Evaluating Truth And Validity Exercise

Evaluating Truth and Validity Exercise

The arguments I will choose to evaluate for truth and validity will be taken from the Applications list 12.2 (a.-y.) at the end of Ch. 12 in The Art of Thinking. I will start with exercise j and the premise that “power must be evil because it can corrupt people”. First of all, I would check the argument for any hidden premises making sure that it was stated fully and in a clear way. This argument seems to pass the first hurdle, however when it comes checking for errors affecting truth, the argument seems to not hold water. To start with, the part of the argument that says power corrupts all people (the all is inferred) is not true since there are many examples throughout history of people with …show more content…
Nuclear energy stations generate nuclear power. So nuclear energy stations are a threat to world peace.” After checking for hidden premises and making sure that it is stated fully and clearly, I advance to the next step, checking for errors affecting truth. The first statement, “Nuclear power is a threat to world peace”, is not true as it is written. I would rewrite the statement to read “Nuclear power used in the production of weaponry is a threat to world peace”. There are many peaceful uses for nuclear energy, such as an alternative to fossil energy. The second statement is true; however it would be placed in the peaceful uses category. This takes us to the step where we examine the argument for validity errors and examine the reasoning that links conclusions to premises. The premise was that nuclear power is a threat to world peace. I determined that statement, how it was written, was false. After inserting the qualifying statement “used in the production of weaponry”, the statement is now in a better position to be defended. The conclusion that nuclear energy stations are a threat to world peace because they generate nuclear power is even more indefensible once the first statement has been revised. The qualifying statement “used in the production of weaponry” has changed everything. Unless the nuclear energy station is producing weapons, which most are used for producing clean energy, it is not a

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