Discussion
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Deductive and Inductive Arguments
Deductive Argument: “All cats are carnivorous. Some cats are white. Therefore, some carnivorous are white.” This argument is valid and sound in its current state. Deductive arguments tend to be exclusively convincing. If the premise of this argument is altered to make it unsound, the result will be an argument that does not make sense. For instance, if the first premise is changed to sound, “most cats are carnivorous,” then the resultant argument will be invalid. The validity of an argument cannot be rated as “somehow valid” or “more valid.” It is either an argument is valid or not valid for it to accomplish its purpose of demonstrating the authenticity of the conclusion. In the same way, is the second premise would be changed to something else such as “some cats are black,” then the argument will turn to be unsound; there would be no reason to agree with the conclusion.
Inductive Argument: “Whales naturally live in the ocean. Magus is a whale. Therefore, Magus lives in the ocean.” This argument is valid, but there is something else that one could learn about Magus that would change the existing argument. Suppose one learns that Magus has been coached to play tricks before the audience at a park, then this changes the perception that the only place that Magus can live in the ocean. The additional of the new information has rendered the initial inductive argument weaker. Notably, the argument can be made stronger by adding more information regarding Magus. For instance, the argument could add more information to the audience to make them understand that Magus was part of a program for captive release. An inductive argument can be made stronger, weaker, and again stronger by continuously adding premises to make it stronger.
The deductive argument is stronger because it shows a valid connection between the premise and the conclusion. The argument that all cats are carnivorous and some are white in color is a strong argument that describes cats as carnivorous, and even if there is a slight variation in the cats in terms of color, they remain to be carnivorous. Adding more information to a valid deductive argument does not transform it from being invalid. It may; however, pretty indicate that the deductive argument is unsound, but it cannot compromise the connection it has to the conclusion (Hitchcock, 2014). This implies that a deductive argument is strong because adding more information to the premise does not alter the validity of the argument.
One type of argument is always stronger than the other. For instance, inductive arguments are subject to modifications as compared to deductive arguments. When these types of arguments are applied separately, a deductive argument will always be stronger than an inductive argument. As a matter of fact, any slight change in an inductive argument prompts research into the argument to establish the cause of additional information (Hitchcock, 2014). In contrast, a deductive argument is either unsound or valid, and changes in the premises cannot call for the need to research more about the argument, and further research cannot make a difference to the argument (Hitchcock, 2014). However, any argument is strong or weak depending on the subject or the key argument point that a person wants to address. The logic of the argument is the one that makes it either stronger or weaker.
Reference
Hitchcock, D. (2014). Deductive and inductive: Types of validity, not types of
argument. Informal Logic, 2(3).