PHIL105-U5-PracticeProblems3-Answers 1 .docx - Unit 5 -...

Unit 5 - Practice Problem Set #3
FIC-PHIL105 Lecturer: Dr. Ian Brooks
Task: Reconstruct the following four paragraphs. Evaluate the arguments you find
Indicator words in red
#1) All movies today make me feel very angry! They are so bad! So very bad! You see, all
movies today are full of CGI. CGI means computer-generated imagery. All movies with
CGI are terrible! That proves that all movies today are bad. Argh! I hate them so much!
Reconstruction
P1: All movies with CGI are terrible
P2: All movies today are movies that have CGI
C: All movies today are terrible (from P1 and P2 by deduction)
Evaluation:
Step 1: Discuss the premises
P2 is false. I know it is false because I saw a movie with no CGI this weekend.
P1is false. I can think of at least one movie I’ve seen that had CGI and was not terrible
Step 2: Discuss the argument pattern
This has the “hypothetical syllogism” pattern. Any argument with this pattern is deductively
valid.
Final answer : this argument is not rationally persuasive. The premises are properly connected
together (good) but the premises are not true (bad). This argument gives no support to the
claim that all movies today are horrible.

#2) Everyone who sells state secrets is a traitor. General Currie made a large deposit to his
bank account shortly after visiting the Latverian embassy. The deposit was much larger
than his annual salary. When a general deposits more money than his annual salary he
probably got the money by selling state secrets, so we have good reason to think that
General Currie sold state secrets. This shows that General Currie must be a traitor.
Reconstruction
P1: Most generals who deposit more money than their salary sold state secrets
P2: General Currie deposited more money than his salary
C1: General Currie sold state secrets (from P1 and P2 by induction)
P3: Everyone who sells state secrets is a traitor
C2: General Currie is a traitor (from C1 and P3 by deduction)
Evaluation
Step 1: Discuss the premises
P1: I believe that P1 is true. It is possible for a general to make money in unusual ways (winning