| « back to Senior School |
Last Updated:
September 25, 2007 2:44 PM
|
| `Philosophy: Dr. Sutula |
Overview |
1. Senator Kennedy just wants to make the President look bad and make it more likely that the Democrats will win the next election. His argument about the war in Iraq becoming too costly isn't worth listening to.
2. Polls show that 75% of the public agrees with Kennedy. Therefore, his argument must be a valid one after all!
3. No one can prove that Kennedy is right and hence we can conclude that he is wrong.
4. Kennedy has lost two brothers. Hence, he deserves our time and attention. We should listen to his argument very carefully.
5. If Michael Jackson tells us that Pepsi is the best softdrink, then it must be the best. After all, singing makes him very thirsty so he should know.
6. If you want to pass this course then you had better agree with the instructor on which fallacy this passage commits. He is notorious for failing people who disagree with him. If he says that this passage is an Appeal to Force then that must be the right answer.
7. We must be prepared to defend ourselves against all kinds of different threats. Self-defense is a basic right granted to all individuals. Likewise, the right of self-defense is given to all nations. Thus, it is quite sensible to build a planet destroying bomb.
8. Shady Side should keep the Indian as it's mascot since that's the mascot Shady Side has always had.
9. Nature didn't give man wings and hence, we should be content to stay on the ground rather than try to fly.
10. You've failed the first three logic quizzes and hence you'll fail them all.
11. Interrupting one of Sutula's sleep inducing lectures is discourteous, thus rather than disrupt his monologue, you should suffer your heart attack in silence.
12. Drew tied his left shoe before his right one and our soccer team did well. Ask him to be sure to repeat that process so that we can do well again.
13. Effort is more important than talent because talent is less important than effort.
14. Why do girls find me so much more attractive than you? That's a hard question for you to answer, so perhaps the best course is just to accept it as one of life's mysteries and go on your merry way.
15. Cars are expensive. So it will cost you a bundle to buy Sutula's old junker.
16. Cars take up a lot of space at Shady Side. So the car you drive there must be very large.
17. The parking facilities at Shady Side stink. The feedback exercises in Philosophy stink. The way the faculty enforce the rules stink. Everything at this school stinks.
18. The parking facilities at Shady Side stink. The Philosophy department stinks. The dress code stinks. Shady Side stinks as a school.
19. The Philosophy department stinks. Skunks stink. Therefore, skunks fit right in with the department.
20. Why are you failing this quiz? I guess we just have to chalk it up to poor studying habits.
Fallacies:
Ad Hominem: attacking the arguer rather than the argument
Ad Populum: appeal to popularity rather than logic (Appeal to Emotion version: arousing feelings of solidarity or group unity)
Argument from Ignorance: arguing that something can't be true because it hasn't been proven
Appeal to Pity: transferring sympathy from the person to the argument
Appeal to Force: appeal to threats rather than logic
Appeal to Inappropriate Authority: transferring expertise in one area to another different area
Irrelevant Conclusion: arguing toward one proposition and then concluding a different one.
Appeal to Tradition: appeal to the way things have always been
Hasty Generalization: general conclusion drawn from too few or atypical instances
Accident: general rule applied to a clearly understood exception
False Cause: misidentification of cause (usually based only on prior occurrence)
Begging the Question: arguing in a circle (assuming the conclusion as a premise)
Complex Question: masking two issues in a single question
Naturalistic Fallacy: arguing from the way things naturally are to the way they should be
Denying the Antecedent: arguing from p implies q, and not-p, to the conclusion not-q
Affirming the Consequent: arguing from p implies q, and q, to the conclusion p.
Equivocation: using a shift in meaning in a word or phrase to make an argument seem plausible.
Accent: (i) changing the meaning of a statement by giving a word or phrase an unusual emphasis. (ii) changing the meaning of a quoted statement by failing to give it's original context.
Composition: Transferring a property of the members of a group to the group itself (or part to whole).
Division: Transferring a property of the group to the members of the group (whole to part).
GOOD ARGUMENT FORMS: MODUS PONENS: arguing from p implies q, and p, to the conclusion q. ODUS TOLLENS: arguing from p implies q, and not-q, to the conclusion not-p. DISJUNCTIVE SYLLOGISM: arguing from p or q, and not p, to the conclusion q. CONSTRUCTIVE DILEMMA: arguing from p implies q, r implies s, and p or r, to the conclusion q or s.
HYPOTHETICAL SYLLOGISM: (Transitive Argument): p implies q, q implies r, thus, p implies r. |
Syllabus |
| Download course syllabus |
Assignments |
|
Announcements |
Field trip November 11 to Disneyland . Please get permission slips to me no later than October 15. Second semester students: Your semester grades are now available. Please see me. |
Links |
| Pittsburgh Steelers |
