97 comments

  • Edited Wednesday, Apr 1

    if X then Y

    if Y then Z

    Therefore, X then Z

    2
    Saturday, Apr 11

    @purplesunshine007 its so funny because youre the only other person ive ever seen use this form. i worked w a tutor once and i was like oh its like a math equation like they cancel each other out and he was like ... wtf are you talking about ?? I dont have a math brain by any means but these kinds of arguments reminded me of cancelling out two-sided equations lol

    1
    Saturday, Apr 11

    @bellaens18 I’m a philosophy graduate and that’s how we were talked to validate arguments in our logic class. In the back of the book was a list of rules like that one.

    2
    Sunday, Apr 12

    @purplesunshine007 thats so good to know, we think the same LOL

    1
  • Wednesday, Mar 18

    I think I struggle with the distinction between VALID arguments and TRUE arguments. If the Superset of "Ninjas" includes a subset of "Turtles", which includes "Donatello" then the argument is valid that donatello is a ninja, but it is not true that all turtles are ninjas. For the the argument to be both valid and true the subset would have to be TMNT.

    2
  • Tuesday, Mar 17

    All Elephants are D1 Football players. Roxy is an elephant. Therefore Roxy is a D1 Football player.

    4
  • Sunday, Feb 22

    Eating Buffalo Chicken Cheese Fries makes you a king. My friend ate Buffalo Chicken Cheese Fries. Therefor, my friend is a king.

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    Sunday, Feb 22

    @SohaS doing LSAT practice everyday will get you a high score. I'm doing LSAT practice everyday. Therefor, I will get a high score

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  • Monday, Feb 16

    Question Anyone? As far as the logic equation for this lesson: is B always the superset, A always subset and X always the member/membership??

    1
    Monday, Mar 9

    @HealthLaw@28 I do believe so, yes! It seems as if formal arguments say that a member of a smaller group (subset) are always a member of a larger group (superset). Then, it plugs in an example into this smaller group to create sufficiency for membership into this larger group.

    For example, "I have a cat. All cats are cute. Therefore, my cat is cute." In this example, cats (the member in question) are a subset of things that can fit into the "cute" superset label; many more things can be cute, and cats are just one of them. Saying, "I have a dog. All dogs are cute. Therefore, my dog is cute," would provide an example of another statement that expands the umbrella of "cute" things. In both examples, membership in the subset - dogs/cats - is sufficient for membership in a larger, more-encompassing superset of cute things.

    I hope this explanation was English and helped, even if only a little and even if a month late!

    1
  • Saturday, Feb 14

    I am confused because this just seems a lot like logic games but I am going to review it until it makes sense

    2
  • Saturday, Jan 31

    Does anyone else have days where they can't get any questions right? the drills are humbling me today. Im so scared im going to get to the test and be having one of those days

    4
    Saturday, Mar 21

    @KaraSwider Yep its day 5 for me

    1
  • Tuesday, Jan 13

    Please don't disrespect Luke!

    4
    Sunday, Jan 25

    @MRod It's ok, Star Wars and logical reasoning don't usually go hand in hand.

    1
  • Tuesday, Jan 13

    Another way to think of it: sufficiency guarantees necessity not the other the way around. Being a cat guarantees being a mammal but being a mammal doesn't guarantee being a cat.

    19
    Monday, Feb 9

    @SarahSmile That is a good way of looking at it when there is a subset and superset relationship. However, it becomes a problem in a sufficiency and necessity causal relationship. For example:

    A brain death is going to get you killed (body will stop) surely i.e. is sufficient for you to get killed. But that is not necessary for you to get killed. You can get killed in all sorts of ways kidney failure, cancer etc. Death does not require brain death.

    This is an example of sufficient but not necessary. That is, sufficiency is not guaranteeing neccessity because maybe there are no necessary ways to get killed.

    2
    Thursday, Feb 12

    @Ikaarin I think we’re using “necessary” in slightly different ways. In conditional logic, when we say X is sufficient for Y, we mean that Y is necessary for X. Meaning whenever X occurs, Y must occur. That doesn’t mean Y requires X in all cases. So brain death →death means that the occurrence of brain death guarantees “death” but “death” doesn’t necessarily guarantee that “brain death” occurred. Death could be the result of any other thing.

    1
    Thursday, Feb 12

    @SarahSmile I understand you now! tnx

    1
  • Tuesday, Jan 6

    Premise 1: membership in a subset is sufficient for membership in a superset. Premise 2: X is a member of the subset. Conclusion: X is a member of the superset. Is that correct

    3
    Thursday, Jan 8

    @VanillaCat yes!

    0
  • Friday, Nov 21, 2025

    Every conditional argument is valid? Does that also make every conditional argument true?

    2
  • Friday, Nov 21, 2025

    when you put it like this, it makes more sense.

    1
  • Monday, Nov 17, 2025

    Will the premises always be assumed true? like not all turtles are ninjas, but for the test we assume this is the case?

    3
    Monday, Nov 17, 2025

    @SusanLeifker Oh lol it's the very next video

    4
  • Friday, Nov 7, 2025

    if one is relaxing, they're watching tv. Bre is watching TV. therefore bre is relaxing.

    2
    Sunday, Nov 16, 2025

    @BreanaNunez Hi! I don't think is argument is valid.

