Discussion:
Scenarios - Applications List:
Check each of the following arguments to be sure that it contains no hidden premises and, if it is a complex argument, that all parts are expressed. Revise each, as necessary, to make the expression complete. Then evaluate the argument and decide whether it is sound. Explain your judgment.
1. Having great wealth is a worthy goal because it is difficult to attain and many famous people have pursued it.
2. Low grades on a college transcript are a handicap in the job market, so teachers who grade harshly are doing students a disservice.
3. The Bible can't be relevant to today's problems; it was written many centuries ago and is filled with archaic phrasing.
4. It is dishonest to pretend to have knowledge one does not have, so plagiarism is more virtue than vice.
5. The credit card habit promotes careless spending, particularly among young people. Therefore, credit card companies should not be permitted to issue credit cards to anyone under age 21.
6. No one who ever attended this college achieved distinction after graduation. Marvin attends this college. Therefore, Marvin will not achieve distinction after graduation.
7. Drug dealing should not be a crime because it does not directly harm others or force them to harm themselves.
8. A mature person is self-directing, so parents who make all their children's decisions for them are doing their offspring a disservice.
9. There's no point in attending Professor Drone's class; all he does is lecture in a boring monotone.
10. Power must be evil because it can corrupt people.
11. If the theory of evolution is true, as scientific evidence overwhelmingly suggests, a human being is nothing more than an ape.
12. Rock musicians are contributing to the decline of language by singing in a slurred, mumbling manner.
13. If emphasis on error paralyzes effort, this college is paying my English professor to make it impossible for me to learn English.
14. Nuclear power is a threat to world peace. Nuclear energy stations generate nuclear power. So nuclear energy stations are a threat to world peace.
15. Lew Fairman is the best candidate for governor because he is in favor of the death penalty.
16. All religious authorities are concerned about the dangers of nuclear war. All politicians are concerned about the dangers of nuclear war. Therefore, all politicians are religious authorities.
17. The government should undertake a comprehensive censorship program because censorship eliminates undesirable books and films from the market.
18. If the Social Security system is further weakened, the elderly will have to fear poverty. Therefore, if the Social Security system is not further weakened, the elderly will not have to fear poverty.
19. Challenging other people's opinions is a sign of intolerance, so debating courses have no place on a college campus.
20. It's ridiculous to think that there will be fewer deaths if we ban handguns. Handguns don't kill people; people kill people.
21. The antiabortionists say that the fetus is human, but they have not proved it. Therefore, they have no reasonable basis for opposing abortion.
22. We must either defeat communism or be defeated by it. To be defeated by communism is unthinkable. Therefore, we must defeat communism.
23. There is no way that anyone can ever deserve to live better than her or his neighbors, so capitalism is an immoral economic system.
24. If an expectant mother drinks, smokes, takes drugs, or fails to get proper rest, she may damage her unborn child. Therefore, if an expectant mother does these things and her child is born with a defect or ailment that can be traced to them, the mother should face criminal charges.
25. Custom is a form of folk wisdom. In some parts of the world, it is customary for "bride buyers" to buy (or sometimes kidnap) young women from their parents and sell them to men looking for wives. Even though we might find this practice distasteful, it would be morally wrong for us to object to others' practicing it.
Evaluating Truth and Validity Exercise
Selectthree of the scenarios in the Applications list 12.2 (a.-y.) at the end of Ch. 12 in The Art of Thinking.(list attached)
Apply the following in 350 to 500 words for each scenario:
• Evaluate each argument, using the 4-step process described on p. 218, regarding soundness of reasoning (truth and validity). (4-steps below)
• Explain your assessment and add alternative argumentation where necessary.
Evaluate Your Argument on the Issue - 4 Steps
1. State your argument fully, as clearly as you can. Be sure to identify anyhidden premises and, if the argument is complex, to express all parts of it.
2. Examine each part of your argument for errors affecting truth. (To be sureyour examination is not perfunctory, play devil's advocate and challenge the argument, asking pointed questions about it, taking nothing for granted.)Note any instances of either/or thinking, avoiding the issue, overgeneralizing,oversimplifying, double standard, shifting the burden of proof, orirrational appeal. In addition, check to be sure that the argument reflectsthe evidence found in your investigation (see Chapter 8) and is relevantto the pro and con arguments and scenarios you produced earlier (seeChapter 9).
3. Examine your argument for validity errors; that is, consider the reasoning that links conclusions to premises. Determine whether your conclusion islegitimate or illegitimate.
4. If you find one or more errors, revise your argument to eliminate them. Thechanges you will have to make in your argument will depend on the kindsof errors you find. Sometimes, only minor revision is called for-the addingof a simple qualification, for example, or the substitution of a rationalappeal for an irrational one. Occasionally, however, the change required is more dramatic. You may, for example, find your argument so flawedthat the only appropriate action is to abandon it altogether and embrace adifferent argument. On those occasions, you may be tempted to pretendyour argument is sound and hope no one will notice the errors. Resist thathope. It is foolish as well as dishonest to invest time in refining a view thatyou know is unsound.