The gladiator Maximus has defeated a tiger in combat, and now speaks with Logicus outside the arena.

MAXIMUS: Every day, Logicus, from nine until five, I fight tigers in this arena. It has been this way for nearly two years, so I say with certainty that I will fight an animal tomorrow and I will win.

LOGICUS: How, Maximus, can there be certainty in that which hasn’t occurred?

MAXIMUS: I have killed all sorts of animals, Logicus: both tigers and men have died on my sword. I trust my skill as I trust the sun will rise tomorrow.

LOGICUS: I have trust in both the sun and your skill, but I am not certain of either.

MAXIMUS: Then we will speak tomorrow, after the sun has risen, and you will apologize for your uncertainty.

LOGICUS: But could not a God’s anger prevent that conversation? What if Helios, the sun, chose not to ride and left his horses stabled in the east?

MAXIMUS: He has always risen and will do so again.

LOGICUS: So Helios is without choice in rising? Or may he choose otherwise tomorrow?

MAXIMUS: Certainly, he has a choice, but I doubt he will opt to rest.

LOGICUS: But would not the possibility of choosing to rest his horses make tomorrow’s conversation an uncertainty?

MAXIMUS: You were first to mention the sun, Logicus; Helios may not rise tomorrow, but I will defeat a tiger, whether or not there is sunlight in the arena.

LOGICUS: But Maximus, I have heard legends of a one-eyed tiger that can eat his weight in gladiators. They call him Tiger, and tomorrow you will fight him.

MAXIMUS: There is concern in your voice, but you forget I have won a thousand matches and never lose.

LOGICUS: You’ve fought only one thousand matches while the sun has been rising sincethe start of time; if we can’t be certain Helios will rise tomorrow, how can your great record guarantee victory over Tiger? I may say you are likely to win, as history indicates you probably will, but I could not be certain. This is where, dear Maximus, you have been confused: your premises point only to what is probable. This reasoning is inductive and does not afford us certainty.

MAXIMUS: And so you say, Logicus, we cannot have certainty?

LOGICUS: With deduction, we can infer from some premises an indubitable conclusion. But your victory tomorrow is not certain, and so I say, certainty cannot come from an argument that predicts the future. Valid, deductive arguments with true premises have true conclusions; reasonable people accept these arguments, and we call them "sound."

MAXIMUS: I tell you reluctantly, Logicus, I’m beginning to know your meaning. Butwhat say you of soundness? Is it that reasonable people should accept the conclusions of sound arguments, or that they must?

LOGICUS: When we speak of reasonable people, we mean those who act in accord withthe rules of logic; in order to deny the conclusion of a sound argument, one must first renounce those rules.

MAXIMUS: I do not follow what you are saying, Logicus.

LOGICUS: You are a gladiator, Maximus. What makes you so?

MAXIMUS: I kill tigers in the arena.

LOGICUS: And killing tigers is what gladiators do? So that all men who kill tigers in the arena are gladiators, and those that do not, are not?

MAXIMUS: This is so.

LOGICUS: So would you say that you should kill tigers in the arena, or that you must?

MAXIMUS: Certainly, Logicus, I must.

LOGICUS: And so it is that men who obey the rules of the gladiator are gladiators; they kill tigers in accordance with those rules. In the same way, conforming to the rules of logic is necessary for reasonability, so that all reasonable men believe the conclusions of sound arguments to be true.

Essay question 2: Write an essay that critically analyzes the argument in the following passage.

The scene is Athens, one hour after the battle of Maximus and Tiger. The gladiator was victorious, but Tiger’s claws wounded his belly. He speaks now with Logicus outside the infirmary.

MAXIMUS: We spoke earlier of certainty, Logicus, but I am afraid you were mistaken. Yesterday, you shared your opinion of soundness and what it meant to be reasonable. I value what you’ve said, but I must be careful to remember you share with me only your opinions; they are no more or less valuable than my own.

LOGICUS: And so you say all honest opinions hold equal truth?

MAXIMUS: Only the Gods may know objective truths; it is in their nature. But as men, we must see always from our own eyes; our experiences are unique and so we can have no objectivity. This holds true for reality, Logicus. We know our world subjectively; our realities are private. True knowledge is reserved only for the Gods.

LOGICUS: We must investigate what you have said here, Maximus, so that I am certain I understand your meaning. Teach me clearly the nature of reality, so I may have wisdom, and my life will be better for it. Is there a gladiator in Athens more skilled than Maximus?

