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Midterm Revision Exercise Answer Key (202425 Sem 2)

The document outlines a midterm revision exercise for the CCHU9021 Critical Thinking course, including exam details and a series of logical argument evaluations. It assesses the validity of deductive arguments, forms of argument, immediate inferences, and logical consistency of statements. Additionally, it includes exercises on categorical syllogisms and relationships between statements.

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12 views

Midterm Revision Exercise Answer Key (202425 Sem 2)

The document outlines a midterm revision exercise for the CCHU9021 Critical Thinking course, including exam details and a series of logical argument evaluations. It assesses the validity of deductive arguments, forms of argument, immediate inferences, and logical consistency of statements. Additionally, it includes exercises on categorical syllogisms and relationships between statements.

Uploaded by

eason52pun
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CCHU9021 Critical Thinking in Contemporary Society 2024/25 Semester Two

Midterm Revision Exercise

Reminder on Midterm
• Date: Week 9 (March 26)
• Length: About 1 hour 20 min
• Scope and format: Week 1-6 PPT; closed-book; similar to tutorial exercises
• Two venues: (i) Last name starting A-L: LE4; (ii) Last name starting M-Z MB 201

Exercise
1) Determine if each of the following deductive arguments is valid. If not, briefly explain.
1.1) P1: The winning ticket is number 240.
P2: Beth holds ticket number 239.
C: Beth does not hold the winning ticket.
Invalid. The second premise does not say that 239 is the only ticket Beth holds. Hence it
is logically possible for Beth to also hold 240.

1.2) P1: If Hobbes is a materialist, then Berkeley is not an idealist.


P2: If Berkeley is not an idealist, then he does not believe in God or is not a
bishop.
P3: Berkeley believes in God.
P4: Bentham is a utilitarian if and only if Kant is not a skeptic.
P5: Bentham is not a utilitarian or Berkeley is a bishop.
P6: Kant is not a skeptic.
C: Hobbes is not a materialist. Valid

2) Determine if each of the following is a valid form of argument.


2.1) If P then Q. Q. Therefore P. No
2.2) If P then Q. Not (Q or R). Therefore not-P. Yes
2.3) P or Q. If P then R. Not-R. Therefore Q. Yes
2.4) P or Q. If P then R. If Q then R. Therefore R or S. Yes
2.5) P only if Q. Not-P. Therefore not-Q. No
2.6) Not-Q unless P. Q. Therefore P. Yes
2.7) P or Q. P. Therefore not-Q. No

3) Determine whether each of the following immediate inferences is valid according to


the Aristotelian Square of Opposition.
3.1) All cats are cute animals. Therefore it is not that some cats are not cute animals.
Valid
3.2) It is not that all cats are cute animals. Therefore no cats are cute animals. Invalid

3.3) Some cats are not cute animals. Therefore no cats are cute animals. Invalid

4) First, put the argument into a standard form categorical syllogism, and identify its
form using “S”, “P”, and “M”. Then use the Venn Diagram method to determine its
validity, and briefly explain why it is valid or invalid. (We are to following the Modern
Interpretation in drawing Venn Diagram.) (For more exercises on Venn Diagram:
https://philosophy.hku.hk/think/venn/ex3.php)
4.1) No spurned lovers are Valentine’s Day fanatics. Some romantics are Valentine’s Day
fanatics. Therefore some romantics are not spurned lovers.
Standard form categorical syllogism Argument form
P1: No spurned lovers are Valentine’s Day fanatics. P1: No P are M.
P2: Some romantics are Valentine’s Day fanatics. P2: Some S are M.
C: Therefore some romantics are not spurned lovers. C: Some S are not P.
S P
M
Valid. The conclusion asserts that something exists in the area outlined in red. And that
area contains a complete “x”.

4.2) Some logic students are students who wear glasses. Some students who wear
glasses are short-sighted people. Therefore some logic students are short-sighted
people.
Standard form categorical syllogism Argument form
P1: Some logic students are students who wear glasses. P1: Some S are M.
P2: Some students who wear glasses are short-sighted P2: Some M are P.
people. C.: Some S are P.
C: Some logic students are short-sighted people.

S P

M
Invalid. The conclusion asserts that something exists in the area outlined in red. But that
area does not contain a complete “x”.

5) Determine if each of the following sets is logically consistent.


5.1) [Only creatures that breathe with lungs live in water. X breathes with lung. X does
not live in water.] Consistent
5.2) [Argument x is fallacious. Argument x is sound.] Consistent
5.3) [No student who has not studied logic knows the definition of validity. Peter has
studied logic. Peter does not know the definition of validity.] Consistent
6) For each of the following pairs of statements, determine which of the four options
applies.
(a) contradictories (b) contraries
(c) subcontraries (d) none of the above
6.1) All students of CCHU9021 are hard-working.
Some students of CCHU9021 are not hard-working. a
6.2) Peter’s argument is a strong argument.
Peter’s argument is a valid argument. b
7.3) This argument is invalid or sound.
This argument has a true conclusion. d

7) For each of the following pairs of statements, determine which of the four options is
true.
(a) They are logically equivalent (b) The first is logically stronger
(c) The second is logically stronger (d) None of the above
7.1) For every cat, it is cute or has long tail.
All cats are cute or all cats have long tail. c
7.2) All voters are old people.
All teenagers are not voters. b
7.3) All people who are good at logic are smart.
All people who are not smart are not people good at logic. a

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