Slippery Slope

The slippery slope fallacy is a tricky one because it is a fallacy that is an assumption fallacy. It is a fallacy that has someone assumes that something will happen directly from another statement. A slippery slope fallacy can be when you assume something after a statement is said whether it is your own or someone else’s. An example of this would be when someone says “Dude if you get this job, then you will end up losing yourself in the work”. This is a slippery slope argument because just because this person gets this job the person who made the statement automatically directly assumes that he would end up losing himself in that job. This shows that a slippery slope fallacy is one that is hard to describe because it comes directly from the statement made so a reaction to a statement said in turn leaving you down a slippery slope of action and reaction.   

Argument Structure

Every argument needs a basic structure to keep the argument ordered and understandable. A good argument has an introduction and a conclusion, premises, and maybe some sub arguments. The structure of argument is an important. It allows you to set the basics of your argument up in an understandable way for the listener to understand the main points. This is good because it allows you to set up sub arguments and go more in-depth into your argument without worry that the listener will not understand or lose track of the argument. An argument structure is not only good for the listener but for the speaker to it allows you to keep track of your argument and make it so you are clean fluent transitions which allows you to be more confident and precise when you present your argument. An example of a argument and its structure would be   “BP is a horrible company, they spill oil all over the gulf and do nothing to clean it up. It’s bad for the industries in the gulf as well as the environment itself.” This argument has a clear premise with the idea of BP being a bad company and a clean ending with their option on what the oil is doing to the environment.

Straw man

There are fallacies everywhere in people’s speeches or comments; one of these fallacies is called Straw man. A Straw man fallacy is when a person makes up a distorted version of the opposing persons argument and then uses the distorted version of the argument to attack the opposing person’s real argument.  In this fallacy the person makes the statement look as if it is positive but then another person would distort the statement and make it look as if the positive statement was a negative one changing the listener whole view of the stament and argumentment as a whole. An example of this would be when someone says “We strengthen our team by adding Torres to our line-up”  and someone would make it sound negative by saying “Yeah when they add him they will get rid of the starting line up to make room for him”. Though it was a positive statement the person changed it to a negative one by giving the listener a negative view of the positive statement.  

The Tests for an Argument to Be Good

How do you know if an argument will be good when you present it to an audience? How do you know that an argument will be strong and convince your audience your point? There is a simple test you can use to find out if your argument will be relevant and convince your audience of your point of view. The first thing you need to do is ask is if your premise in your argument is plausible? The more plausible the argument the more believable it is to the audience and the more credible your stance becomes. The next thing you need to ask about your argument is if the premise is more plausible then the conclusion? If your premise is more believable then your conclusion you audience will be left confused on what you were trying to prove to them. The last thing you need to see if your argument has is it a strong argument. Your argument has to have a strong premise showing that you know your argument and that this is a valid argument. You also must have a strong conclusion showing the audience your view of the argument and convincing them of the argument. If your argument passes this test then you’re ready to present your argument.

Strong arguments

All good speeches or arguments give good reasons to believe that the statement or argument is true. A good argument not only brings up a good argument but also proves to the listener that the argument is true in any case. An example of this is “Fossil fuels will be irrelevant in the future”. This agreement has something all good arguments have a plausible claim. A plausible claim is a claim that as the listener can believe. This claim is believable because we see every car company and alternative energy company trying or actually eliminating fossil fuels from their products. This makes the more argument believable and relevant so the cant proves the argument a fallacy. You can also prove this argument right by begging a question and then proving that question to be right. An example of this would be, MAN “Fossils fuels will be irrelevant in the future” WOMAN “No they won’t because they are our main source of energy” MAN “will it be forever” Woman “I don’t know but I believe so” Man “Why I should believe you?”, the man proved his argument to be true just by proving the other was a fallacy. A argument must be believable to be taken seriously.

Prescriptive and descriptive claims

Prescriptive and descriptive claims are “A claim is a descriptive claim if it says what is. A claim is prescriptive if it says what should be.” (Epstein). An example of a descriptive claim would be when you say “my motorcycle is a Yamaha” it is a claim that says what it, is making is a descriptive claim. The other type of claim is a prescriptive claim. These claims tell what a claim should be, not what the claim is. An example of this claim would be “your bike should be a Ducati”. This is a prescriptive claim because it is telling what the motorcycle should be instead of telling you what the motorcycle really is.  I have heard these claims while talking to my friends around San Jose State University so I know that these claims, among others come up everyday and  I even say some of these claims in my daily everyday activities!   

blog 2 vague statements

There are a lot of vague or ambiguous statements that we hear everyday, whether they are on commercials or just said by your friends or family everyone says a vague statement once and a while. I recently hear one of friends say “everyone wants something for nothing”. This was a vague statement because I had no idea who he meant by everyone and what they wanted. He should have said a specific name or group and what they wanted whether it was a person or thing. An example of this would be “Rick wants a car for free”. You often hear vague statements on televisions in commercials trying to sell you a product. A commercial I recently watched a had two people in bath tubs and the narrator saying “when the time is right you need this product” and if you didn’t know what the product was for, you would have no idea was the commercial was for! Vague or ambiguous statements are used everyday, but when you’re doing a speech or explaining something a straight forward answer is always the best.       

Blog 1 objective and subjective

Objective Claim is something that is true no matter what. A example of this would be “I live in the city of San Ramon”. I said this claim when my friend asked me if I lived in San Jose or somewhere different.  This statement is a statement no one person can argue because we all live on planet Earth. Another kind of claim is a Subjective claim. A subjective claim is a claim that can be true or false depending on the view of the claim. An example of this would be “I love to ride my Motorcycle”. I made this claim when I was riding motorcycles with my Dad in San Jose. This statement is true for me but might not for other people; therefore it is a subjective claim. I make claims and hear claims everyday on Facebook and other social networking sites but now I that I know about objective and subjective claims I start to notice the kinds of claim and if they are subjective where it can be true or objective and it is true.