The Trolley Problem
The Trolley Problem is an ethical dilemma which enquiries whether it would be right to sacrifice one person to save five others. It comes in various flavours but usually is introduced via two scenarios.
The Prisoner’s Dilemma
Imagine two prisoners who are rational and self-interested. The Police catch them on a minor offence. The Police suspect that they were also involved in a more serious offence but have no evidence for this.
Inference to the best explanation
Inference to the best explanation is a form of reasoning where one infers that the hypothesis, among competing hypotheses, which best explains the available data is likely true.
What is a slippery slope argument?
This is an informal fallacy which occurs when an initial, seemingly minor, action will inevitably trigger a chain reaction, leading to increasingly severe, undesirable outcomes, often without sufficient evidence for each step.
Gettier cases
The American philosopher Edmund Gettier argued in a famous paper in 1963 that we can have a JTB and yet still not have knowledge…
Deductive and inductive arguments
In everyday speech, we say, ‘You make a valid argument’, ‘You have a valid point’, ‘That’s a sound point’, ‘That’s a good argument’, ‘That’s a strong argument’ and so on. This is rather loose-speak.
What is affirming the consequent?
Affirming the consequent is a logical fallacy whereby the arguer incorrectly concludes the cause (antecedent) because of the effect (consequent).
What is knowledge?
The branch of Philosophy concerning the nature of knowledge is Epistemology. Philosophers commonly identify three types of knowledge:
What is modus tollens?
Modus tollens (Latin for ‘mode that denies’) is a valid form of logical deduction. It is a conditional form (if-then).