A few holidays fall on Saturday” is:
a) Not all holidays are days that fall on Sunday.
b) Some holidays are days that fall on Sunday.
c) No holidays” are days that fall on Sunday.
d) Some holidays are not days that fall on Sunday.
e) It is not the case that most holidays are days that fall on Sunday.
27. A good translation in categorical logic for “Only outlaws own guns” is:
a) All outlaws are gun-owners.
b) Some outlaws are gun-owners.
c) All gun-owners are outlaws.
d) Some gun-owners are outlaws.
e) None of the above
28. The contrapositive of “No students who passed this exam are students who graduated from Millard North” is:
a) All students who passed this exam are not Millard North graduates.
b) All students who passed this exam are students who didn’t graduate from Millard North.
c) All Millard North graduates are students who passed this exam.
d) All Millard North graduates are students who didn’t pass this exam.
e) No students who didn’t graduate from Millard North are students who didn’t pass this exam.
29. “No students who passed this exam are students who graduated from Millard North” is equivalent to which of the following properly stated claims:
a) All students who passed this exam are not Millard North graduates.
b) All students who passed this exam are students who didn’t graduate from Millard North.
c) All Millard North graduates are students who passed this exam.
d) All Millard North graduates are students who didn’t pass this exam.
e) No students who didn’t graduate from Millard North are students who didn’t pass this exam.
30. Consider the following Categorical Syllogism using the Rules Method of Testing for Validity:
Some A are not B
Some B are C
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Thus, Some C are not A
a) The argument breaks Rule #1 and thus is invalid.
b) The argument breaks Rule #2 and thus is invalid.
c) The argument breaks Rule #3 and thus is invalid.
d) The argument breaks no rules and thus is valid.
e) Whether the argument is valid or not cannot be determined by the rules.
31-34. Determine if the following Categorical Syllogism is valid or invalid by using the Venn Diagram method. Define the variables that you use with appropriate class descriptions and state the premises and conclusion in standard logical forms. If you need to perform any operations, please show your transformations and label them.
All ears of corn with white tassels are unripe, but some ears are ripe even though their kernels are not full sized. Therefore, some ears with full-sized kernels are not ears with white tassels.
35. Consider the following argument: “Scarlet is not guilty of the crime. If Scarlet were guilty, then Ms. White would have left the back door unlocked and the colonel would have retired before ten o’clock. However, either Ms. White did not leave the back door unlocked, or the colonel did not retire before ten.”
a) To translate the conclusion into T-F (truth-functional) logic, one requires only one elementary variable.
b) To translate the conclusion into T-F logic, one requires two elementary variables: “Scarlet is guilty” and “Scarlet is not guilty.”
c) To translate the argument into T-F logic, one requires three variables.
d) both (a) and (c) are correct.
e) It is impossible to translate this argument into T-F logic.
36. Truth-functional logic and categorical logic are similar in that:
a) Both are concerned with relationships between classes.
b) Both are types of deductive logic and thus are concerned with proving arguments through logical form.
c) Both are types of deductive logic and thus are concerned with evaluating evidence.
d) Both are types of inductive logic and thus are concerned with proving arguments through evaluating evidence.
e) Both are concerned with proofs based on truth tables.
37-38. Symbolize the following argument correctly. Be sure to identify your elementary claims and state your translations appropriately. (But you do not have to prove it):
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Premise: If Rob autographs the book then Kellie will be happy. Either way Beth will buy it.
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Conclusion: If Rob autographs the book, then Kellie will be happy and Beth will buy it.
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39. The definition of a “truth-functional statement” is:
a) a statement generally true when the simpler statements that comprise it are true, but not always
b) a statement whose truth always depends entirely on the truth of elementary statements properly arranged and thus comprise the meaning of the statement
c) a statement within a language such as English that could be true.
d) a statement that could be true even if it is believed to be false, e.g. Mary believes that the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl.
e) c) and (d) are both correct
40. One primary difference working with categorical logic and truth-functional logic is that:
a) In categorical logic we represent claims as variables such as P and Q but in truth-functional logic we do not use variables.
b) In categorical logic we represent classes as variables such as P and Q but in truth-functional logic we do not use variables.
c) In categorical logic we represent claims as variables such as P and Q but in truth-functional logic we represent “states of the world” as variables.
d) In categorical logic we represent classes as variables such as P and Q but in truth-functional logic we represent claims as variables.
41. Paul claims that he did a categorical logic proof by both the Venn Diagram method and the Rules Method and in one he got the result that the argument was valid but with the other, he got the result that the argument was invalid. Dottie suggested to him that one of the proofs must be wrong. Your opinion is: