In a conditional statement, the component that immediately follows the word "if," 40, 295
Argument
A claim defended with reasons. More precisely, an argument is a set of statements, one of which (called the conclusion) is claimed or intended to be supported by the others (called the premises), 25, 50; cogent, 82--83, 222--223, 310, 312; complex, 32--33; deductive, 52--67, 83; explanation and, 42--43; inductive, 52--62, 67, 71, 83, 305--350; invalid, 74--78, 83; not a fight, 407--409; simple, 32--33; sound, 78, 83, 222--223, 310; strong, 78, 83, 222, 305, 312; uncogent, 82--83, 312; unsound, 78, 83; valid, 74--78, 83, 222, 276, 286; weak, 79-83, 305, 312
Arrow
a symbol (Æ) for the logical connective "if . . . then," 295; also, in argument diagramming, a symbol (Ø) for "therefore," 190
Compound statement
In logic, a statement that contains at least one simple statement as a component, 272
Conditional statement
An "if...then" statement, 39--40, 196, 295--301
Conjunction
A compound statement of the form "A and B," 272-280
Consequent
In a conditional statement, the part that immediately follows the word "then," 40, 295
Disjunction
A compound statement of the form "Either A or B," 196; in propositional logic, 291--294
Exclusive sense of "or"
The sense of "or" in which it means "either A or B, but not both," 291
Negation
Denial; symbolized by the tilde (~), 280--289
Nonexclusive sense of "or"
The sense of "or" in which it means "either A or B, or both A and B," 291
Principle of charity
A principle of interpretation that requires that unclear passages or arguments be interpreted in the way most favorable the speaker or writer, 41--42, 59-60, 203--204, 206, 291
Propositional logic
A branch of logic that studies truth-functional compound statements, i.e., statements whose truth value depends entirely on the truth values of their component statements (e.g., statements of the form "A and B," "A or B," "not A," and "if A then B"), 271--304
Simple statement
In logic, a statement that does not contain any other statement as a component, 272
Truth table
A table in which all possible truth values of compound statements are determined by listing all possible truth values of the simple statements that make up the compound statements, 272
Truth value
The truth or falsity of a statement. If a statement is true, it has the truth value "true"; if it is false, it has the truth value "false," 272
Valid argument
A deductive argument in which the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises, 74--78, 83, 276
