Philosophy 6: Logic in Practice  

Pierce College

Department of History, Philosophy, & Sociology

Priming Exercise for Premises and Conclusions

On a sheet of paper, put today's date, your name, and your responses to the following prompts. 

A) Come up with 5 reasons why someone could think that sandwiches are excellent.  When coming up with these reasons, try and come up with one reason that is totally irrelevant, one reason that is clearly weak, one reason that is as strong as you can come up with, and one reason that someone could think is strong, but someone else could think is weak. 

B) Come up with 5 reasons why someone could think that pencils should not be used on tests.  When coming up with these reasons, try and come up with one reason that is totally irrelevant, one reason that is clearly weak, one reason that is as strong as you can come up with, and one reason that someone could think is strong, but someone else could think is weak. 

C) Come up with 5 things that someone could conclude from the following premise: Because sleeping is good for you, you should ... .  When coming up with these reasons, try and come up with one reason that is totally irrelevant, one reason that is clearly weak, one reason that is as strong as you can come up with, and one reason that someone could think is strong, but someone else could think is weak.