Deductive Arguments

A deductive argument is an argument in which the arguer is maintaining that the premises show that the conclusion is necessarily true. A deductive argument is ...     Deductive Arguments   Anargumentis asetofstatementsthatconsistsofaconclusionandthestatementssaidby thearguertoleadtothatconclusion. Premisesare thestatementsthatleadtotheconclusion. Adeductive argumentisanargumentinwhichthearguerismaintainingthatthe premisesshowthattheconclusionisnecessarilytrue. Adeductiveargument issaidtobevalidifthepremiseslogicallyleadtotheconclusion. Adeductiveargument issaidtobesoundifitisvalidandhastruepremises. The conclusionofasounddeductiveargumentisnecessarilytrue. Asyllogismis adeductiveargumentwithtwopremises. Hereisoneexampleofasyllogism thatisvalidandsound:                Allhumanbeingsaremortal.                Socratesisahumanbeing.                Thus,Socratesismortal. Nowconsiderthis syllogism:                Alldogsarecats.                Allcatsarebirds.                Thus,alldogsarebirds. Thisargumentisvalid,becausetheconclusionsfollowsfromthepremises, butitisclearlynotsoundsincethepremisesarefalse. Ofcourse,more complexdeductiveargumentsmayhavemorethantwopremises. Inmanycases argumentsarelinkedtogether. Theconclusionofoneargumentbecomesa premiseforthenextargument. Inanalyzingcomplexarguments,itisoften importanttobreaktheargumentdownintoitscomponentparts. Inmanycasespartsofdeductiveargumentsare missing. Inordertocritiqueanargument,itmaybeimportanttouncover themissingpremises.