An argument is valid of there is no possible way for its premises to be true and its conclusion false (at the same time.) Not every valid or strong argument is good. An argument is strong if there is some way, some possibility, for its premises to be true and its conclusion false at the same time. "The conclusion follows from the premises" means that the argument is valid or strong. An argument is either valid or it is not. There are no degrees to it, or judgment involved. But evaluating the strength of an argument does involve judgment, for it depends on how likely certain possibilities appear. The strength of an argument is a matter of degree, and invalid arguments are classified on a scale from strong to weak.
An example of a strong argument is " The only planet in the solar system is Earth." An example of a valid argument would be " The earth is round.
you did a really good job explaining the whole concept of valid and strong arguments. It helped alot when you went into more detail about each argument. It was a strong summary and after taking the tutorial quiz for plagarism, you used your quotes! good job. lol. Your examples were good as well. I kind of did mine differently because I looked for a lot of help in the book, but your examples were helpful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Steph Powers in that you did a really good job explaining the concepts and differences of valid and strong arguments. Your examples really made the differences between the two very clear. I know understand that just because an argument is valid or strong does not mean that it is a good argument. Judgment is used to determine the strengths or weaknesses in an argument, but an invalid argument does not require either of these. I really liked how you explained this because it was very clear, concise, and to the point. In fact, your whole blog was very clear and easy to understand.
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