Download Religious Studies Introduction to Philosophy

Religious Studies Introduction to Philosophy
Learning Objective
To analyse the value of different types of arguments
Learning outcomes
To know key vocabulary; philosophy, argument, proof, deduction and induction
To explain the types of argument
Philosophical Arguments
The philosophy of religion has concerned itself with reasoned arguments. However, what is an
argument? What constitutes proof?
An argument can be defined as ‘a set of statements which is such that one of them (the conclusion) is
supported or implied by the others (the premises), e.g.



The Eiffel Tower is in Paris.
Paris is in France.
Therefore the Eiffel Tower is in France
The first two statements are the _______________, and the third is the __________________.
A valid argument is one where there are no mistakes in logic. Hence the above argument is a valid
argument. However, beware that not all valid arguments are therefore true, e.g.



The Eiffel Tower is in Pontefract
Pontefract is in England
Therefore the Eiffel Tower is in England
Similar:
Both have the same structure – two premises and a conclusion
The conclusion follows logically from the premise in both
Different:
The premises are true and the conclusion is true in the first argument. BUT the first premise and the
conclusion are untrue in the second argument
There is nothing wrong with the logic here! However, there seems to be plenty wrong in agreeing with
the conclusion. The problem is of course, that one of the premises is untrue. Hence even if the logic is
perfect, it does not mean to say the conclusion is true. To acknowledge this problem, philosophy refers
to an argument where both the logic is correct and the premises are true, as a sound argument.
Deductive arguments
A sound argument is what we really mean by philosophical proof, to put it another way – the definition
of proof is ‘that which results from a valid argument constructed from a set of true premises’. To be
persuasive, the premises would have to be known to be true by those offering the proof and by those to
whom it is offered. A proof is such that if you agree with the premises then you would have to agree
with the conclusion. Indeed, to accept the premises and deny the conclusion would be selfcontradictory.
If philosophy only considered these types of arguments then disputes between philosophers would be
less numerous and fewer philosophy books would be written. However, there is another type of
argument that is less persuasive but more common.
Inductive arguments
There is another structure of argument possible – where even if the premise are all true the conclusion
does not necessarily follow.
Consider the following argument:



If it rains, I shall get wet.
I get wet.
Therefore it rained.
Can you think of a situation where these premise might be true but the conclusion would be false?

There are more ways of getting wet than just by rain.
Philosophers distinguish between these two types of arguments. The first type, which is called valid, is
known as a deductive argument, whilst the second type is called inductive. The problem with inductive
arguments is their obvious limitation of always being open to doubt and uncertainty. Equally the
problem with deductive arguments is that they are also limited. It is difficult to establish the original
premises, and the conclusions reached are often obvious from the original premises. Indeed, by
necessity the original premises must already contain the conclusive.
All this theory is vital for identifying the key premises of a complex arguments, it means that assessing
arguments becomes much easier and a basic check list can them be followed:



Are the premises true?
Is the argument valid (without logical error)?
If inductive, how persuasive is it?
Summary
Deductive
If its premises are true, then its conclusion must be
true.
The premises provide absolute support for the
conclusion.
The information contained in the conclusion is
completely contained in the premises.
Inductive
If its premises are true, then its conclusion could
still be false.
The premises provide some, but not absolute,
support for the conclusion.
Complete these activities on the Eduqas website over the summer in preparation for
the initial assessment in September
Or look on http://ncpreligiousstudies.wordpress.com
Type of argument sorting activity
Inductive or deductive activity
Initial Assessment
To be completed in September
1. AO1 Explain the different types of argument used in
philosophy of religion.
2. AO2 ‘Deductive arguments are more useful to
philosophers than inductive arguments.’ Assess this
view
This will test your general literacy skills and your ability to
evaluate different ideas.