Logic_Essay_1

When dealing with arguments, you can put it two different ways. The two arguments are deductive and inductive. Both have their own ways of putting out an argument. Yet, they both have distinct differences. Deductive and inductive arguments have several differences based on their sentence structure and wording in the premises and conclusion. They also have differences in their forms, validity, soundness, strength and cogency. The first difference between deductive and inductive arguments is their reasoning. Deductive arguments are the arguments that have necessary reasoning. Inductive arguments are those that deal with probability reasoning. In deductive arguments the conclusion will follow necessarily from the premises whereas inductive, the conclusion follows probably from the premises. An example: “The meerkat is a member of the mongoose family. All members of the mongoose family are carnivores. Therefore, it necessarily follows that the meerkat is a carnivore” (Hurley, p. 31). This argument is deductive because of the necessarily aspect of it. It would be inductive if there was a probability to it. An easy way to distinct the two from one another is how strongly the conclusion is to follow the premises. We can determine this on the occurrence of special indicator words, the strength of the link between premises and conclusion, and the form of the argumentation that is used (Hurley, p. 31). The main indicator word for deductive arguments would be “necessarily” in the conclusion. Other indicators would be “certainly,” “absolutely,” and “definitely.” The most noticed indicator word for inductive arguments is the word “probably” in the conclusion. Other indicators include “improbable,” “plausible,” implausible,” “likely,” “unlikely,” and “reasonable to conclude” (Hurley, p. 31-32). By being able to identify indicator words for deductive and inductive you can easily interpret the two. Another way to interpret an argument as deductive or inductive is the strength of the link between the premises and conclusion. If the conclusion follows with necessity from the premises, it is deductive. If the conclusion doesn’t follow with necessity, but does follow probably, then it is inductive. Deductive and inductive arguments also have different forms. The five deductive forms are arguments based on mathematics, an argument from definition, a categorical syllogism, a hypothetical syllogism and a disjunctive syllogism. Arguments based on mathematics are those that simply use geometric computation or use measurement. Say if someone measures the side of a box. They determine that it is 5 feet on all sides and concludes its area to be 25 square feet. An argument from definition is an argument that requires a definition of a word or phrase in the premise or conclusion. A categorical syllogism has the statement begin with one of the words “all,” “no,” or “some.” Hypothetical syllogisms have conditional statements for one or both premises. Disjunctive syllogism is a statement that will have an “either or” statement in it (Hurley, p.33) Inductive arguments come in several forms: predictions, arguments from analogy, generalizations, arguments from authority, arguments based on signs and causal inference. A prediction is an argument that uses a prediction of something to happen that exceeds our knowledge. An argument from analogy depends on the existence of a similarity between two things. Generalization has to make a claim about a whole group based on a sample. An argument from authority includes something that must be true based on what an expert or witness has claimed. Arguments based on signs are based on “signs” or messages produced by any form of intelligence. Finally, causal inference there is a cause and effect. Rather than knowing the effect, it must be predicted (Hurley, p. 34-35). Another difference between deductive and inductive arguments would be their claims. A deductive argument can either be a valid or invalid argument. A valid deductive argument is an argument where the conclusion cannot be false given the premises are true. An invalid argument is where it is possible for the conclusion to be false being that the premises are true (Hurley, p. 41). You can test the soundness of a deductive argument. A sound argument is an argument that is valid and has all true premises. If both conditions aren’t met, then it is unsound (Hurley, p.44) When dealing with inductive arguments, their validity isn’t tested by whether or not they are valid or invalid. Rather they are either strong or weak inductive arguments. Strong inductive arguments are arguments where it is improbable for the conclusion to be false given the premises are true. A weak inductive argument is the opposite; the conclusion doesn’t follow probably from the premises. As deductive arguments are sound or unsound, inductive arguments are either cogent or uncogent. A cogent argument is an argument that is sound and has all true premises. If both conditions aren’t met, than it is uncogent (Hurley, p.44-47) Clearly we can see that the two forms of arguments, deductive and inductive, are very different from one another. You are able to differentiate the two from each other based upon the relationship between the premises and conclusion, the form of the argument, the validity and soundness in deductive arguments and the strength and cogency in inductive arguments. They may be different, but both get the job done.   Work Cited Hurley, Patrick J. A Concise Introduction to Logic. Australia: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2008. Print.