Critical Thinking and Reliable Premise
Jordan: One of the requirements for our ethics argument is the use of critical thinking. In Chapter Four of Thomas Wall’s text, we find a number of terms that we need to understand.
The next three questions relate directly to your reading in Waller as well as to the reading from the Paul & Elder Website: Choose only ONE of the terms for your response to the question (a,b, or c):
a) ACT: Describe an example of an act that produces a good result that is nonetheless an immoral act under an applied ethics theory (such as teleology or deontology). Explain WHY this act is immoral under this theory. (Do not use an example from the text. Provide your own example.)
b) DIFFERENCE: Describe the difference between "facts" and "assumptions." Give an example of an assumption that one might use in formulating an argument about an ethical issue and a fact that one might use in this argument.
c) RELIABLE: Describe what is meant by a "reliable" premise. Give an example of a reliable premise and explain why you believe it to be reliable.
Andrea: A reliable premise is something that is thought to be true, however it is not known with absolute certainty. Further, a reliable premise has good evidence that it is true (Wall, 2008). An example would be when an individual owns a pet snake and a pet hamster and finds one day that the hamster is missing. It is would be a reliable premise to say that the snake ate the hamster, as hamsters are prey for snakes. If the hamster is missing and the snake is acting as if it has recently eaten, then it's reasonable to believe the snake ate the hamster. Although there is not exact evidence to prove this, the situation and variables make this a reliable premise.
Wall, T.F. (2008). Thinking critically about moral problems. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
The next three questions relate directly to your reading in Waller as well as to the reading from the Paul & Elder Website: Choose only ONE of the terms for your response to the question (a,b, or c):
a) ACT: Describe an example of an act that produces a good result that is nonetheless an immoral act under an applied ethics theory (such as teleology or deontology). Explain WHY this act is immoral under this theory. (Do not use an example from the text. Provide your own example.)
b) DIFFERENCE: Describe the difference between "facts" and "assumptions." Give an example of an assumption that one might use in formulating an argument about an ethical issue and a fact that one might use in this argument.
c) RELIABLE: Describe what is meant by a "reliable" premise. Give an example of a reliable premise and explain why you believe it to be reliable.
Andrea: A reliable premise is something that is thought to be true, however it is not known with absolute certainty. Further, a reliable premise has good evidence that it is true (Wall, 2008). An example would be when an individual owns a pet snake and a pet hamster and finds one day that the hamster is missing. It is would be a reliable premise to say that the snake ate the hamster, as hamsters are prey for snakes. If the hamster is missing and the snake is acting as if it has recently eaten, then it's reasonable to believe the snake ate the hamster. Although there is not exact evidence to prove this, the situation and variables make this a reliable premise.
Wall, T.F. (2008). Thinking critically about moral problems. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.