Repairing Arguments

An example is: “Smoking cigarettes is bad for you. It can be addictive and costly. Smoking also causes stained teeth, gives you bad breath and leaves a bad odor on your clothes.”

Analysis: The conclusion here is that smoking cigarettes are bad. Many people can argue with many of these claims made. Some people feel that cigarettes are not addictive and that they do not cost much. A premise that can be added is, “Cigarettes contain nicotine, a deadly poison that makes cigarettes addictive.” Just because something causes stained teeth, bad breath, and leaves your clothes smelling doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad for you. Coffee can stain your teeth but it can also have some positives to it. Some studies show that coffee can reduce the chances of certain diseases such as type-2 diabetes and certain cancers. A premise we can add to the claim is, “Cigarettes are one of the leading causes of heart disease and cancer.” Heart disease and cancer are bad for you. This premise makes the claim stronger than what it was before.

Decision Making in Groups and Teams

In the book, “The Essential Guide to Group Communication” by Dan O’Hair and Mary O. Wiemann, there is a topic called “The Process of Decision Making in Groups and Teams.” This is a part of the third chapter in the book titled, “Leadership and Decision Making.” This caught my attention because it gives a process for decision making which is shown. It is an eight-step process that starts with identifying the problem. Next, is conducting research. , then establishing guidelines and criteria. Followed by, generating alternatives, evaluating the alternatives, selecting the best alternative, implementing the solution, and lastly evaluating the results. What I learned in this chapter is, when you are identifying a problem, there should be a thorough understanding of the problem from each group member. For instance: “There needs to be more recycling done in this town.” What type of recycling are people not doing enough of? Are they not recycling bottles, cans, or are wasteful of too many paper goods? What is specifically going on here that is the issue? This was something useful to me.

Content Fallacies

One common content fallacy is false dilemma. False dilemma basically means, there are only two possible choices, and only one of them can be true. However this is false because in fact, there could be many unmentioned options that are true that make the claim false. One example of false dilemma is: “If the Chargers score at least 14 points this game, then they are going to win.” This means that if one option doesn’t happen, then the second option automatically has to happen. This was said during the beginning of the most recent game the San Diego Chargers played against the Kansas City Chiefs that I happened to be watching. This person automatically ruled out the fact that the Chargers could score 14 points and lose because they end up giving more than two touchdowns away, scoring on an interception and winning, or allowing the opposing offense to run touchdowns on them and other options. I guess the person figured the Chargers defense would be good enough to allow fewer point than 14 in a football game. However the Chargers did score 14 points and ended up losing 21-14. So this claim is false because there was a way for the Chargers to lose even though they scored at least 14 points in the game.

Structure of Arguments

My neighbor should be forced to get rid of all the cars in his yard. 1 People do not like living next to such a mess. 2 He never drives any of them. 3 They all look old and beat up 4 and leak oil all over the place. 5 It is bad for the neighborhood, 6 and it will decrease property values. 7

Argument? Yes

Conclusion: My neighbor should be forced to get rid of all the cars in his yard.

Additional premises needed? If a car leaks oil, then it should get fixed, otherwise sold, if it is not in use or in good running condition. a

Identify any subargument: 5 supports 6 and a. 2, 3, 4 ,7 are independent and support the conclusion, 1.

Good argument? Premise 7 is not proven to be true. But if it was then the argument would be good and valid.

This exercise was very useful. It helped me to analyze arguments and identify sentences that are claims and ones that could be possible conclusions.

Leadership

Over the years I have taken notice to people with leadership roles and I have also been in leadership positions myself. In my opinion, effective leaders are able to influence a person or group of people to complete a certain task or execute a mission. Leaders take the initiative and they also provide a path or direction for others to follow. Leaders assist in resolving conflicts, bring ideas to the table, communicate effectively, and provide an example for others. I recall being in a club in high school. We were notable around campus because we were a special group of individuals that had requirements to be a part of this club. We were looked upon as role models and leaders. We had the qualifications to be young men and women of excellence and quality. We were mentors for other students and helped them to become better students and better persons in general.

Strong vs. Valid Arguments

According to the book, “Critical Thinking” by Richard Epstein, “a strong argument with true premises is sometimes better than a valid one with the same conclusion.” A strong argument is one that gives “good reason to believe the conclusion is true.” If the claim is not believable, or the claim leads us to believe that it is no more possible than the conclusion then it is safe to say that the argument is a bad one. An example of a strong argument is: Malcolm has made over half of the teams game-winning baskets. Therefore, Malcolm is good basketball player. This is a strong argument but it may not be valid because Malcolm could have missed every shot in those games but made the last ones by luck.

Valid arguments cannot be strong. A valid argument is one in which its premises are true and they are more reasonable than the conclusion. An example of a valid argument is: Malcolm made 15 shots in a row during his basketball game. Therefore, Malcolm is a good basketball player.

Good Argument

A good argument has premises that are plausible. This means that the claims that the person makes are reasonable and possible. A good argument also has premises more plausible than the conclusion. When the claim is more believable than the conclusion then it satisfies one of the tests for being a good argument. Lastly, a good argument is valid or strong, meaning, the premise is true and the reasoning is most likely true as well or the evidence supports the claim very strongly. A good argument has strong support to back up the claim. Arguments can be weak or strong. Take this argument for example: Professor Garfield is an art teacher. All art teachers are supposed to wear a nametag with an easel on it during school hours. So Professor Garfield has a nametag with an easel on it.

This argument is valid. It is not possible for the claim that Professor Garfield is an art teacher and the fact that art teachers wear and easel on their nametag. This is a bad argument however because all art teachers don’t wear their nametags. Sometimes they forget or don’t feel like wearing it that day.

Prescriptive Claims and Value Judgments

According to the book “Critical Thinking” by Richard L. Epstein, a claim is prescriptive if it says what it should be. I have spoken many claims recently not realizing that they were prescriptive. A prescriptive claim I said just the other day to m friend was, “You should get your keys out of your car.” Often statements in ads on television and in everyday conversations contain lots of prescriptive claims. On T.V., you may hear in an ad, “You shouldn’t take this drug with alcohol.” “You should recycle that bottle,” is a prescriptive claim you may hear someone say in a conversation.

Value judgments take place when there is a personal reasoning on whether something is good, better, or best. Value judgments are prescriptive but too vague to be a claim. Other key words that suggest value judgments are; bad, worse, or worst. An example is, “Mr. Rowe was the best teacher I ever had.” The word “best” adds a value system to the statement causing it to be a value judgment.

Vague Sentences

The vague sentence I heard recently was, “How far away is it?” This was asked after I sent a text message asking a friend of mine if he could possibly go with me to purchase a T.V. What qualified the question as a vague sentence is the lack of information it doesn’t share. Some of the questions it brings up are; What does ‘it’ refer to? How do you measure far? What is the method of transportation? Are you walking? Is far a mile? Is far ten blocks away?

A lot of things aren’t clarified with the sentence “How far away is it?” Is ‘it’ a place? Is ‘it’ an animal? Where is the starting point? Is the starting point from where my friends car is or is it measured from the location of where I currently stay. All of these unanswered questions that arrived cause the sentence to be a vague sentence.