Philosophy 381: Philosophy of Language

Consider the following argument: (1) A pile of 100,000 grains of sand is a heap of sand. (2) Removing a single grain of sand from a heap of sand will not turn a heap into a non-heap. (3) Therefore, a single grain of sand is a heap of sand.

(1) Justify both premises and the validity of the argument.

(2) Since the conclusion is clearly false--a single grain of sand is not a heap of sand--something has gone wrong. Propose and defend a suggestion for what has gone wrong in the argument.

(3) Defend yourself against at least one objection to your proposal in (2).

Extra directions: This assignment should be a minimum of 2 standardly formatted typewritten pages. There is no maximum length, but since I value precision, conciseness, and clarity, excess verbiage should be avoided.

Due: Tuesday, April 8, at the beginning of class.