PHIL 120: Chapter 3A Reading Guide

Vaughn, Doing Ethics — Chapter 3: The Tools of Critical Reasoning

📖 Required Reading for this Module: Vaughn, Doing Ethics, pp. 45–54. Complete only this reading for this module; the rest of the chapter is covered in the paired module.
Instructions

This reading guide is designed to help you understand and answer the Review Questions for Module 3A. This assessment also verifies your active reading of the assigned pages. For each question below, please follow these steps:

Step 1: Navigate to the exact page and paragraph indicated. Locate the sentence using the provided beginning words and type the entire sentence verbatim into the first box.
Step 2: Answer the question based on your reading (no outside research needed or permitted) in your own words in the second box. (Page hints are provided in the answer boxes to help you locate the core answer).
⚡ Auto-Save Enabled: Your answers are automatically saved to this browser as you type. This guide is not submitted — use it to prepare for your module quiz. Use Export Answers to save a backup text copy, or Print to PDF to keep a personal record.

Review Question 1

On p. 45, (the paragraph beginning "When you use critical reasoning, your ultimate aim is usually to figure out whether to accept..."), find the sentence beginning with the words: "A statement, or claim, is..."

Type the entire sentence verbatim here to identify the evidence:

What is a statement, and why are questions like "Is abortion immoral?" not statements?

Review Question 2

On p. 46, (the paragraph beginning "A fundamental principle of critical reasoning is that we should not accept a statement as true without good reasons..."), find the sentence beginning with the words: "A fundamental principle of critical reasoning is..."

Type the entire sentence verbatim here to identify the evidence:

What is the fundamental principle of critical reasoning about accepting statements?

Review Question 3

On p. 46, (the paragraph beginning "Reasons supporting a statement are themselves statements..."), find the sentence beginning with the words: "An argument is a group of statements..."

Type the entire sentence verbatim here to identify the evidence:

What is an argument, and what are its two components called?

Review Question 4

On p. 47, (the paragraph beginning "Learning to distinguish arguments from nonargumentative material takes practice..."), find the sentence beginning with the words: "Indicator words are terms that..."

Type the entire sentence verbatim here to identify the evidence:

What are indicator words, and what do they signal?

Review Question 5

On p. 48, (the paragraph beginning "There are two basic types of arguments: deductive and inductive..."), find the sentence beginning with the words: "Deductive arguments are supposed to give..."

Type the entire sentence verbatim here to identify the evidence:

What is the difference between deductive and inductive arguments in the support they offer?

Review Question 6

On p. 49, (the paragraph beginning "Good arguments provide you with good reasons for believing their conclusions..."), find the sentence beginning with the words: "A valid argument with true premises is..."

Type the entire sentence verbatim here to identify the evidence:

What is the difference between a sound argument and a cogent argument?

Review Question 7

On pp. 49-50, (the paragraph beginning "To begin, understand that you can easily indicate an argument's form by using a kind of standard shorthand..."), find the sentence beginning with the words: "The two parts of a conditional premise are known as..."

Type the entire sentence verbatim here to identify the evidence:

Describe the valid argument form modus ponens (affirming the antecedent).

Review Question 8

On p. 50, (the paragraph beginning "There are two other common conditional argument forms: denying the antecedent and affirming the consequent..."), find the sentence beginning with the words: "There are two other common conditional argument forms:..."

Type the entire sentence verbatim here to identify the evidence:

What are the two invalid conditional forms, and why does denying the antecedent fail?

Review Question 9

On p. 51, (the paragraph beginning "But what if you bump into a deductive argument that does not match one of these common forms?"), find the sentence beginning with the words: "it is impossible for a valid argument to have..."

Type the entire sentence verbatim here to identify the evidence:

What fundamental fact is the counterexample method based on?

Review Question 10

On p. 52, (the paragraph beginning "Here is a typical argument with an unstated premise..."), find the sentence beginning with the words: "This problem is especially common in moral arguments..."

Type the entire sentence verbatim here to identify the evidence:

Why are implicit premises especially problematic in moral arguments?