| Question | Answer |
| Argument | An ARGUMENT is a group of statements, one or more of which (the premises) are claimed to provide support for one of the others (the conclusion). |
| Argument Form | An arrangement of words and letters such that the uniform substitution of terms or statements in place of the letters results in an argument |
| Argument from analogy | An inductive argument that depends on the existence of a similarity between two things or states of affairs. |
| Argument by authority | An inductive argument in which the conclusion rests on a statement made by some presumed authority or witness. |
| Argument by definition | A deductive argument in which the conclusion is claimed to depend merely on the definition of some word or phrase used in the premise or conclusion. |
| Cogent Argument | An inductive argument that is strong and has all true premises. |
| Conclusion | The statement (proposition) in an argument which is claimed to follow logically from the premises. |
| Conclusion Indicators | Conclusion indicators are indicator words that provide clues in identifying the conclusion of an argument. Some conclusion indicators are: therefore wherefore thus consequently we may infer accordingly we may conclude |
| Conditional Statement | An "if...then" statement. Conditional statements contain a conditional operator as well as two component statements. The component statements are the conditional's antecedent and the consequent. |
| Deductive Argument | An argument incorporating the claim that it is impossible for the conclusion to be false given that the premises are true. |
| Explanation | An expression that purports to shed light on some event or phenomenon. All explanations have two components: the explanans and the explanandum. |
| Explanans | The explanans is the component of an explanation that explains the event of phenomenon indicated by the explanandum. |
| Explanandum | The explanandum is the component that describes the event or phenomenon to be explained. |
| Expository Passage | A kind of discourse that begins with a topic sentence followed by one or more sentences that develop the topic sentence. |
| Illustration | An expression involving one or more examples that is intended to show what something means or how it is done. |
| Inductive Argument | An argument incorporating the claim that it is improbable that the conclusion is false given that the premises are true. |
| Inductive Generalization | An inductive argument that proceeds from the knowledge of a selected sample to some claim about the whole group. |
| Informal Fallacy | A fallacy that can be detected only through analysis of the content of an argument. |
| Logic | Logic is the organized body of knowledge, or science, that evaluates arguments. |
| Loosely Associated Statements | Statements that are about the same general subject matter and that lack an inferential relationship. |
| Modus Pollens | If today is Tuesday, then I will go to work.
Today is Tuesday.
Therefore, I will go to work. |
| Modus Tollens | If the watch-dog detects an intruder, the dog will bark.
The dog did not bark
Therefore, no intruder was detected by the watch-dog. |
| Premise | A statement within an argument which is claimed to provide support for the argument's conclusion. |
| Premise Indicators | indicator words that provide clues in identifying the premises of an argument. Some premise indicators are: since as indicated by because for in that may be inferred from as given that seeing that |
| Report | A kind of non-argument consisting of one or more statements that convey information about some topic or event. |
| Sound Argument | A deductive argument that is valid and has all true premises. |
| Statement/Proposition | is a sentence of phrase that is either true or false. more... The truth or falsity of a statement (proposition) is called its TRUTH VALUE |
| Statement of Belief or Opinion | A kind of non-argument composed of statements that express the personal conviction of a speaker or writer without giving any evidence in support of that conviction. |
| Strong Argument | An inductive argument in which it is improbable that the conclusion is false given that the premises are true. |
| Truth Value | There are two classical truth values (true and false). All statements (propositions), by definition, bear a truth value, i.e., each is either true or false, not both and not neither. |
| Valid Deductive Argument | An argument in which it is impossible that the conclusion is false given that the premises are true. |
| Weak Analogy | An informal fallacy that occurs when the conclusion of an argument depends on an analogy or similarity that is not strong enough to support the conclusion. |
| Weak Inductive Argument | An inductive argument in which the conclusion does not follow probably from the premises even though it is claimed to do so. |