MAXIMUS: No, Logicus. I have the most skill.

LOGICUS: What of Minimus, the young gladiator defeated this morning by three angry sheep – are you a better fighter than he?

MAXIMUS: Certainly, Logicus.

LOGICUS: And so you would say you have more knowledge of fighting?

MAXIMUS: It is my opinion, Logicus, that I have more knowledge.

LOGICUS: That is my opinion as well. And Maximus, when you were wounded this morning, who was it that fixed your belly?

MAXIMUS: The doctors of Athens.

LOGICUS: But why see the doctors, Maximus, when your opinion of medication would have been equal to theirs?

MAXIMUS: I see your meaning, Logicus. I know little of medicine.

LOGICUS: And Minimus knows little of fighting sheep. So we agree: not all opinions are equally true.

MAXIMUS: But certainly, Logicus, our experiences are unique and our realities subjective.

LOGICUS: So you’ve said before. But Maximus, I see your wounds are both long and deep, and the doctor has said he agrees.

MAXIMUS: And I agree. They are bad wounds.

LOGICUS: All men would agree, even though their perspectives are unique. It seems your wounds exist apart from my ability to see them. If I properly measured the length and depth of your cuts, I’d find the same measurements as another man who has done the same. So I say, dear Maximus, to see your wounds I must first have two things: I should be able to see, and second, your cuts must truly exist. Their existence must be beyond my experience, so that if I covered my eyes and failed to see them, they would still be there.

MAXIMUS: I tell you, Logicus, what you’ve said here is merely your opinion; it is no more or less accurate than my own. Reality is subjective.

LOGICUS: So you say with certainty, Maximus, that reality is subjective?

MAXIMUS: With certainty.

LOGICUS: And this rule, that all reality is subjective, applies to all men absolutely?

MAXIMUS: It does indeed.

LOGICUS: But you see, my dear Maximus, if this rule is true for all men, then its truth is objective. Your argument seems to contradict itself so that I don’t clearly know your meaning. I believe you, Maximus, when you say you know the nature of reality. Start again from the beginning; tell me your secret so that I may understand.

MAXIMUS: Some other time, Logicus, for now I must go.

Essay question 3: Write an essay that critically analyzes the argument in the following passage.

MAXIMUS: Maximus Jr. disappoints me. He does not understand well the virtues of reason. He has ignored my arguments, as persuasive as they might be, and opted to abort his child.

LOGICUS: What is it, friend, that you have told your son?

MAXIMUS: I told him that on the day a woman goes into labor, she has inside of her a person. The family knows it to be her baby, though it’s still inside her womb. What of the previous day, Logicus, the day before birth? Inside of her there is still a person. The baby is only slightly younger; what of significance has changed? Now consider the day before that day. The child is one day younger still, but is it not a child? Where, Logicus, is the line drawn? I cannot say. And for that reason, no matter how many days we count back, it’s still a person, and killing it is wrong.

LOGICUS: But what of the first day, Maximus? Is it a child as soon as it’s conceived?

MAXIMUS: I cannot say at what point it becomes a child, and so we must assume it is a child at all points.

LOGICUS: But you see Maximus, there is clearly a difference between babies on the day they are born, and fetuses moments after conception. Do you not see how the two contrast?

MAXIMUS: Indeed, Logicus, but at what point is the fetus a child?

LOGICUS: Your question is significant, Maximus, let us explore it together. Were you always a great gladiator, even in your youth?

MAXIMUS: As a boy, I was strong, but I had much to learn.

LOGICUS: And so, when you were ten, there were gladiators in Athens more skilled than you?

MAXIMUS: I was just a boy.

LOGICUS: And none are more skilled than Maximus today?

MAXIMUS: This is certain.

LOGICUS: At what point, Maximus, did you become best?

MAXIMUS: It was when I began defeating alligators two-at-a-time; or maybe it was last year, when I killed eight dwarfs in one night. I suppose, Logicus, I am not certain exactly which day it was.

LOGICUS: And so you cannot say at what point you became best? You know only that you are the most skilled today, and that, in the past, your skill was poor?

MAXIMUS: True, Logicus, but what is your meaning?

LOGICUS: We cannot say precisely when you became the greatest, but today, we see clearly you are most skilled. Like the fetus and the child, Maximus, it isn’t necessary we know when one becomes the other, it is important only that the change is made, and that we recognize the paradigms of both fetuses and children.