PHI/103 PHI103 PHI 103 Week 2 - Discussion 2

PHI 103 Week 2 - Discussion 2

Week 2 - Discussion 2

Your instructor will choose the discussion question and post it as the first response in the discussion forum. The requirements for this discussion are a minimum of four posts on four separate days. The total combined word count for all of your posts for this discussion, counted together, should be at least 400 words. Answer all the questions in the prompt, and read any resources that are required to complete the discussion properly. In order to satisfy the posting requirements for the week, complete your initial post by Day 3 (Thursday) and your other posts by Day 7 (Monday). We recommend that you get into the discussion early and spread out your posts over the course of the week. Reply to your classmates and instructor. Attempt to take the conversation further by examining their claims or arguments in more depth or responding to the posts that they make to you. Keep the discussion on target, and analyze things in as much detail as you can.

Present Three Deductive Arguments

We have learned this week about deductive reasoning, including what it takes for an argument to bedeductive. This discussion allows us to practice identifying and evaluating examples of deductive reasoning.

Prepare: To prepare to respond to this prompt, read the instructor’s guidance and Chapters 3 and 4 (the required portions) of the textbook, and view required media for this week. Contemplate what it means to for an argument to be deductive.

Reflect: Having studied the concept of deductive reasoning, find sources of reasoning, be it a detective novel, a political blog, a newspaper article, a TV broadcast, or some other source, and identify threearguments that you take to be deductive. If you have a hard time finding all three from media sources, you are able to create one or two of your own deductive arguments, on whatever topic you wish.

Write: Present each argument in standard from (with the premises listed above the conclusion). After you have presented each argument, provide an explanation of why the reasoning is or is not valid. If the reasoning is valid, explain how the truth of the conclusion follows from the premises; if the reasoning is not valid, show how it would be possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false, and discuss what it might take to make the argument valid.

Guided Response: Read the reflections of your classmates and analyze the arguments that they have presented, paying close attention to how the conclusion follows from the premises. Discuss whether you agree with their analysis of each argument and present further ideas on how each argument could be improved.