A Class Room Logic: Deductive and Inductive, with Special Application to the Science and Art of TeachingMcNair, George Hastings
Philosophy
A Class Room Logic: Deductive and Inductive, with Special Application to the Science and Art of Teaching
McNair, George Hastings
Logic
“Human beings are accountable for their conduct; brutes, not being
human, are therefore _free from responsibility_.” (Not accountable for
their conduct.)
“Not all educated men spell correctly; because one often finds mistakes
in the writings of _college graduates_.” (Educated men.)
“Modern education is not popular in this state; for it increases the
tax rate, and the popularity of everything, which _touches the pocket_
of these frugal Yankees, (increases the tax rate) is very short lived.”
(Not popular.) In common parlance the use of synonyms is so prevalent
that ready ability to substitute equivalents in word, phrase, and
clause form is needed by him who would be skillful in testing all kinds
of arguments.
It has already become apparent to the student that the _number_ of the
noun or the _tense_ of the verb is of small logical consequence. A very
large proportion of the formal fallacies in argumentation concern the
rules of distribution which are summarized in the dictum “What may be
said of the whole may be said of part of that whole.”
=6. COMMON MISTAKES OF STUDENTS IN TESTING ARGUMENTS.=
The most common mistakes made by the student when testing arguments
are as follows: (1) Using the exclusive as an “A” without interchanging
subject and predicate; e. g., interpreting the proposition, “Only
high school graduates may enter the training school,” as meaning “All
high school graduates may enter the training school.” (2) _Calling
individual propositions particular_; e. g., interpreting “Socrates is
mortal” as an “I” rather than an “A.” (3) Signifying that partitive
propositions are “A’s” rather than “O’s”; e. g., “All that glitters is
not gold” interpreted as meaning that “All glittering things are gold,”
rather than “Some glittering things are not gold.” (A). (4) Concluding
that a fallacy of four terms has been committed when two terms are
synonomous. (5) Failing to interchange the subject and predicate of
inverted propositions.
=7. OUTLINE.=
CATEGORICAL ARGUMENTS TESTED ACCORDING TO FORM.
(1) Arguments of form and matter.
(2) Order of procedure in the formal testing of arguments.
The outline.
Determining premises and conclusion.
Completing abbreviated arguments.
(3) Illustrative exercises in testing arguments which are complete
and whose premises are logical.
(4) Illustrative exercises in testing completed arguments, one or
both of whose premises are illogical.
Exclusive premises, individual premises, partitive premises,
inverted premises.
(5) Incomplete and irregular arguments.
(6) Common mistakes of the student.
=8. SUMMARY.=
(1) In determining their validity, arguments must be tested from the
two viewpoints of _form_ and _matter_.
(2) In testing categorical arguments it is quite necessary to be
definite, to give reasons, and to give the author the benefit of the
doubt.
With this in view the attending outline is suggestive:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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