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.
I am posting my response to Melodramtic0 on his post about logos from “Everything’s and Argument”, chapter 4. The chapter describes facts as hard evidence. Types of hard evidence are testimonies, statistics, and witnesses. I liked the example that was given about the Cuban Missile Crisis to Colin Powell’s accusations on Iraq. It said that the Cuban Missile Crisis is based on fact because we can see the missile launching pads from airplane pictures. This is hard evidence. On the other hand, when Colin Powell accused Iraq of having weapons of mass destruction, he was basing it solely based on reason. He had the idea that Iraq was planning to harm the rest of the world and it was eventually proven wrong when U.S. troops found no sign of any weapons. His post also goes on to talk about Aristotle breaking arguments into two sections. His two sections were a statement and proof of that statement. Anyone can make a statement, but not everyone can back up the statement. He wrote specifically on the section “Using Reason and Common Sense.” This section talks about deductive reasoning. He talks about how hard it is to make an argument when somebody has completely different views then one’s self. I would agree with this because if somebody makes an argument with syllogisms, and they have different views then you do, it would make it difficult to respond to it. His own example was not to relative but it got to the point. He said that his math teacher would want to take away all of the dumb people to make society better, while other people may just say to educate these people and it will make a better society. Overall it was a good summary of the chapter and how logos is used in arguments.
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