Which of the following most clearly illustrates Aristotle's efficient cause rather than final cause?

The sculptor's chiseling produces the statue

GATE Humanities and Social Sciences - Philosophy — Syllabus & notes

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Logic

A valid argument can still have a false conclusion if a premise is false. Only a SOUND argument (valid + true premises) guarantees truth.

Affirming the consequent (P→Q; Q; ∴P) and denying the antecedent are formal fallacies, not valid inferences.

Necessary ≠ sufficient: oxygen is necessary for fire but not sufficient. Swapping them breaks the argument.

Deduction preserves truth (valid → certain); induction is only probable. Calling a strong induction “proof” is an error.

Correlation ≠ causation; post hoc ergo propter hoc (after → therefore because) is a classic causal fallacy.

Epistemology

A priori knowledge is independent of experience; a posteriori depends on it. “Innate vs learned” is a different axis — don’t conflate.

Hume: constant conjunction is not observed causation — we never perceive the necessary connection itself.

Analytic statements are true by meaning (“bachelors are unmarried”); synthetic need facts. Kant’s “synthetic a priori” breaks the easy pairing.

Ethics

Utilitarianism judges acts by consequences; deontology by duty/rules — the same act can be right under one, wrong under the other.

Philosophy of Language

Frege’s sense vs reference: “morning star” and “evening star” share a reference (Venus) but differ in sense.

GATE Humanities and Social Sciences - Philosophy Syllabus (2025)

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