\"A likely story indeed!\" said the Pigeon, in a tone of the deepest contempt. \
ID: 3198919 • Letter: #
Question
"A likely story indeed!" said the Pigeon, in a tone of the deepest contempt. "I've seen a good many little girls in my time, but never one with such a neck as that! No, no! You're a serpent, and there's no use denying it. I suppose you'll be telling me next that you never tasted an egg!" "I have tasted eggs, certainly," said Alice, who was a very truthful child; "but little girls eat eggs quite as much as serpents do, you know." "I don't believe it," said the Pigeon; "but if they do, why then they're a kind of serpent: that's all I can say." This was such a new idea to Alice, that she was quite silent for a minute or two, which gave the Pigeon the opportunity of adding "You're looking for eggs, I know that well enough; and what does it matter to me whether you're a little girl or a serpent?" [Chapter V] Provide a symbolic form of the Pigeon’s argument. Use it to show that, from a purely logical perspective, the Pigeon's argument follows modus ponens and is thus valid. How can you explain that while the Pigeon’s logic is valid, he’s still wrong in concluding that Alice is a serpent?
Explanation / Answer
The Pigeon's logic fits the form of modus ponens, or affirming the antecedent:
If little girls eat eggs, then they are a kind of serpent (If P, then Q).
Alice (who is a little girl) eats eggs (P).
Therefore, she is a kind of serpent (Therefore, Q).
Although the argument is valid, it is not true because the premise on which the Pigeon bases it ("If little girls eat eggs, then they are a kind of serpent") is false; therefore, the argument is false. However, this still raises a question for Alice because although she knows that she is not a serpent, she still eats eggs and therefore presents as much threat to the Pigeon regardless. The text perhaps begs the philosophical conclusion of utilitarianism, which considers only the result of an action in determining its morality ("the ends justify the means").
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