Mei-Writing Academic Writing II(A) - Lecture 3

November 12, 2013

Advanced Logical Thinking Skills (1)Revisit the concepts of logic
by Paul W. L. Lai

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Build&the&&Thesis&Statement&Build&the&&Logical&Argument&Build&the&&Abstract&Build&the&&Body&Wednesday, November 20, 13*

Build&a&one*sentence&thesis&statement&from&scratch,&based&on&one&or&two&research&keywords.&* Eliminate&the&linguis;c&&&structural&ambigui;es.&*

Build&a&logical&argument&based&on&the&thesis&statement&developed.&* Find&and&eliminate&the&known&counterarguments.&*

Build&the&paper’s&abstract&based&on&the&thesis&statement&and&argument&developed.&* Background*>Goal*>Thesis&Statement*>Procedures*>Implica;on.&*

Build&the&full&paper&based&on&the&abstract&developed.&* Modify&the&thesis&statement,&argument,&abstract&again&and&again.&What is Logic

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Logic is essentially a study ofan inferential relation
between premise and conclusion.

PremiseWednesday, November 20, 13

Conclusion

Consider a typical logical argument:(1) All human beings are mortal. ✔

Wednesday, November 20, 13(2) Peter is a human being.

✔

(3) Peter is mortal.

✔

All human beings are mortal.
Peter is a human being.
Peter is mortal.

Being mortal

Human beings

Peter

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Consider a typical logical argument:(1) All human beings are mortal. ✔

Wednesday, November 20, 13(2) Peter is a human being.

✔

(3) Peter is mortal.

✔

Some examples oflogical inference

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Some examples of logical inferences
All people who live in Yada Residence are teachers.

No one who lives in Yada Residence is not a teacher.
Teacher

YadaResidence

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Some examples of logical inferences
Some people who live in Yada Residence are teachers.

Some people who live in Yada Residence are not teachers.

Teacher

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YadaResidenceSome examples of logical inferences
No men are angels.

No angels are men.

Men

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AngelSome examples of logical inferences
All dogs are animals.

All animals are dogs.

Animals

Dogs

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Some examples of logical inferences
All human beings are animals.

Peter is an animal.

Animals

Humanbeings

Wednesday, November 20, 13Peter

Some examples of logical inferences
All human beings are animals.
Peter is a human being.
Peter is an animal.

Animals

Humanbeings

Wednesday, November 20, 13PeterA logical relation between P
and C is a relation based on
which the truth of C can beinferred from the truth of P.

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Kinds oflogical relation

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Certainty
Vs

Probability

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Certainty

Wednesday, November 20, 13Deductive Argument
In a deductive argument, the inferentialrelation between the argument’s conclusion
and its premise(s) exhibits an absolutenecessity.
In other words, the conclusion is claimed tofollow from its premises with 100%
certainty.
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Example of a Deductive Argument(1) All human beings are mortal.
(2) Peter is a human being.
(3) Therefore Peter is mortal.
If (1) is true, and (2) is also true,
then (3) must be true.

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Probability

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All human beings are mortal.
Peter is a human being.
Peter is mortal.

Being mortal

Human beings

Peter

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Inductive Argument
In an inductive argument, the inferential
relation between the argument’s conclusion
and its premise(s) exhibits only a probability.
In other words, the conclusion is claimed tofollow from its premise(s) with less than
100% certainty.

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Example of an Inductive Argument(1) Most corporation lawyers are rich.
(2) Peter is a corporation lawyer.
(3) Therefore Peter is probably rich.

If (1) is true, and (2) is also true,
then (3) more likely true than false.
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(1) Most corporation lawyers are rich.
(2) Peter is a corporation lawyer.
(3) Therefore Peter is probably rich.

Being rich
CorporationLawyer

Peter

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GroupVs

Individual

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GroupWednesday, November 20, 13

The relation between the categories of objects
is basically in one of the three types:

1. Whole Inclusion
2. Partial Inclusion
3. Whole Exclusion
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Whole Inclusion
One class of objects, B, is wholly included inanother class of objects, A. Thus all members of B
are included in A. e.g. All dogs are mammals.
AB

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Partial Inclusion

also implies Partial Exclusion
One class of objects, A, is partially included inanother class of objects, B. Thus at least one
member of A, but not all members of A, isincluded in B. e.g. Some athletes are females.

AWednesday, November 20, 13

BWhole Exclusion
One class of objects, A, is wholly excluded fromanother class of objects, B. Thus no member of A
is included in B, and vice versa. Or all membersof A are excluded from B, and vice versa.
e.g. No circle is a triangle.

AWednesday, November 20, 13

BThe three types of relationship can be expressed
through four kinds of categorical propositions.
1. Universal affirmative propositions (A)2. Universal negative propositions (E)
3. Particular affirmative propositions (I)
4. Particular negative propositions (O)Wednesday, November 20, 13

Universal affirmative propositions (A)One class of objects, B, is wholly included inanother class of objects, A. Thus all members of B
are included in A. e.g. All dogs are mammals.

A
B

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Universal negative propositions (E)One class of objects, A, is wholly excluded fromanother class of objects, B. Thus no member of A
is included in B, and vice versa. Or all membersof A are excluded from B, and vice versa.
e.g. No circle is a triangle.

A

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BParticular affirmative propositions (I)One class of objects, A, is partially included inanother class of objects, B. Thus at least one
member of A, but not all members of A, isincluded in B. e.g. Some athletes are females.

A

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BParticular negative propositions (O)One class of objects, A, is partially excluded fromanother class of objects, B. Thus at least one
member of A, but not all members of A, isexcluded from B.
e.g. Some athletes are not females.

A

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BClasswork:
Try building the premises for the following
conclusion:Peter is a very nice guy.

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Individual

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e.g. Try the following:
I could not submit my homework on Monday
because my computer broke down on Saturday

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My computer broke down on Saturday.

No direct relation!
I could not submit my assignment on Monday.

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My computer broke down on Saturday.

The assignment must be done on a computer.
No other computer was available during the period.
My computer was not repaired in time.
I could not submit my assignment on Monday.

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Group Discussion:
Think about your thesis statement again,and judge whether it can be best supported
through either(1) a relation from group to individual(2) a relation from individual to individual

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