John Leo's "In Defense Of Essay

From that, he says, "This cynical attitude is strong these days on campus, where postmodern theory erodes basic truthfulness by holding that facts and truth don't really exist." He then tries to support that argument by quoting Two University of Pennsylvania professors who claim, "We are all engaged in writing a kind of propaganda. Rather than believe in the absolute truth of what we are writing, we must believe in the moral or political positions we are taking with it." According to Leo, this means that "Feelings and political stances count. Facts and truth don't." The non-sequitur is his conclusion that there is a cynical attitude on campus, with postmodern theory eroding basic truthfulness. That conclusion does not necessarily follow from his example of the dishonest Nobel Prize winner or the two university professors. This is a sweeping condemnation of universities that is not warranted by the examples he cites. At times, Leo also uses ad hominem arguments by dodging the question and instead attacking the character...

...

Here, Morris is saying it is no surprise that Morris is defending a liar because Morris is also a liar. He also uses an ad hominem attack against Esquire and its writer, Tom Junod, saying that they were probably exploiting the idea that fact and fiction are easily mixed and that readers probably do not know the difference. Here, Leo does not accept the writer's explanation of his reason for deliberately writing and then revealing a false profile of Michael Stipe; rather, Leo says that the writer and the magazine were probably exploiting the fact that lying is so easy and people are so easy to fool. Leo also seems to use a circular argument by presenting an arguable point to support his argument. For example, Leo makes that sweeping generalization that there is a cynical attitude on campus, with postmodern theory eroding basic truthfulness, which is arguable. Then he uses that arguable point to prove his ultimate point that lying is widespread and is made acceptable by further lying. Leo is basically saying, "Lying is widespread; therefore, lying is widespread."
d. Evidence

Leo's evidence of seriously dishonest incidents and seriously dishonest defense of those incidents would be very good if his only point was to prove that some dishonesty and dishonest defense does

Cite this Document:

"John Leo's In Defense Of" (2013, March 27) Retrieved May 4, 2024, from
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/john-leo-in-defense-of-102258

"John Leo's In Defense Of" 27 March 2013. Web.4 May. 2024. <
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/john-leo-in-defense-of-102258>

"John Leo's In Defense Of", 27 March 2013, Accessed.4 May. 2024,
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/john-leo-in-defense-of-102258

Related Documents

DNA Exonerations: John Kogut The Path To Exoneration: John Kogut The Path to Conviction When 16-year-old Teresa Fusco left work at 9:45 PM on November 10, 1984 she became one among several young girls reported missing over the past several years [Centurion Ministries, 2013; Innocence Project, n.d.(a)]. In contrast to her predecessors, however, her body was discovered a month later in a wooded area several blocks from the roller rink where she worked.

(Combating Terrorism: FEMA Continues to Make Progress in Coordinating Preparedness and Response: Participation in Interagency and Intra-agency Groups and Committees) CIMS: The Office of Emergency Management --OEM who has been collaborating with NYPD & FDNY and other City agencies to develop the CIMS, the adoption of which was declared by Mayor Bloomberg in March, 2004. CIMS makes a uniform incident management structure for every City agency that is broadly based

Such ads are seen as a way of "glamoriz (ing) addiction" in an effort to sell clothes. As a secondary effect, young people such as the twenty-year-old Sorrenti face a greater risk of addiction (Sullum 441-442). However, as Sullum has pointed out, young people are hardly rushing out to buy heroin. Neither are college dormitories the site of regular heroin overdoses. Finally, Sullum voices another strong criticism against the advertising ban

And it does this by conducting investigations and enforcing laws that deal with public health, order, and decency. "Morals" and "decency" are not words one would expect to see in the core values of a secular institution like a police department, but they are definitely in line with the stated core beliefs of SLU. As stated previously, SLU has it basis in a strong Catholic ideology, which is permeated with

high degree of misinformation I had received from traditional teachings about the church and the beginning of Christianity. Moreover, I was struck by the notion that most other people in the Western world receive this same degree of intentional misinformation, so much so that I have even heard people defend the idea that knowledge of the historical church is irrelevant to modern Christianity. Reading through the class material, I

Response Yes, technology generates problems, and it is shrewd and apt to point out that for every net gain to certain members of society via technology there is a net loss. The hand weavers of the 18th century were put out of business by 19th century factories that could manufacture clothing cheaply, computers have probably collectively caused the art of calligraphy to die, and made even professional writers overly reliant on