Slowly we move along

We are moving along slowly. That's OK since we're getting a firmer foundation so we speed along later.

For Friday, we will start discussing cosmological arguments and our main goal will be to discuss:
CLARK CH. 1 -- the Aquinas selection and
STAIRS pp. 57-60, which is commentary and discussion of Aquinas.

The questions at the end of the Aquinas chapter are due on Friday.

Before that, however, we need to discuss what arguments are. Please re-fresh yourself on the assigned readings from the RULEBOOK. We'll answer these questions:

• What is an argument?
• What is it for a conclusion to logically follow from a set of premises?
  
• In what ways can conclusions follow from premises: e.g., deductively or validly vs. non-deductively (inductively, abdjuctively) or cogently?
  
• What are arguments where the conclusion does not follow from the premises either validly or cogently? Invalid, uncogent, fallacous.
  
• What is it for premises to be true?
  

We also need to say a few more things about the traditional, classical concept of God.

For next Monday, we will discuss the Clark Ch. 2 Leibniz and Ch. 3 Mackie selections. The questions are due that day also.

For Wed., from Clark: Ch. 4 by William Craig Lane and the rest of Stair's Chapter 3 on cosmological arguments. The questions are due that day also.