Strong Vs. Valid Arguments

Strong Vs. Valid Arguments:

The main difference between strong and valid arguments is this:

Strong arguments can have a false conclusion.

Valid arguments have to have a true conclusion.

Strong Arguments:

All strong are arguments are invalid because the premise can be true while the conclusion is false. In order for the argument to be considered strong; however, the possibility that the conclusion is false has to be slim to very unlikely.

The Giants play in San Francisco tomorrow.

I am their biggest fan and I have tickets to that game.

Luckily, I have no plans for tomorrow.

So, I am going to the Giants game tomorrow.

This is an example of strong argument because there is a possibility that even though I have tickets to the Giants game, I might not be going. (The premises may be true but the conclusion might be false). I might get sick or my mom doesn’t want me to go. Although those are possibilities, they are highly unlikely, which makes this a good strong argument, as we have no reason to believe that my argument isn’t true.

Valid Arguments:

An argument is considered valid when both the premise (or opening statement) is true and the conclusion is true at the same time. An easy way for me to determine whether a statement is either valid or invalid is by asking myself the following: Is there any possible way that the conclusion can be false based upon the premises? If I can’t think of any way the conclusion can be false then I classify the argument as being valid.

Example of a Good Valid Argument:

Mauna Kea and Mount Everest are the tallest mountains in the world.

Mauna Kea is taller than Mount Everest.

So Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world.

In my geology class we were talking about what was considered the tallest mountain range in the world. This particular argument represents a valid argument because there is no way that the premise could be true and the conclusion false at the same time. This example also represents a good valid argument because the entire argument is true and we have no reason to doubt that it isn’t true.

Thanks for reading :))