Friday, September 10, 2010

Strong Vs. Valid

Although strong and valid arguments may both be true, the major difference is that strong arguments sometimes also happen to be false. What makes a strong argument? A strong argument may consist of a plausible premises and a conclusion that might seem just right. However, a valid argument consists of a premises that leads to a conclusion that cannot be anything else. Meaning, the premises is clear cut, and there can only be one conclusion at the end: that there is no other possible conclusion to the given situation.

An example of a strong argument would be, Mr. X and Mrs. Y are math professors at SJSU. They have both received awards of excellency. Each professor's ratings on ratemyprofessor are sky-rocketing, and they have Ph.D's in their area. Every course that they're in charge of fills up as soon as it is posted, with long waiting lists; whereas, there are numerous empty seats in other classes taught by different professors. Conclusion: Mr. X and Mrs. Y are popular amongst the student population.

An example of a valid argument would be: 4^4=256, because 4^4 can be written out as 4x4x4x4. If you were to do the math, 4x4=16. 16x4=64. 64x4=256. Therefore, 4^4=256.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting examples for strong and valid claims. They are different from most examples, yet I like how straightforward they are. As you said, sometimes strong arguments can be false. In your example, Mr. X and Mrs. Y seem to be very popular with most students. Just because they are popular with all students, however, does NOT mean that they are popular with ALL students. Thus, a strong argument but not a 100% true on. Also, your example of a valid argument was easy to understand as well. Math is a good example of a valid argument because it will always be valid (true) if the math is correct. Good job!

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