ENTRY
4
Argument
Structures and Fallacies
ITEM
1
“Your future depends on your dreams. So
go to sleep.”
ü Fallacies of ambiguity
ü Analysis: The
word “dream” has two different meanings and it is being used in two distinct
ways here:
·
First, the word “dream” in the quote “Your
future depends on your dreams” means a wish to have or be something, especially
one that seems difficult to achieve.
·
However, the speaker understands that the
word “dream” here means a series of images, events and feelings that happen in
your mind while people are asleep.
ITEM
2
“If you know about BMW, you either own
one or want one.”
ü False dilemma
ü Analysis: It
is not true that if a person knows about BMW, that person either owns one or
wants one. In fact, there are not only two choices. For example, there are many
people who know about BMW; however, they do not have one or want one because
this car is extremely expensive, or perhaps they do some research on BMW cars;
therefore they know about it but they do not own or want it.
ITEM
3
“If
we don’t stop the Communists in South Vietnam, they’ll take over the whole
country.
If
they take over Vietnam, next they’ll conquer Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.
Once
they have Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand – they’ll overrun Indonesia and the rest
of the Pacific Rim.
Once
they conquer the Pacific Rim, they’ll take Japan – and the next thing you know,
they’ll be off the coast of California!”
ü Slippery slope
ü Analysis:
Insufficient premises: " we don’t stop the Communists in South
Vietnam”, “ they take over Vietnam”, “ they have Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand”,
“they conquer the Pacific Rim, they’ll take Japan” leading to false premises.
No proof is given as to why those premises will happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment