Philosophy 101:
Practice With
Argument Forms
Each
of the following
contains one of the arguments forms discussed in class, or not.
Identify the argument form that best fits the passage, if any, and then
state whether the argument is valid. The
answers are at the end of this page.
1.
P1 If Artemis is in Shreveport, then Artemis is in Louisiana.
P2 Artemis is in Shreveport.
C Artemis is in Louisiana.
2.
P1 If Artemis is in Shreveport, then Artemis is in Louisiana.
P2 It's not the case that Artemis is in Louisiana.
C It's not the case that Artemis is in Shreveport.
3.
P1 If Artemis is in Shreveport, then Artemis is in Louisiana.
P2 Artemis is in Louisiana.
C Artemis is in Shreveport.
4.
P1 If Artemis is in Shreveport, then Artemis is in Louisiana.
P2 It's not the case that Artemis is in Shreveport.
C It's not the case that Artemis is in Louisiana.
5.
P1 Either Artemis is in Shreveport, or Artemis is in Baton Rouge.
P2 It's not true that Artemis is in Shreveport.
C It's not true that Artemis is in Baton Rouge.
6.
P1 Either Artemis is in Shreveport, or Artemis is in Baton Rouge.
P2 It's not true that Artemis is in Baton Rouge.
C It's not the case that Artemis is in Shreveport.
7.
You can't log in. But if you have the right password, you can log in. So, you don't have the right password.
8.
Either we go to the museum or we go to the movie.
9.
If you don't know, then I don't know, and if I don't know, then you don't know. And I don't know, so, you don't know.
10.
You're either for us or against us. And you're not for us, so you're against us!
Answers:
1. Modus Ponens, valid.
2. Modus Tollens, valid.
3. Affirming the Consequent, invalid.
4. Denying the Antecedent, invalid.
5. Disjunctive Syllogism, valid.
6. Disjunctive Syllogism, valid.
7. Modus Tollens, valid.
8. Not an argument form, and not an argument.
9. Modus Ponens, valid. Could also be Affirming the Consequent, but we won't attribute a bad argument if we don't have to.
10. Disjunctive Syllogism, valid.
