If the rain does not come,then the crop is ruined and the people will starve. Therefore, the rain comes.
1,Write all the preposions
2, write the argument in symbolic form
3, Determine whether the argument is valid or not
1. To identify the prepositions in the given statement, we need to identify the words that show the relationship between other words in the sentence. In this case, the only preposition is "if".
2. To express the argument in symbolic form, we need to represent the statements using logical symbols. Let's assign the following symbols:
P: The rain comes.
Q: The crop is ruined.
R: The people will starve.
The given statement can be represented symbolically as:
"If ~P, then Q. Therefore, P."
3. To determine if the argument is valid or not, we need to consider the logical structure of the argument rather than the truth of the statements themselves. In this case, the argument follows the form of a logical rule known as affirming the consequent, which is invalid.
The valid form of the argument would be modus ponens:
"If P, then Q. P. Therefore, Q."
However, the given argument does not follow this valid form. Just because the crop is ruined and people will starve if the rain does not come, it does not mean that the conclusion, "Therefore, the rain comes," logically follows. The presence of the rain does not guarantee the crop will not be ruined or that people will not starve due to other factors.
So, the argument is considered invalid.