LAST BLOG

As the semester comes to a close, I am realizing that it is going to be weird to not blog anymore. I know I can do it on my own, but the general population is not as interesting as the people in this class. I think we have had some pretty good discussions over the last 15 weeks and I am glad that I was able to meet you all. Logic has been a good experience for me and has taught me what true hard work is.

Well, I should probably go study for this logic final that we are going to have. The only way to pass is to study and study and study and study and study and study and study and study and study.... oh yeah and then after that I should study a little bit :).

Happy holidays to all and to all a good night!! :) haha

I FINALLY GET IT!

Now that we are 95% of the way through the semester, I am finally started to understand logic. It is sad that  I am finally starting to understand it now that we are almost done with the class.
In section 4.7, I realized that I was finally starting to get it and then I got my quiz back from last week and really saw a significant improvement.
In section 5.1, I did not struggle at all. I grasped these concepts of categorical syllogisms right away. I am so glad that all my hard work is finally paying off.

I have been spending so much time studying this subject all semester because I was struggling so badly and I have finally shined through. Hard work really does pay off!!

Does anyone agree or disagree?

Kyle...

This past week, I used Kyle as a resource for the first time. He was very helpful to me. We worked through anything that I did not understand and then kind of just discussed philosophy in general. I definitely think I will be using him to help me again before the final. For anyone who is struggling at all, he does his best to help you understand and cleared up a lot of things that I was struggling with.

So I guess all I am really trying to say is use your resources to help you get better at logic (Kyle is the best resource I have found).

Venn Diagrams and the Traditional Standpoint

So in section 4.6, there were some problems that have answers in the back that I got wrong and I was hoping to get some help. This one really bugged me because I just can not seem to figure out why it is wrong.

Section II
4. It is false that some duck hunters are animal rights activists.
Therefore, some duck hunters are not animal rights activists.

So from this I derived the simple argument:
It is false that some D are A.
Therefore, some D are not A.

From the Boolean standpoint, I got that the first statement gives a shaded middle, and the second statement gives an x in the left hand box.
I got the same results when testing from the Aristotelian standpoint.

Section 4.5

So I have been working on section 4.5 since 11am this morning. I just now decided to take a break and see if anyone could help me out. I understand the traditional square of opposition and the fallacies, but I am having an extremely difficult time understanding the proving validity part. I went through and did the problems in I, II, III, and IV, but I just do not get the last part. Did anyone understand it that is willing to help me?

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!


I hope everyone has a great few days off. I also hope everyone eats a lot of good homecooked food :). On Friday or Saturday I will post again and take some Thanksgiving discussions and post them up so we can talk about them. Have some fun :)

Chapter 4

Here are a few examples from section 4.4. See if you can figure out whether they are conversions, obversions, or contrapositions and then state the truth value.

1. Some astronomers are interested in biology.
Therefore, some biologists are interested in astronomy.

2. No families are perfect.
Therefore, no imperfections are non- families.

3. All people who know how to swim are competitive swimmers.
Therefore, all competitive swimmers are people who know how to swim.

4. Some hired assassins are just average human beings.
Therefore, some hired assassins are not just average human beings.

What do you think?