Module 5 handled all, no and some. This handles if — the two valid conditional forms, the two invalid ones that are the commonest fallacies in public reasoning, and the one book in this school that Boethius wrote himself.
Module 6
The Hypothetical Syllogism
Led by Boethius Simulacrum
The question
Eight sittings. You begin by trying to apply Module 5's apparatus to
Outcome
The student can identify the antecedent and consequent of a
Sub-units
○6.1Why a New Apparatus Is Needed
○6.2The Conditional Itself
○6.3Modus Ponens and Modus Tollens
○6.4The Two Invalid Forms
○6.5Disjunction and Conjunction
○6.6Chains, and the Wholly Hypothetical Syllogism
○6.7Reductio ad Absurdum
○6.8Live Reasoning, Mixed
Practice scenarios
The Consultant's Chain
A consultant has presented a board with an argument for a merger: *If we
do not grow, we lose market share. If we lose market share, we lose pricing power.
If we lose pricing power, we cannot fund research. If we cannot fund research, we
are finished in five years. We must therefore merge.* One director says the
reasoning is impeccable. Another says it is a slippery slope and therefore
fallacious. A third has noticed something about the last step and cannot articulate
it. You have ten minutes.
Your goals
Lay the argument out as a chain and determine whether the form is valid
Answer the slippery-slope objection on its merits rather than by agreeing
Identify what is wrong with the final step, which the third director half-saw
Find the weakest link and say what evidence would test it
Advise the board on what the argument does establish, if anything
Course complete
You have completed every module of this course. You may now print your certificate of completion.
