Saturday, October 9, 2010

SIXTEEN.

Week 7, Q. 3

Discussing a useful or interesting concept in Ch. 6/Ch. 7.

CH. 6, Exercise for Section A, Q. 4

A false dilemma I've used or I've heard recently: So, I've been complaining about wanting a new cellphone because my current cell phone is getting old and a little bit beat up. However, I was also complaining a bit about the price of the new phone that I  have been looking at and wanting because it's a little expensive. When I mentioned these two things to my mom, she said to me "Either you decide that you can afford that new cellphone, or you're just gonna have to be phoneless for a while." This was a false dilemma from my mom. while this argument can be valid, it isn't very good. The reason it is not a good argument is becuase she excluded all other possibilities. Like the fact that my current phone works still. Or maybe I could buy a new phone that is not as expensive as the one that  I have already been looking at.

Friday, October 8, 2010

FIFTEEN.

Week 7, Q. 2

Chapter 7 and 2 things I learned.

Chapter 7 is all about counterarguments. It is really important to learn about these because in our writing we wont always be only making arguments, we will also have to defend what we are saying and to be able to recognize the faults in other peoples writings. This chapter teaches how to raise objections and to refute an argument.

Raising objections: This is the standard way to show that an argument is bad. Raising objections will usually show how an argument is weak, but having a good counter argument, a prepared answer to defend what you are arguing, will make it stronger. It can be challenging but is necessarry to make the argument strong.

Refuting an argument: There are three different ways to refute an argument directly, according to chapter 7. You can show that one or more of the premises is dubious, you can show that the conclusion is infact false, or you can plainly point out that the argument is wrong or not valid. The ways to indirectly refute an argument is to reduce to the absurd or to ridicule.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

FOURTEEN.

Week 7, Q. 1

Chapter 6 and 2 things I learned.

Chapter 6 was all about explaining how some claims are made up of other claims. This chapter focused on the "or" claim and conditionals. The chapter also explained how it is common for many people to make mistakes on these valid compund claims by using things like false dilemmas and slippery slopes.

The two things I learned were the "or" claim and conditionals.
The "or" claim is also called a compound claim because it is made of other claims, but is only viewed as one. For example, a compound claim can be one like this: "Today we'll go shopping at the mall or go out to eat." This claim is not saying that they will ONLY go shopping, or ONLY go to eat, nor is it saying that they will do both. The single claim here is that they will go out to do something.
A conditional claim is one where it is written as an "if...then..." But there are many ways to be contradictory in this way of claims. An example of this is "If you do well at dance practice, then you'll get to go to the competition this weekend." This is a single claim here, because it isnt saying that both will happen, rather, it's saying IF you do well at dance practice, THEN you'll be able to compete. It's a conditional promise only to be granted if practice goes well.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

THIRTEEN.

Week 6, Q. 3

I wanted to talk about accepting and rejecting claims based on whether or not we know it is true from our own experience. Also using what the previous discussion topic was about, how this is used alot in believing the advertisements I see. For example, in the past, I've had Dunk'n Donuts' coffee. The commercials for it, claim that it's the best coffe in America. I know that this is not a true argument because by my experience and standards, they definitely do not serve the best coffee in America. However, in a different light, when I see Jenny Craig ads in magazines, etc. I know that it would work, because my in my own personal experience, I have seen my stepmom lose over 60 lbs with it. So I do know for sure, unless we have reason to doubt our own memory or perceptions of things, we use our experiences to judge things and whether or not we choose to accept them. However, I think it is also important to remember to judge based off of what we actually experienced, not how we ended up feeling about the experience once it was over.

Friday, October 1, 2010

TWELVE.

Week 6, Q. 2

http://beatsbydre.com/products/Products.aspx?pid=B5799

This an advertisement on the internet for beatsbydre powerbeats headphones. After seeing this ad, I was immediately able to recognize the concepts I read about in ch 5. Most especially the one that says, "We can accept a claim made by reputable authority whom we can trust as an expert on this kind of claim and who has no motive to mislead." These headphones are created by musical artist and producer, Dr. Dre. Knowing this, and especially if you know his songs, you would know that he is a good musician. This gives us reason to believe that he is selling a good headphone that will work well and produce the best sound. We have no reason, as a public who knows his work, to believe that he would mislead us. In his industry, he has a well recognized and well respected name, which he would never want to be tainted. If he were to put his name on bad quality or dissapointing headphones, that would hurt his credibility, so we believe what he says, recommends, and creates.

THATS WHY I HAVE A PAIR!!!!(: