Question 1

For the following argument, choose the the best candidate for an implicit premise given the premises and conclusion provided. Your aim is to make the argument valid or forceful: P1) Miles Davis was an American Jazz trumpeter P2)_ P3) Kenny Ball was an English jazz trumpeter C1) Probably, Miles Davis was a better jazz trumpeter than Kenny Ball
A) American jazz musicians tend to be better than non American jazz musicians
B) Non American Jazz musicians are always worse than American jazz musicians
C) If someone is probably a non American jazz musician, then they are a worse jazz musician than an American jazz musician
D) Antonio Carlos Jobim was a better jazz musician than Kenny Ball

Accepted Answer

The implicit premise needed to make the argument valid is that American jazz musicians tend to be better than non-American jazz musicians. This premise supports the conclusion that Miles Davis was probably a better jazz trumpeter than Kenny Ball by establishing a general trend of superiority among American jazz musicians.

Question 2

For the following argument, choose the the best candidate for an implicit premise given the premises and conclusion provided. Your aim is to make the argument valid or forceful: P1) Superman and Clark Kent are the same person P2) Lois Lane loves Superman P3) _ C1) Lois Lane doesn't know that she loves Clark Kent
A) Superman is not really Clark Kent
B) Lois Lane doesn't know that Superman is Clark Kent
C) If Lois Lane loves Superman, then Lois Lane loves Clark Kent
D) Lois Lane knows that Superman is not Clark Kent

Accepted Answer

The missing premise needed to make the argument valid is that Lois Lane doesn't know Superman is Clark Kent. This connects the premises to the conclusion logically, showing why Lois Lane doesn't realize her love for Clark Kent, despite loving Superman.

Question 3

For the following argument, choose the the best candidate for an implicit premise given the premises and conclusion provided. Your aim is to make the argument valid or forceful: P1) Khan desires to take revenge upon James T Kirk P2) Khan is in a position to take revenge upon James T Kirk P3)_ C1) Khan will take revenge upon James T Kirk
A) Khan will take revenge on James T Kirk only if he desires to and is in a position to do so
B) If Khan desires and is in a position to take revenge on James T Kirk, then he will take revenge
C) If Khan takes revenge on James T Kirk, then he desires to, and is in a position to do so
D) Khan desires to take revenge on James T Kirk only if he is in a position to do so

Accepted Answer

Premise 1 and 2 give us reason to believe that if Khan desires to take revenge on James T Kirk and is in a position to do so, then he will take revenge. This is the missing assumption in the argument that would make it valid. Option B best represents this assumption. Option A suggests that desire and position are both necessary conditions for revenge, which is not shown to be true in the argument. Option C reverses the causality, implying that taking revenge leads to desire and position, rather than vice versa. Option D incorrectly suggests that being in a position to take revenge is a necessary condition for desire for revenge.

Question 4

For the following argument, choose the the best candidate for an implicit premise given the premises and conclusion provided. Your aim is to make the argument valid or forceful: P1) Say what you want about the beliefs of Libertarianism, but at least it's an ethos
P2) Nihilism is belief in nothing at all P3) _ C1) Libertarians are better people than nihilists.
A) People who have an ethos are better people than those who believe in nothing
B) It's better to have an ethos than believe in nothing
C) Ideologies which involve an ethos are preferable to ideologies which involve belief in nothing
D) Libertarianism is a form of nihilism

Accepted Answer

In order for the conclusion to follow logically from the premises, there needs to be an implicit premise that states that having an ethos makes someone a better person than someone who believes in nothing. Choice A provides this missing premise.

Question 5

For the following argument, choose the the best candidate for an implicit premise given the premises and conclusion provided. Your aim is to make the argument valid or forceful: P1) Ronald Reagan was an actor, and he made a fine President of the United States P2) David Hasselhoff is a better actor than Ronald Reagan ever was P3)_ C1) David Hasselhoff would be a better President of the United States than Ronald Reagan was
A) If someone is not a better actor than someone else, then the former person is also not a better politician than the latter.
B) If someone is not a better politician than someone else, then the former person is also a better actor than the latter
C) If someone is a better politician than someone else, then the former is also a better actor than the latter
D) If someone is a better actor than someone else, then the former person is also a better politician than the latter

Accepted Answer

The missing premise needed to make this argument valid is the assumption that being a better actor than someone else implies that the former person is also a better politician than the latter. Therefore, choice D matches this assumption and would make the argument valid.

Quiz 3: Logic: Deductive Validity