Page - 84 - in Reflective Cosmopolitanism - Educating towards inclusive communities through Philosophical Enquiry

84 REfLECTIvE COsMOPOLITANIsM B does not necessarily imply A: (Confirming the consequence of the first sta- tement does not mean that the premise is true. In fact, it tells us nothing about the premise). There is no conclusion. Denying A does not necessarily imply denying B: (Denying the premise in the first statement does not necessarily imply that denying the consequence is true). Rather, there is no conclusion. First statement (A implies B) Second statement Conclusion If you study every day, you pass You study (A) You pass (B) If you study every day, you pass You do not study (No A) No conclusion If you study every day, you pass You pass (B) No conclusion If you study every day, you pass You do not pass (No B) You have not studied (No A) This is so to such an extent that if the conclusion is not true, we must examine the statements. If Pedro has studied hard and not passed the exam, we will reach the conclusion that at least in his case, not studying is not the cause of failing the exam. We must, therefore, look for another cause or modify the syllogism. You can find further resources on the concept of “hypothetical reasoning” in the manual to Ella, episode 2, leading idea 5, discussion plan Hypothetical reasoning – Thinking with if – then statements”. Exercise: The syllogism Say if we can reach a conclusion or not in the following examples (encourage stu- dents to use the “If…..then…” format). 1. All the students in Fourth Form are going on a trip tomorrow. You are going on a trip tomorrow. So __________________________________________ 2. All mothers are women. You are not a mother. So_________________________ 3. When it rains, the streets get wet. The streets are wet. So________________________ 4. Whenever I eat mussels, my stomach hurts. I have eaten mussels, so ________________ 5. If the weather is good on Saturday, we will go to the country. We have been in the country on Saturday. So___________________________________ 6. If you train every day, you are a member of the team. Kevin trains every day, so _____________________________ 7. If you train every day, you are a member of the team. Kevin does not train every day, so _______________ 8. If you are born in Chile, you are Chilean. Pedro is not Chilean, so ______________________ 9. If you are born in Chile, you are Chilean. Pedro was not born in Chile, so ________________ 10. If we take a taxi to school, we will be early. We were not early, so ____________________