Tara has either a cat or a dog for a pet.
Tara does not have a dog.
Therefore, Tara must have a cat.
Can you identify the PREMISES in this argument?
1) ____________________________________________________________________
2) ____________________________________________________________________
What is the CONCLUSION?
__________________________________________________________________________
If all of the premises are true, and they support the conclusion, then the conclusion must be true. This is called a SOUND argument.
However, the premises don't have to be true for the argument to be VALID. This is a VALID argument:
All little girls are princesses.
Every princess has a fairy godmother.
All little girls have fairy godmothers.
By VALID we mean that the argument is well-structured, and the conclusion would have to be true based on the premises.
But do little girls really have fairy godmothers? No, of course not. The premises in this argument are not true. Yes, some little girls like to pretend to be princesses, but not all of them. And they're not really princesses. And fairy godmothers exist only in fairy tales.
This is an UNSOUND ARGUMENT because the premises are not true. But it is still a VALID argument because the conclusion would be correct, based on the premises.
So, it's important to remember that a VALID argument, one that seems logical and well-constructed, may still reach the wrong conclusion!
