Examples of Inductive and Deductive Arguments
There are two types of arguments, which are divided into inductive and deductive. The first can be attributed to the example “The library is closed today,” which comes from such a statement as “Today is Christmas, the store will be closed” and “Today is Christmas.” Therefore, the proposed deductive argument is based on two generally accepted facts.
Inductive arguments become another type of argument, which, unlike deductive ones, are generalized conclusions based on specific claims. An example would be “All Americans are friendly.” This conclusion is predicated on the observation that “All Americans I met on the trip were friendly,” yet this is not true for the majority of Americans.
Evaluation of the Deductive Argument
The first argument can be evaluated using affirming the consequence, which has a certain formula:
Premise #1: If A, then B.
Premise #2: B.
Conclusion: Therefore, A (Facione & Gittens, 2015).
Thus, when considering the first argument, we can conclude that if there is a holiday in the city at the moment, then public places will be closed. Therefore, the library is closed on this day because Christmas is celebrated in the city, then today the library will be closed. Following this fact, it can be concluded that this argument has a logical strength and is deductive.
Evaluation of the Inductive Argument
An inductive argument can be evaluated using the denying the antecedent technique. It has the formula:
Premise #1: If A, then B.
Premise #2: Not A.
Conclusion: Therefore not B.
Based on this pattern, we can conclude that the presented argument, “All Americans are friendly,” is inductive. This is based on the fact that this claim is formed on the assumption that “All the Americans I met on the trip were friendly.” However, this is a generalization based on personal experience and not communication with all residents of the country. Thus, following the assessment, it is possible to confirm the validity of this induction argument.
References
Facione, P. & Gittens, C. A. (2015). Think critically. Pearson.