Vague Generalities

Often times we use vague terms such as all or some to describe a collection in some portion such as the entire collection or a part of the collection. We use these vague terms so that we do not have to specify the exact number we are talking about. Because often times we really do not know the exact number we are referring to. There are a number of words used to specify quantity but only all or some are considered to have enough precision to make valid arguments. Even though the words all and some can be considered ambiguous we can still determine if the argument is valid or not. If the premises give the receiver of the argument good reason to believe the conclusion even though there is no follow up exceptions the argument is usually considered strong. An personal example I have this type of argument is from my work. Almost all of the nail technicians at the day spa speak Vietnamese. Lieu is a nail technician at the day spa. So Lieu speaks Vietnamese. This is considered to be a strong argument because it is the direct way of reasoning with almost all, instead of arguing backwards. Arguing backwards with the same example would look like: Almost all of the nail technicians at the day spa speak Vietnamese. Lieu speaks Vietnamese. So Lieu is a nail technician at the day spa. Just because Lieu speaks Vietnamese does not make her a nail technician. This is arguing backwards and is considered usually weak.