Modus ponens

Philosophy according to the public eye is just digging deeper into logical reasoning, but, it is much more than that, it is about truly understanding arguments and the formulas behind them to discover how they are made. This allows the philosophical mind to be able to study the nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. Singer states, “Philosophers don’t simply make claims; they instead give arguments.” Philosophers present statements to represent factual opinions or claims, which is just a…

The Sorites Paradox, or the Paradox of the Heap is a paradox which comes in two forms; the many-premise version, and the two-premise version. Both versions lead to the same conclusions but offer different ways to reach that conclusion. This essay will focus on the workings of the two-premise version. The paradox arises as a result of vague predicates (Barker, 2009); demonstrating a problem with human language. This is the idea of human language being excessively vague, and that measurements we…

Why the Impossible Sucks In this paper, I will argue that the relevant logician is required to accept philosophically and metaphysically intractable positions in order to preserve the Law of Excluded Middle (LEM). I will do this by first explaining the interpretations of a relevant logic in terms of the ternary relation R, the worlds W, the Routley Star, and content inclusion. I will consider two possible understandings of worlds, one being in the sense used by classical modal logic, and…

The Goals of an Aspiring Writer Sometimes in life, goals can change. What one inspires to be as a child, can turn in a different direction for many. I, however, took a different path in life. I am an aspiring screenwriter with a background of playwriting. I caught the writing bug about twelve years ago, after a slip and fall accident. To me, writing is more than just putting some words onto a computer screen. You have to have that passion and be driven to go the next level, and that’s what I…

In ‘Licensing Parents’, Hugh LaFollette argues for parents to be licensed before being granted children. LaFollette’s argument can be outlined in the form of modus ponens that is: P1. Some activities need to be regulated as they cause harm. P2. Parenting can cause harm. C. Therefore, parenting is an activity that needs to be regulated. LaFollette introduces the argument by proposing instances where regulation is a necessary condition to prevent potential harm arising, from what is referred…

In Chapter 2 of “Utilitarianism,” John Stuart Mill argues for Utilitarianism as a moral theory by considering several objections and addressing misconceptions. His definition of Utilitarianism relates to Theory of Right Action and Theory of the Good. The Theory of Right Action is connected to Consequentialism. The Theory of Right Action states that only the outcomes, or consequences, of an action determine how right the action is. Intentions are irrelevant. An action is right in proportion to…

This could be seen in the following: If you want to torture children, you should seek psychiatric help. You want to torture children. Therefore, you should seek psychiatric help. While this seems perfectly valid, suppose we replace the first premise with a hypothetical imperative: If you want to torture children, you should volunteer as a babysitter. You want to torture children. Therefore, you should volunteer as a babysitter. Thus, when we affirm the first premise as a hypothetical imperative,…

The conclusion (3) of Singer’s argument is that “You ought to donate extra money to prevent poverty related deaths. Singer’s argument follows the modus ponens style (if P then Q, P, so Q), which is a valid form of an argument. Singer’s argument states “If P (you can prevent something bad from happening without giving up something of comparable moral significance) then Q (You ought to prevent the bad…

Transfer Effects on Familiar Thematic to Unfamiliar Thematic Problem solving can be a complex task especially if the person is unfamiliar with the content. People use problem solving every day and often relate to past experiences in order to help them solve a novice problem According to Glaser (1984) the psychology field is gaining a further understanding of the way people think and they don’t need above intelligence to be able to problem solve. However, at the very least they do need to…

Throughout history, philosophers have attempted to define and establish countless theories relating to the moral principles of the world. Some of these ethical theories include, but are not limited to, Cultural Relativism, Egoism, Kantian Ethics, and Divine Command Theory. Cultural Relativism is the theory that there are no objective moral claims across cultures. Another theory, Egoism, claims that human acts should be done solely in the interest of ones self. Kantian Ethics is centered around…