Fallacies of Argument Chapter 17

Chapter 17 was basically about fallacies in arguments.  The chapter defines fallacies as arguments that are flawed by their “very nature or structure.” Fallacies are interesting because they raise questions of the ethics of the argument.  The book gives an example of the fallacy ad hominem argument.  The ad hominem is a type of strategy of criticizing a person or character that one is unfavorable of.  This fallacy involves just insulting a person.  The book divides the types of fallacies into three categories.  They are emotional, ethical, and logical.  Fallacies that arise in emotional argument are flawed pieces of argument based on emotion.  Examples of this type include scare tactics and “Either-Or Choices.”  These tactics can mislead the audience into being afraid of something not needed to be afraid of or tricking the audience into only having two choices.  Fallacies of ethic arguments include dogmatism.  Dogmatism is when the writer assumes a particular position or belief is the only one acceptable in a community.  Fallacies of logical argument are flawed arguments based on logic.  Some examples of these are hasty generalizations and faulty casualty.  A hasty generalization is defined as an inference drawn from insufficient evidence.  An example included in the chapter is the assumption that all Honda brand cars junk based off one of their model car that breaks down.  A faulty causality is a fallacious assumption that because one event preceded another, it is the cause of the after event. 

                One particular part of interest in the text was the section on Hasty Generalizations.  I found this part sort of funny because it the example given in the book seemed like racism in car brands.  The example states “Because my Honda broke down, then all Hondas must be junk.”  This is just like stereotyping  because it’s like saying if you meet one particular person of a certain brand that you do not like then you assume all people of that brand are the same and you do not like. 

                An example of Hasty generalization I found in my own life are in video games.  For instance, in League of Legends, many people do play a certain character based on first impressions of it.  If they play the character and do horribly in the game with it, then they never play that character again and say it is “up” or underpowered.  On the other hand, they might do the opposite.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13 was about style in arguments.  Arguments can come in many styles and the type of vocabulary one uses can help define its style.  For instance, the book gives an example of a CEO who must defines his argument by using a serious formal tone of voice and compares this argument and style to a student’s memorable language argument used to depict a stereotype.  These examples show how a different style or vocabulary is needed for different types of argument.  Other factors also play in defining an argument such as punctuation, figurative language, and tropes.  The book uses Clint Eastwood as a source of credibility that punctuation is key in argument by quoting, “You can show a lot with a look… It’s punctuation.”  It uses the semicolon as an example of how arguments can be read.  The semicolon is a strong “pause” than the comma but is a weaker pause than the period.  Figurative language can help define an argument by “drawing parallels between an unknown and a known.” (p. 426) Examples given are Microsoft word processing system made understandable by comparing it to an office and DNA being compared to a helix or zipper.  Tropes such as metaphors and similes can also aid an argument by comparing two things and clarifying arguments.

            A particular section that was interesting in the chapter was sentence structure.  I found this part interesting because sentence structure is probably the hardest to “accomplish” in aiding one’s use in developing a strong argument.  I also feel it is the strongest in ways to develop an argument.  Though reason is needed to back up an argument, sentence structure can make certain parts of your argument stand out or hide certain parts within it.  For instance, in many speeches, sentence structure is used make particular phrases stand out and be memorable in developing an argument such as one of John F. Kennedy’s speech, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”  The writing device he uses here is known as antimetabole.  This is sort of sentence structure.  It is the repetition of words in successive clauses but in transposed grammatical order.  This style of sentence structure greatly helped his the argument and inspired patriotism.  I feel sentence structure is one of the device to truly master in an argument.  I know I am horrible at sentence structure and argument.  Though I may try to make parts of my argument stand out, I mainly just write simple sentences or awkward confusing sentences to portray my thoughts.

Structuring Arguments

Chapter 7 was about structuring arguments.  The chapter gave an introductory about inductive reasoning, which is the process of generalizing on the basis of a number of specific examples.   It then went on to talk about other types of reasoning such as deductive reasoning, which reaches a conclusion based off assumptions.  Part of deductive reasoning includes syllogisms.  The chapter also gives a “Classical Oration” of structuring arguments.  The order goes in Latin as Exordium, Narratio, Partitio, Confirmation, Refutatio, and Perorratio.  This is also known as introduction, background, lines of argument, alternative arguments, and conclusion.  The chapter also talks about two other types of arguments such as the Rogerian Argument and the Toulmin Argument.  The Rogerian argumentation is based on a willngess to think about opposing positions and to describe them fairly.   The Toulmin Argument is based more on making claims which are debatable and controversial statements. 

           

     A part of the text that is of particular interest is the Toulmin Arguments.  These arguments are controversial and debatable.  The book gives examples such as “It’s time to legalize the use of medical marijuana.”  This is basically just a claim.  The Toulmin argument is the kind that uses syllogisms to support this claim.  Examples to support this claim include personal experience, anecdotes, facts, and authorities.  The support and claim must be connected and persuasive in order for this argument to be effective.

