7. Question 7

(a) State the form of the affirming the consequent fallacy.
(b) Give an example of an affirming the consequent argument.
(c) Using your example, explain the error in this form of reasoning.

*** GPT says ***

(a) The form of the affirming the consequent fallacy is:

If P, then Q.
Q.
Therefore, P.

This is an invalid argument form, since there may be other explanations for why Q is true, besides the truth of P.

(b) An example of an affirming the consequent argument is:

If it rained last night, the streets will be wet.
The streets are wet.
Therefore, it must have rained last night.

(c) The error in affirming the consequent reasoning is that there may be other explanations for why Q is true, besides the truth of P. In the example above, the streets may be wet for reasons other than rain, such as a nearby hose being used or a water main break. Therefore, just because the streets are wet does not necessarily mean that it rained last night. This makes the argument invalid, as it fails to prove the truth of its conclusion.