Claims of fact address issues of judgment.

Question

Claims of fact address issues of judgment.

Answer 1

In logic, an argument's valid conclusion is dependent on the truth of its premises and the logical progression from premise to conclusion. Take the example below:

If it rains, we will watch a movie.

It rained.

Therefor we watched a movie.

The condition of "rain" is established as true, and the logical conclusion is that we watched the movie.

A common fallacy occurs, however, in this: If it rains, we will watch a movie.

We watched a movie.

Therefore, it rained.

The truth of the conclusion does not assure the truth of the premise.

In a syllogism, the conclusion is also reliant on the truth of the premises, as follows:

All cats have claws.

My pet is a cat.

Therefore, my pet has claws.

We cannot say validly:

All cats have claws.

My pet bear has claws.

Therefore, my pet bear is a cat.

In many political arguments, fallacies abound and are even supported by people. False and misleading information may not be true, but its ability to influence groups of people is pretty clear.