Logical arguments must be valid and sound | Rapp Report 2-minute Daily 0020 | Andrew Rappaport | SFE | Striving for Eternity
1 view
- 00:04
- Welcome to The Rapid Bull, daily edition, where we provide a quick biblical interpretations and applications.
- 00:12
- This is a ministry of striving for eternity. When we talk about logic or critical thinking, we talk in terms of validity and soundness.
- 00:22
- A logical argument is valid when the argument form is valid.
- 00:30
- Now, this is different from soundness. An argument is sound if and only if it is valid and all its premises are true.
- 00:41
- So, you can make a logical argument that's valid by saying that when it rains, the ground is wet.
- 00:49
- The ground is wet, therefore it rained. Now, that is valid. The premise that the ground is wet when it rains, the support that the ground is wet, therefore the conclusion that it must have rained.
- 01:06
- That's logically valid, but guess what? It's not sound. It's not sound because there is a third option.
- 01:15
- The sprinklers. That's right. The ground could be wet by something else and not just from the rain.
- 01:23
- So, though the argument form is valid, it's not sound.
- 01:29
- And it's not sound because one of the premises is not true.
- 01:36
- The fact that the ground is wet doesn't mean that it can only be from rain.
- 01:42
- So, whenever you're talking to someone and they're discussing logical things, you want to do critical thinking, always look for whether the argument is valid and sound.
- 01:51
- This podcast is part of the Striving for Eternity ministry. For more content or to request a speaker or seminar to your church, go to strivingforeternity .org.