    Premise 1: If one is relaxing, they're watching tv. (Translation: If r -> tv)

    Premise 2: Bre is watching TV. (Translation: B^TV)

    You can't conclude that Bre is relaxing because watching TV is the necessary condition of the first premise or the "superset". This means that there are many other states that Bre or anyone could be in based on the first premise.

    Another way to think about it is to think like this:

    Premise 1: If one is in New York City, they're in the United States.

    Premise 2: Bre is in the United States.

    Based on the above logic, the conclusion would be: Bre is in New York. HOWEVER, we know that based on the premises/logic, Bre could be anywhere in the United States not just in New York.

    To make the argument valid you would have to change the second premise to "Bre is in New York City" and then conclude "Bre is in the United States".

    With the original argument, the same logic follows. You would have to change the second premise to "Bre is relaxing" and the conclusion to "therefore, Bre is watching TV" to make it logically sound.

    You could also alter the first premise to say, "if one is watching TV, they're relaxing". Then the argument would be valid as it is.

    I hope this helps!

    8
    Friday, Jan 2

    @BreanaNunezThis is actually known as affirming the consequent.

    2
  • Friday, Oct 31, 2025

    Finally had the light bulb moment for this section! Now let's see if I can connect the dots on PTs

    4
  • Friday, Oct 24, 2025

    for all of the formal logic people out there, this is is a simple argument form if you break it down into p and q. it would look something like: if p then q (p ->q), p, therefore q. this works because if the first half of a conditional statement is true (which we know it is because of the second premise, then the second half must be true in order for the statement (our original premise of if p -> q) to be true! idk if this helps anyone, but conceptually it works a lot better for me.

    3
  • Saturday, Oct 11, 2025

    All of the Sleepless Kingdom has been cursed to sleep. Aurora is from the Sleepless Kingdom. Therefore, she has been cursed to sleep.

    4
  • Edited Saturday, Sep 20, 2025

    Back to my very first philosophy class lol! All men are mortal, Socrates is a man, therefore Socrates is mortal. Thank you philosophy degree for your help in these trying times.

    Superset: mortality

    Subset: all men

    Socrates being a man is sufficient to say that Socrates is mortal, but being mortal isn't enough to say that Socrates is mortal, because animals and plants are mortal as well. (I think this is it)

    3
  • Wednesday, Sep 10, 2025

    If Troy was born in Florida, then he is American. Troy was born in America, therefore he is American

    0
    Friday, Sep 19, 2025

    @JimmyCrosbyMalanda *Assumption: being born in America is identical to born in Florida regarding whether one is an American.

    1
    Friday, Nov 28, 2025

    @JimmyCrosbyMalanda If one is born in Florida, then one is American.

    Troy is born in Florida.

    Troy must be American.

    Another way to say it is: If Troy was born in Florida, then he is American. Troy is an American, Troy is not necessarily born in Florida.

    1
  • Thursday, Sep 4, 2025

    If one was born in New York City, then one is American. Zach was born in NYC. Therefore, Zach is an American.

    0
  • Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025

    If one is a man, then one is superman. Clark Kent is a man. Therefore, Clark Kent is superman.

    1
  • Friday, Aug 22, 2025

    If one works out, they get jacked.

    Mark is working out.

    So, Mark will get jacked.

    Subset: Getting Jacked.

    Superset: Working Out.

    1
  • Thursday, Aug 21, 2025

    Dexter fans:

    If Dexter is the Bay Harbour Butcher, then Dexter is a serial killer. 

    Dexter (spoiler) is the Bay Harbour Butcher.

    So, Dexter is a serial killer.

    Subset: Bay Harbour Butcher 

    Superset: Serial Killer

    1
  • Saturday, Jul 26, 2025

    Ninja - Turtle.

    Can you switch the circles? Or draw the circles on top of one another? Since its not saying "Some turtles are ninjas".

    0
    Tuesday, Aug 19, 2025

    @Sameer_Ahamad If one is a turtle, then one is a ninja, you couldn't switch the circles. If the turtle circle were on the outside, this would mean that all ninjas were turtles, and that there were even possibly some turtles that weren't ninjas, which isn't the case. If only some turtles are ninjas, then we would draw a Venn diagram with a ninja circle and a turtle circle with some overlap.

    1
  • Tuesday, Jun 10, 2025

    I felt so good about necessary vs sufficient until the ninja turtle relationship. For some reason that one keeps throwing me off.

    Correct me if I'm wrong:

    Subset: Turtles

    Superset: Ninjas

    Being a turtle is sufficient to be a ninja.

    So as a turtle you are necessarily a ninja...

    But it is not necessary to be a turtle to be a ninja.

    Being a ninja is necessary to be a turtle.

    But not all ninjas are turtles.

    0
    Wednesday, Jun 11, 2025

    This one threw me off too. But then I remembered from an earlier video that you can only use the parameters from the question. The question says that all turtles are ninjas. In the question's universe, all turtles are ninjas (because turtle is the subset of ninjas' superset). There is no way to be a turtle without also being a ninja in this scenario.

    It is possible to be a non-turtle ninja. You're right about that. Master Splinter would thus be in the superset group of ninjas, but not in the subset group of turtles. Basically, being ninja is necessary to being a turtle (all turtles are ninjas) and being a turtle is sufficient to being a ninja (all turtles are ninjas).

    2
    Thursday, Aug 28, 2025

    @achois1025 I like that phrase! "In the question's universe-" is a great way to think of the test's logic without bringing in your own meta knowledge

    1

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