Saturday, February 19, 2011

Argument or not?

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

This is clearly an argument; in conclusion to this argument, it is not necessary for the neighbor to forcefully remove the cars that are in the yard.  Possible additional premises that would be needed would be if the neighbor had no intention of driving any of the cars, driving all of his cars which causes more pollution to the environment, or if the cars were taking up space from other neighbor's property. Statement number 5 is whats leads the connection of statements 2 and 1. Statement number 1 is being supported by 2 and 3. This is not considered to be a good argument.

I found this argument useful because it is an example that is very relatable.  Many situations like this happen when the premises do not all actually support a conclusion.  Some of the premises do not relate to or affect the conclusion at all.  Some people like to pick fights and bring in support that has absolutely nothing to do with the argument; it happens all the time and arguments become endless and useless.

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