               

  An example of the Toulmin argument I have come up with is an example based from Facebook experiences.  For instance, the claim would be, “Around fall to winter is mating-season while February to March is breaking-up season.”  This is a claim.  Reasons that support this claim can be personal, anecdotes, and facts.  The personal experience would be me seeing many of my friends going from “single” to “in a relationship” around certain times and vice versa for other times.  An anecdote would be many of my friends have seen similar updates on their Facebook page.  The facts can be 20 out of 200 friends changed went into a relationship around fall and winter while 20/200 friends went to single in February.  The authorities can be the people who went in a relationship and justify that they usually feel more lonely around the fall and winter and tend to try and find someone to be with around that time and usually get tired of being in a relationship around February. (399)

EA Chapter 4

Basically this chapter was about logos or arguments based on facts and reasons.  The chapter describes facts as hard evidence such as statistics, testimonies, clues, and witnesses.  Reason or common sense is described as artistic appeals.  The chapter shows the difference in these two by referencing the Cuban missile crisis and Colin Powell's accusation on Iraq "harboring weapons of mass destruction."  The earlier event showed logos based on facts while the later one showed logos based on reason.  The chapter goes further and gives examples of facts and evidence such as testimonies, narratives, statistics, and surveys.  The text also refers to Aristotle's claims that all arguments can be reduced to two components: a statement and a proof and gives an example of an argument in a scholarly blog on guns where the author makes a statement and then supports that statement. The chapter also shows that while facts and hard evidence may be used as stronger evidence and support, reason and common sense are just as viable.  For instance, the chapter talks about syllogisms and uses ethos by telling us Aristotle acknowledged this form of argument.  This section gave examples such as rain canceling picnics since most picnics are held outside. 

            An interesting section I found in this chapter section on “Using Reason and Common Sense.”  This section basically talked about syllogisms and describes it as “a vehicle of deductive reasoning.”  It is also sort of described as an informal sort of logic and is shown to sort of depend on cultural assumptions and values.  The section gave an example of how the principles in the Declaration of Independence highlight the views of many Americans and then shows an argument based on an accepted value.  This part was interesting to me because it would be hard to make an argument with syllogisms with a person whose views and values are entirely different from one’s own.  However, an example of an argument based on assumptions and values  (a rather vague and relative one) is that while some people in our culture may believe that the world would be a better place if there were less stupid people, people will argue different views on how to achieve this better world.  For instance, my old math teacher would argue to achieve a better world is to kill all the stupid people.  On the other hand, a person who also holds this same value may argue that educating is more effective in achieving a better world.

Readings from Jan.11-18

Chapter 14 of the Everything's an Argument text was basically about visual arguments. Visual arguments are used to convey messages from campaign to ads to pie charts.  They are used much in modern times on websites such as YouTube and even on shirts to maybe grab people’s attention.  They have also been used in history in forms of statues and coins to symbolize power.  Visual arguments are powerful in conveying an argument and there are many ways to depict a visual argument.  For instance, colors, character, logos, and charts can be used to create a visual argument.  These things can be used to appeal to a reader’s emotions or logic and can also be used to give image credibility. For instance, state seals can give an item credibility while a picture of a crying child can appeal to someone’s emotion.  One thing I found interesting in this chapter was the section about the power of visual arguments.  One example the section used on this was the televised debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.  This section was interesting because many people who watched the debate on television would say Kennedy won the debate based on appearances.  Kennedy looked more professional and “cool” while Nixon looked ill on the black and white screen.  Based on this, those who watched the debate on television would say Kennedy won the debate.  However, not mentioned in the chapter, are those who listened to the debate on the radio or read the arguments stated by both speakers.  Many who did not watch the televised debate but listened to the words of reason and logic instead, would say Nixon won the debate.  This just shows the power of visual argument.  Kennedy was shown to be a stronger presidential candidate through visual argument. 

Similar examples of the power of visual arguments can be seen in many places today.  One thing I have noticed is how many ads today use such argument that places more emphasis on something that looks “good” rather than presenting facts and reasons on paper.  For instance, in many car commercials, a car is depicted driving through natural “beautiful” looking landscape.  In reality, however, most people do not drive cars through beautiful looking landscape but through crowded cities or highways instead.  There aren’t many ads of a car being driven through a regular crummy highway or parking lot because it is visually less attractive when in reality it is more viable.  


WP1 Topic Ideas: 
-An ad that shows the "American Dream"
-Where the majority of US citizens get news on politics from
-Religion and cultures in the US
-Social Awkwardness
-Laziness/un-productiveness
-Education
-Inference
-Reason and morality. What is not innate.
-I like trees
-Candy

Introductory

Hi, my name is Jimmy Seto and I am a freshman majoring in electrical engineering.  There isn't much to know about me except that I don't talk much.  However, I am not shy.  I spend most of my time sleeping, listening to music, and doing homework. I like all kinds of music such as rap, pop, classical, etc. Currently, I am listening to classical /classical crossover music.  Also, when I say classical, I mean more of the modern classical music with artists such as Yiruma, Howard Shore, and Ennio Morricone. I don’t have one favorite artist of all time, but my favorite artist as of now is Hayley Westenra.  Besides music, the computer game League of Legends has consumed much of my time.  I think if I estimate all the time I spent on that game, the result would probably be a few months, maybe half a year.  I haven’t been able to quit the game since it’s rather addicting but I have been able to get my account suspended twice so I couldn’t play as much.  As of now, my account can get suspended one more time before I get a permanent ban (which wouldn’t be bad because I need to stop wasting my time on that game). 

Other Stuff about me… I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy as well as The Hobbit.  I am a fan of awkward moments as long as I’m not part of them.  Trees are nice.  I had horrible acne but now I just have horrible acne scars.  And this is 261 words.