Solved: PHIL 1320 Term 1 Exam

This exam consists of twenty questions. The value of each question is indicated by the question. Approach these questions in the same manner as you did on previous assignments. If the question asks for an explanation with your answer, then the quality of that explanation counts in your mark for the question. The total possible high mark for this exam is 200 marks. Questions 1 – 5 (10 marks each) Analyze each of the following passages using the basic concepts discussed in our course text. Specifically, for each passage, indicate whether it is an argument or not. If it is an argument, indicate whether it is a deductive, or an inductive argument. If it is a deductive argument, indicate whether it is a valid or an invalid deductive argument. If it is an inductive argument, indicate whether it is a strong or a weak inductive argument. Additionally, some of these arguments may display a type of informal fallacy. If the argument displays an informal fallacy indicate which one using the classifications outlined in our course text. Provide an explanation with all the indications you make for each passage. 1. Since Hilda likes dark chocolate and milk chocolate, since she likes caramels and nougats, and since she likes peanut brittle, we may conclude that she is fond of most kinds of candies. 2. Because all camels have humps, it follows that some cigarettes have humps, for some cigarettes are Camels. 3. We may infer that Lassie is a dog, since all collies are dogs. 4. If I get up in the morning, I’ll go to work. If I go to work, I’ll get caught in a traffic jam. If I get caught in a traffic jam, I’ll lose my temper. If I lose my temper, I’ll do something rash. If I do something rash, I’ll be arrested. We may conclude that if I get up this morning, I’ll be arrested. Under those circumstances, would you get up? 5. We should reject arguments for tighter environmental controls on industry, since such controls are certain to reduce the numbers of people in existing industries. 6. Counterexample Question: (10 marks): The following argument is deductively invalid. Indicate the form, or structure, of the argument, and provide your own counterexample that clearly shows the invalidity. <Hint: An ideal counterexample has premises that are obviously true and a conclusion that is obviously false. This shows the argument’s invalidity clearly.> If the show is good, then the director will be pleased. Thus, if the show is good, then the audience will applaud, because if the audience applauds, then the director will be pleased. Argument Diagramming Questions 7 - 8: (10 marks each) This question considers the argument diagramming method our text discusses when covering extended arguments. Diagram the arguments expressed in the following passages. Ensure you indicate the sentence your number is representing. 7. Next term, Rebecca hopes to take a course in either metaphysics or epistemology. She will take epistemology only if Professor Hume teaches the class. It seems that Rebecca will be taking metaphysics, since I just heard that Professor Hume will be on leave next term.” 8. The crime was committed by someone very strong. George is singularly weak. So, George cannot be the culprit. Now, either George of Janice is guilty of the crime. So, Janice is guilty of the crime. 9. Indicate the definitional technique, and the type of definition produced, in each of the following definitions. (2 marks each. 10 marks total.) a. ‘Marriage’ means a contractual arrangement between a woman and a man that admits them into the highest halls of human happiness. b. ‘Impoverished’ means having an annual net family income of less than $7,500. c. In the United States of America, a ‘New England state’ means Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. d. The word ‘acid’ applies to a solution if and only if a strip of blue litmus paper inserted into it turns red. e. ‘Woman’ means adult female human being. Argument from Analogy Questions 10 – 11: (10 marks each) Consider the following two arguments from analogy. For each argument, indicate the entities between which the similarity is being drawn. For each argument, assess whether the argument is strong or weak. Explain your assessment. 10. To claim that the government should decrease the size of its welfare program is like claiming that parents ought to decrease the amount of time, energy, and money they devote to the care of their children. Since it is ridiculous to suggest that parents should reduce their support of their children, it is equally ridiculous to suggest that the government should decrease its welfare program. 11. Agatha is wondering how the university football team will do this year. Last year they had a record of 8 wins and 3 losses. Half of their starting players are returning this year. The coaching staff is the same. So she expects that they should have a winning season again this year. Statistical Reasoning Questions 12-13: (10 marks each) In each of the following passages, identify the sample and the population. Next, indicate whether the sample is representative of the population referred to in the conclusion in the passage. Analyze for sample size, potential bias and randomness. Determine the strength of the argument being presented in the passage. 12. When the risk of lung cancer from smoking was first announced in the mid - 1960’s, approximately 25 percent of Americans smoked. Since then, the number of smokers dropped to 23 percent. So the number of smokers is on the decline. 13. My son is an above average student, so fewer than 50% of the students in his class do better than he. Probability Questions 14-16: (10 marks each) Calculate the probability for each of the following scenarios. Show you work, and explain your choice of formula used to derive your answer. 14. On a simultaneous throw of three fair coins, what is the probability that the result will be 2 Heads and 1 Tail? 15. Five campers pitched their tents at different points around a campfire. They spent an evening celebrating at the campfire. At the end of the celebration, simultaneously, each staggers off to one of the tents, no two going to the same tent. What is the probability that each one reached their own tent? 16. You are taking a true–false test that has ten questions, and you need a score of 60 percent to pass. You know the answers to only five of the questions. For the other five, you toss a coin and answer “true” if it comes up heads and “false” if it comes up tails. What is the probability that you will pass the exam? Causal Arguments Questions 17-18: (10 marks each) In the following passages explain which of Mill’s Methods applies and determine the conclusion that can be derived from that method. For each passage, indicate whether the intended causality is characterized as a sufficient condition, a necessary condition, both a sufficient and a necessary condition, or neither. 17. Bert and Nina ate Thanksgiving dinner at Joe’s Truck Stop. Bert became ill afterward; Nina didn’t become ill. Bert ate turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and mincemeat pie. Nina ate turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mincemeat pie. 18. Mark Twain once reported that for many years he drank two hot scotches per day, and in all that time he’d never had a toothache. Hypothetical Reasoning Questions 19-20: (10 marks each) The following passages contain examples of hypothetical reasoning. For each passage, identify the hypothesis being proposed. Also state some observable predictions that would follow from the hypothesis. Finally, provide an alternate hypothesis that you believe provides a better explanation for what has been observed. Explain why your hypothesis is better. 19. ‘It’s all about the garlic,’ said Kerstin. She was referring to her dog, Oskar, now 15 years of age. ‘I started mixing a clove of garlic into his dog food ever since he was a puppy. There were seven puppies in the litter when he was born. I’ve kept track of Oskar’s sisters and brothers and all of them died before they were ten years old. He’s the last one left. It’s all because of the garlic.’ 20. A plastic surgeon who specializes in facelifts commented that his youngest patients are frequently actresses. He believes that actresses seek facelifts at an earlier age than other women because actresses’ faces “fall” as a result of extensive massaging when they put on and take off their makeup. This term exam, like all the assignments and term exams for this section of PHIL 1320, contains questions from some of the following: 1. Baronett, Stan. Logic Second Edition. OUP. (New York: 2013) ISBN 978-0-19-984631-3. 2. Flage, Daniel E.. Understanding Logic. Prentice-Hall. (Englewood Cliffs New Jersey: 1995) ISBN 0- 02-338173-6 3. Salmon, Merrilee H.. Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking Third Edition. Harcourt Brace & Company. (Fort Worth: 1995) ISBN 0-15-543064-5 4. Warmbrod, Ken. Logic and Philosophy of Logic Course Guide for Philosophy 2430. University of Manitoba. (Winnipeg: 2013) ISBN 978-0-200-00202-8
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