Tuesday, Jan 11

Introduction.  No Notes

Thursday, Jan 13

Example 1:
1.  All dogs are mammals.
2.  All mammals are warm-blooded.
3.  Therefore, all dogs are warm-blooded.

Example 2: Homer’s reasoning
P1.  There are no bears around.
C.    Therefore, the bear patrol is working.

Lisa’s counter-example:
P1.  There are no tigers around
C.  Therefore this rock must be an effective way of keeping tigers away.

Example 3:
P1.  Vancouver is in British Columbia
P2.  British Columbia borders (shares a border with) Alberta.
C.    Therefore, Vancouver is in Canada

Moral:  A valid (good) argument demonstrates the proper relation between one’s premises and conclusion.  Specifically, the premises should provide good grounds for accepting the conclusion.
 

Example 4:
Canadians are superior to Americans at brewing beer.  Just look at Molson and Budweiser.  Molson is clearly superior to Budweiser because it was brewed by Canadians.

Example 5: The argument from bodily autonomy:
P1.  All persons have a right to complete autonomy over their own body.
P2.  A fetus is part of a woman’s body.
C.   Therefore, a woman has a right to do what she wants to a fetus growing in her body.

Example 6: The Argument from innocent life:
P1. Abortion results in the death of a fetus.
P2.  A fetus is an innocent human life.
C. Therefore, abortion is morally wrong.
 

To test your thesis, ask yourself the following questions:

1.  Is your thesis something you can argue for?
2.  Is it worth arguing for? (Could an intelligent person produce counter-argument to your thesis?)
3.  Is your thesis specific enough (with respect to the prompt) that one could distinguish your thesis from that of a fellow class-mate?
4.  Is your thesis illuminating/explanatory?  (Often, good theses include a ‘because’ phrase)

Examples of theses:

The generosity exhibited by the Bishop toward Jean Valjean was not in excess of Aristotle’s virtuous mean, for it was in accordance with the Bishop’s ultimate end, flourishing in his purpose.

I shall discuss whether utilitarianism is an adequate moral theory.

Rule utilitarianism and Kantian ethics share certain similarities and differences.

Organizing your body paragraphs:
Think of each body paragraph as its own mini-argument.

Each body paragraph should be focused on only one central point.

That point is expressed in a topic sentence.

• the topic sentence is the conclusion of the paragraph
• the rest of the paragraph should support that conclusion.

Organizing your paper:
Think of each topic sentence as a premise in your overall argument.

If you list all your topic sentences with your thesis at the bottom, you should have a valid (good) argument.

P1.  Topic sentence 1
P2.  TS2
…
…
C.  Thesis statement
 
 

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