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 :))

The Good Argument Test

The 3 Tests for an Argument to be Good

1)   The premises are plausible.

2)   The premises are more plausible than the conclusion

3)   The argument is valid or strong

Example 1 in determining whether or not an argument is good:

Everyone who works at Pixar is an animator.

My sister works at Pixar.

So my sister is an animator.

Is this example valid or strong? This example represents a valid argument because there is no possible way for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false at the same time. However, this represents a bad argument because the premise: “everyone who works at Pixar is an animator” and the conclusion: “my sister is an animator are false.  Even though the second premise is true, we have no reason to believe that all workers at Pixar are animators. In this example, the premise is also not more plausible than the conclusion, which further makes it a bad argument.

Example 2:

Pixar Animation studios made Toy Story.

So the character, Buzz Lightyear, was created by Pixar.

Is this example valid or strong? This example represents an invalid argument because it is possible for the premise to be true and conclusion to be false at the same time.  Someone else could have created the character that didn’t work at Pixar. Maybe they bought the idea from another company? Maybe they saw a picture someone had drawn of buzz at an art fair? However, although these are possibilities, they are highly unlikely, which makes this a strong argument.  The premise is also plausible as we have good reason to believe that Pixar had created Buzz Lightyear.

Thanks for reading :)) 

Discussion Question #3

Pick one concept from the reading (either Epstein or the Small Group Comm book) and discuss in detail.

The Essential Guide to Group Communication: Overcoming Communication Apprehension in Groups

In the Group Communication book I found the section on “Overcoming Communication Apprehension in Groups” to be very interesting because I have found myself in situations where I had felt so nervous and fearful about speaking up and sharing my ideas with others when I’ve been in a group setting. Communication Apprehension brings about feelings of anxiety and it has caused me in the past to have an increased heart rate and it actually makes my hands shake with nerves as well. It’s not uncommon to feel this way, “Estimates suggest that about 20 percent of the population is highly apprehensive about communicating,” which is comforting to know. However, even though its nice knowing that other people have experienced high feelings of nerves and anxiety while in groups, its important to learn how to overcome those feelings because when you can’t share your ideas and thoughts in your group, you do not only miss out on the discussion but you miss out on the opportunities for you to present your own ideas that could have benefited the discussion. Here are a couple ways to calm the nerves: 1) take a deep breath and let out all the nerves as you breathe out. It’s like a little yoga breathing exercise before you talk : P 2) Think positively: Just like you when you were younger and your athletic coach told you to perform a new trick they would say, NEVER say you CAN’T. Apply that concept to the group discussion. You CAN speak in front of the group, your ideas CAN be as beneficial to you as they are to the group. 3) Prepare: Get your ideas organized before the day you meet up in your group. Just like when you are preparing a speech for your public speaking class. Know the material and you’ll feel confident in sharing your ideas. These exercises could help you and I to become better communicators in a group setting and hopefully by the end of the semester, to become better critical thinkers as well. :)

Discussion Question #2

2) Use and example from everyday life: Describe a vague sentence or ambiguous sentence that you have heard recently. Where did you hear this sentence? An Advertisement? Was it a conversation with a friend? What qualified the sentence as vague or ambiguous?

VAGUE...

After reading the section on vague sentences, I began to really listen in on the conversations around me.  Let me tell you, I don’t know about you, but after doing that I could point out so many sentences that were vague! One that sticks out the most to me was the one that I had heard at the dinner table last night.  My sister had asked my dad when they were going to go car shopping for a newer and more reliable car.  She has been waiting a long time to get a new car because her yellow Volkswagen bug has been stalling, which isn’t good for bay area traffic! When she asked him, his response was typical of any dad who doesn’t want to think about spending any more money; he said, “we’ll get around to it eventually.” Now to me that response was very vague and it was frustrating to her because what is eventually? Does eventually mean this weekend? Does it mean this week? Or sometime this month? This was a sentence that could be understood in many different ways, which is why it is a vague sentence. In order to know for sure what he meant by “eventually,”she had to ask him specifically what day and what week he meant.

Thanks for reading :) 

Discussion Question #1

1. Use an example from outside of the classroom. Discuss Subjective and Objective Claims. Give an example of Subjective Claim you have heard or used recently AND give an example of an Objective Claim you have heard or used recently. Describe the situation. Describe all claims in DETAIL.

Define:

Subjective claims are statements that are made based off of an individual’s/individuals personal opinion, judgment, feeling, belief, etc. Since a subjective claim is created by an individual’s personal opinion, it cannot be proven by facts. This means that even if someone disagreed with your claim, they cannot prove it as being wrong.

Example of Subjective Claim:

In my philosophy 10 class I took last year I encountered a philosopher, John Locke, who was trying to understand where our knowledge derived from. I won’t go into the technical details of his thought process because I don’t want to bore you all, but I remember that he made a subjective claim in his process to discovering the source of knowledge. He gave a similar example to this one: “peaches are delicious.” Now according to John Locke, this statement would be considered a personal opinion because each person has a different perception of what a peach tastes like and what he or she would consider delicious. So the statement “peaches are delicious” would be a subjective claim because it is a personal opinion that may be true for some people but not to everyone. “Peaches are delicious” is also not a factual statement that can be proven right or wrong because it is based on opinion and is therefore a subjective claim.

Define:

Objective Claims are statements that can be proved either true or false because they are based on “impersonal standards” or facts. In other words, they are claims that you can prove right or wrong because they are not personal opinions.

Example of Objective Claim:

In my Comm. 20 lecture on Monday we were discussing that you can sometimes detect whether or not someone truly believes in what they are saying or promoting. For example, 2+2=5. If they get defensive when someone argues that 2+2 does not equal 5, then the person may actually have some doubt in their belief that two plus two is equal to five. The statement they made is an objective claim because even though we all know that 2+2=5 is false, the statement “doesn’t depend on whether anyone thinks or believes that” (Epstein).

Thank you all for reading my blog! Comment away!

-Gracie :)

My Biography :)

Hello Classmates! My name is Gracie and I am a Speech Pathology major and sophomore at San Jose State this year. I come from a small town in the valley of Northern California which is home to the smallest mountain range in the world. Since its almost three hours away from the school I have been living on campus since last year. Along with campus living, I am hoping to become apart of the Greek life and become more involved with the school.
I have had little experience in communication studies which is why I believe this class will be very beneficial for me to take.  My goals for the class are to be able to communicate well with all of you in this online atmosphere and to become a better critical thinker and problem solver. I also hope that after taking this class I will be able to identify and apply important communication skills to my every day life.

-Gracie :)

Comm41

Hey everyone, my blog name is Gracie! I've never done an online class before so I'm a little nervous about it but I'm hoping it will be a nice change.