phil247 all weeks discussions latest 2016 sep

Question # 00376485 Posted By: vikas Updated on: 09/02/2016 12:08 AM Due on: 09/02/2016
Subject Philosophy Topic Formal Logic Tutorials:
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week 1

Critical Reasoning and Faith (graded)

What is the difference between critical reasoning and faith? Are there claims about which it is impossible to reason critically?


Everyday Arguments (graded)

How do you use arguments every day? Provide at least two examples in the last year in which you have used critical reasoning in an argument.



week 2


Implicit Premise (graded)

Philosopher Peter Singer suggests that we are morally responsible for saving people who are starving in the world. Singer holds that if we saw a baby drowning in a pool, we would be morally obliged to save the baby, even if doing so would come at some cost to ourselves. From this, Singer concludes that we similarly have a duty to save starving people, even though doing so would come at some cost to ourselves. Do you agree? Why or why not?


Validity and Soundness (graded)

Philosopher Robert Nozick makes the argument that taxation is akin to forced labor. If a person is required to work for the benefit of others against his or her will, then Nozick suggests the labor is forced. By imposing taxation on people, the U.S. government is forcing them to work for the benefit of others against their wills. Therefore, the U.S. government is subjecting its tax-paying citizens to forced labor. Do you agree? Why or why not?



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week 3


Reasoning on Love (graded)

Men who had doting mothers will seek women who are independent and not overly affectionate. This is a reaction against having been smothered by a mother’s affection. If this is correct, then Ed, who had a doting mother, would be attracted to someone like Carla, who is independent and not overly affectionate. Ed is attracted to Carla, so this theory is correct.

Identify the fallacious reasoning in the argument.

  1. Why might this argument be persuasive?
  2. What other arguments exhibit the same fallacy?
  3. Can the argument be repaired to eliminate the fallacy?



Reasoning on Death (graded)

Greek Philosopher Epicurus suggested that we should not be afraid of our own death, because we are not harmed by it.

When you are alive, you have not been harmed by your own death, because it has not yet occurred. When you are dead, you no longer exist, so you cannot be harmed. These are the only two possible states. Because you cannot be harmed by your death when you are alive, and you cannot be harmed by your death when you are dead, your death cannot be a harm to you at all. Therefore you should not fear it.

Do you agree? Why or why not?

  1. Is there fallacious reasoning in the argument? If so, where?
  2. Can you repair the argument?
  3. Why is the argument persuasive?


week 4


Violence in Sports (graded)

Football should be discouraged for the reason that it makes people aggressive, and any activity that makes people aggressive should be discouraged. No one should get married. If you get married, you promise to stay with the person for life, but no one can safely predict whether or not he or she will remain compatible with some other person for life. Evaluate these statements based on this week’s content and provide a critique in your discussion posts.




Marriage and Compatibility (graded)

No one should get married. If you get married, you promise to stay with the person for life, but no one can safely predict whether or not he or she will remain compatible with some other person for life.




week 5




The Lover of Knowledge (graded)

In Plato’s Republic, Socrates says:

As for one who is choosy about what he learns,…we shall not call him a lover of learning or a philosopher, just as we shall not say that a man who is difficult about his food is hungry or has an appetite for food. We shall call him a lover of food but a poor eater…But we shall call a philosopher the man who is easily willing to learn every kind of knowledge, gladly turns to learning things, and is insatiable in this respect.

What are the connections here between the eating and the thinking?

The Drinker (graded)

You’ve got to work out your body or else it atrophies. If you look at it that way, drinking alcohol is testing your body just as much as is running or lifting weights. If I want to keep my lungs in good shape, I should run every day, so if I want to keep my liver in good shape, I should drink every day.

Where is the fault in this analogy?




week 6

The Doctor (graded)

“Because doctors are well compensated for their services, do you think that people who choose to donate their organs should be compensated, as well? Both do good work toward improving the health of the population, and this would solve the problem of too few organs available for transplantation.”

Do you agree with the argument? Why, or why not?


The Lawyer (graded)

  • The cause of Mr. Johnson’s death is rat poison.
  • Mrs. Johnson was seen buying rat poison just 3 days before the death of Mr. Johnson.
  • _____________________________________________

(?) Mrs. Johnson killed Mr. Johnson.

If you were a prosecutor, how would you present this argument in court? If you were a defense lawyer, how could you counter the prosecution’s argument?





week 7

Lamarck (graded)

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck believed that physical diversity among animals could be explained by physical stressors experienced by one generation being passed on to the next. Giraffes, therefore, have long necks because one giraffe, a long time ago, had to stretch out and reach for food, and this characteristic was passed on to its offspring.

What are the problems with Lamarck’s theory of evolution?




Spock (graded)

For centuries, astronomers could not explain the strange path by which the planet Mercury orbited the sun. Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier theorized in 1859 that Mercury’s strange orbit was the result of another planet interfering with the gravitational pull of the sun. Le Verrier named this other planet Vulcan.

Research the history of Vulcan to explain how its existence was tested and finally disproved.


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  1. Tutorial # 00372194 Posted By: vikas Posted on: 09/02/2016 12:10 AM
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