Maybe you’ve seen Dr. House in action – figuring things out from what seem like totally unrelated clues. Like Sherlock Holmes before him, House is a master of induction. In this lesson, students will keep up with the doctor (and a lawyer, too) as they learn how to spot – and analyze – both inductive and deductive arguments. Students will then get a chance to show off their deductive skills by solving a logic puzzle and test their inductive abilities by solving a 5-minute mystery.
Objectives
In this lesson students will learn to:
- Distinguish between deductive and inductive arguments.
- Construct and analyze deductive arguments.
- Produce and evaluate inductive arguments.
KEY TERMS:
- Argument: a conclusion together with the premises that support it
- Premise: a reason offered as support for another claim
- Conclusion: the claim being supported by a premise or premises
- Valid argument: an argument whose premises genuinely support its conclusion
- Unsound argument: an argument that has at least one false premise
- Deductive argument: an argument whose premises make its conclusion certain
- Inductive argument: an argument whose premises make its conclusion likely