Answers to SG 5 are posted below: 

1. Identify the Conclusions:

SG 5a: 1. If euthanasia is morally wrong, then the apocalypse is upon us. 2. I cannot trust what I have learned through my senses.

SG 5b:

1. You do not happen to be a cat.

2. You must have recently purchased a dog at PetCo©.

3. The earth is older than 7 thousand years old.

4. An inventive and creative universe maker must have also created the universe.

5. God does not condemn sinners to eternal damnation.

6. God is not omnipotent.

7. We are not free after all.

8. Morality does not exist or there is no reason to follow God’s mandates.

9. We do not go into or out of existence.

2. Identify which arguments are inductive and which are deductive.

SG 5b answers: 3 and 4 are inductive. The rest are deductive.

3. Identify which are arguments are valid and which are invalid.

SG 5b answers: All the inductive arguments are invalid while the deductive arguments turn out to be valid.

A Note about Deduction and Validity: Some of you might have difficulty distinguishing between a valid and a deductive argument. After all, the deductive ones on this guide are all (coincidentally) valid. The main difference has to do with the fact that in truly valid arguments, there is no way that the conclusion can be false if the premises are true. Deductive arguments, on the hand, do allow for this possibility. The difference (although this is a relatively minor technical difference) is that deductive arguments focus on the intent of the arguer as displayed in the style of the language used (e.g., “All” in Categorical Syllogisms or “If, then” in Hypothetical Syllogisms) while Valid arguments focus strictly on the connection between the premises and the conclusion.

Although there do exist numerous invalid arguments that are deductive, I will not ask you to identify them on an exam.

Here is one example of a deductively invalid argument:

1. Some animals are extinct.

2. All whales are animals.

3. Thus, Some whales are extinct.

It might very well be the case that some whales are extinct but nothing in this argument demonstrates that. Here is a counterexample to show this an invalid pattern:

1. Some people are male.

2. All females are people.

3. Thus, All females are male.