Sunday, September 9, 2012

Week 3 Chapter 8 Question 3


This chapter covers different deductive arguments including chain argument, modus tollens, Modus ponens, and Hypothetical Syllogisms. After reading Chapter 8 Deductive arguments entirely, I would like to discuss categorical syllogisms in depth.  Categorical syllogisms can be written in varies forms. It is a deductive argument with two premises and three terms. For example, if Florence is my mum and Vincent is my dad, then Florence must be married to Vincent. It is a “if…then…” argument. We can also use diagrams to illustrate the concept. First we have to draw three circles that represent the three points, and then we learn the intersection of the circles is the answer of the argument. Sometimes if we have to neglect with some conditions, we have to cross out the side that is not going to happen. Then the remaining intersect area will be the answer. That is called the Venn diagrams. I think categorical syllogisms can help us to sort the possibilities out when we make decisions.

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