Reason

Notes:
Deductive reasoning -Most useful when you have true premises. From this, you're goal is to see if truth is maintained in the condition. - More certain but less informative in a general sense.

Inductive Reasoning -Makes generalization. -Confirmation bias: the mind seeing what it wants to see. -A good generalization, is done more than once, has no exceptions, variety and coherence alongside other truths and more valid in the natural sciences than in the human sciences. - More informative in a general sense but less certain.

Informal Reasoning -post hoc ergo preptre hoc( after this, therefore on account of this) - ...because B follows another thing A, than A must be the cause of B. -ad hominem fallacy (against the man) - Circular reasoning - begging the question - the argument is simply a reassertion of the point being made. - you are assuming the thing you are supposed to be proving - Special pleading - double standards - making an exception in a case when it would generally not be accepted for another. - Applies to all expect me - equivocation - when a wor is used in two different ways in an argument - a hamburger is better than nothing, nothing is better than good health, therefore, a hamburger is better than good health. - Argument ad ignorantium - you claim something is true on the grounds that there is no evidence to disprove something. - False analogy when in argument you use various analogies to create support for your argument. You assume two things are similar in some respects so they therefore must be similar in other respects. - false dilemma - assume that only two alternatives exist when there is in fact a winds range of options. "Do those who want an increase in military spending really want to see our schools and hospitals close?" - Loaded questions - contain a bias a question that has an assumption built into the question. statements can also contain such assumptions. "Do you always cheat on exams?"  "The teacher was not drunk today."

if all monkeys are mammals and all mammals have hair then all monkeys have hair.

if all men are two legged and all two legged things are humans then all men are humans

if fire is hot and everything hot is red then all fire is red.

if all trees are green and if everything green is living then all trees are living.

If all pillows are soft and everything soft is made from feathers then all pillows are made from feathers

Essay
 “The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something which we do not understand.” - Frank Herbert

The pursuit of knowledge is rudimentary to all human beings. In this pursuit arise the matter of inquiry and validation, claims and evidence. Knowledge is dependent upon a process in which all who seek to comprehend must first understand that everything requires proof; verification of what the mind is attempting to realize. The ignorant only become knowledgeable through the discovery of the strange or uncommon. To fully understand knowledge that is new, we must provide concrete evidence to prove it. Comparatively, studies of the natural and human sciences use sense perception, reason, and emotion in different degrees, as a way of providing strong evidence to support novel claims. The challenge of understanding the Natural sciences and Human sciences forms a great majority of the pursuit of knowledge throughout the world. The classical sciences, chemistry, biology and physics, roughly compromise what can considered empirical pursuit. Within the Natural Sciences, knowledge is garnered through experimentation with the natural world. In chemistry, to synthesize an organic compound the first step is the combination of reactants, then purification techniques i.e. filtering and re-crystallization are used. This is followed by study of the product using combustion analysis and other chemical tests. This process of organic synthesis is an example of inquiry specifically within the Natural Sciences, where empirical knowledge is gained through sense perception, reasoning and emotion. Of the three ways of knowing mentioned above, reason has a greater role in determining the validity of knowledge claims than sense perception or emotions does. Reason, the power to think, understand and form judgments by a process of logic, plays an important role in defining what can be considered good evidence, within the area of the natural sciences. Sense perception, regarding, understanding, or interpreting impulses from the senses, is necessary within the identification of a chemical process described above. When synthesizing an organic compound, I have the ability to perceive that certain chemical processes are taking place, but it is not paramount that I do perceive. When the synthesized compound undergoes combustion analysis, I could perhaps see or feel the heat from the combustion that is taking place. However, it is not necessary that I “feel” or “see” to know what is occurring. Through the use of accurate measuring instruments I can infer or reason from a number of readings that increase in magnitude, that the temperature within the unobservable interior of a thermo-insolated container is rising and therefore combustion is taking place. Therefore reason takes precedence over sense perception and emotion when attempting to justify claims made within the area of the Natural Sciences. The Human Sciences generally encompasses studies of economics, sociology, and economics where the focus has shifted from the observation of the natural world and is instead directed towards the study of human behavior. The human sciences are concerned more with why human beings behave the way they behave than with exploration into the processes of the natural world. In one sub-heading of the Human Sciences, economics, study is focused on the production, consumption and transfer of wealth. In this field of knowledge an example of a knowledge inquiry would be the relationship between the amount of Christmas trees needed by a community during the Christmas season and the ability of providers to supply a certain amount of Christmas trees during a given period of time. To fully understand this relationship I would need to know certain information such as how many people celebrate Christmas or are buying tree. Contrary to that I would need to know how much stock the supplier has and how much can be provided throughout the season. Once all this information is known, it would be possible to then determine the optimum price at which the Christmas trees would need to be sold. The study of the relationship between supply and demand is an example of a knowledge claim, in this case a price, within the Human Sciences where the behavior of people is the center of inquiry. When considering sense perception, reason, and emotion as ways of providing evidence, it is apparent that sense perception and emotion play a greater role in providing validity for certain knowledge claims. Emotion, instinctive or intuitive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge, and sense perception integral when attempting to provide some sort of evidence to claims of knowledge associated with the Human Sciences. Due to the fact that the focus is upon the observation of human behavior with this area of knowledge, and it is evident that emotions are fundamental to humans, then it is understandable as to why emotions are central to proving assertions within the Human Sciences. When studying supply and demand emotions allow the scientist to provide a why to a certain action of a person. The motive for someone buying a Christmas tree this season would be that it is specified that a portion of the price would be donated to charity. In this case emotion can be considered evidence for the claim that sales would rise because of the appeal to human emotion of pity or compassion. Sense perception is essential as method of providing evidence within this area of knowledge as it deals with observation of human mannerisms. When considering the idea of perception as associated with supply and demand; it is evident that the data which has been collected, on which claims are based, must have been influenced by the opinion of the observer.

Hi Nic, I feel you have cut this conversation short. Your discussion of how to interpret methods of observation and analysis is an excellent place to begin and continue. Are we at 750 words already? I feel like it just got started. This conversation will continue. Your methodology here is sound, keep refining the technique of organised argument using examples, just be sure it ends by completing your circle and makes your point. I feel this was lost in the end. :0)