Making a Cohesive Argument

Logical Arguments

People often feel and think they are on solid ground when they make statements and assertions. Many people are wise enough to hedge and qualify their statements as their own opinion and/or something that some people believe. However, others are not quite so adept at remaining impartial and keeping a full perspective. The below statement reactions will reflect and describe the more common miscues that people can engage in. The reactions will follow the corresponding letter item in the textbook for each item. While people may be sure of themselves, it does not mean they are making a logical or reasonable point.

A is deceiving because while wealth is indeed a pursuit of many people, while it does tend to be hard and while many famous people have pursued it, it does not mean it is the goal and aim of everyone and the difficulty thereof is basically irrelevant. Some people are perfectly happy but poor

B is sort of correct but perhaps misleading in that no ethical teacher should go easy on students to assist their grade as this is what leads grade inflation. On the other hand, some teachers are indeed too harsh. Basically, the statement could be true or false depending on perspective.

C is false on its face. It is true that cars and abortion and many other things did not exist back then, but to suggest that the morality and parables told back then could not be applied to today's deeds and works is a stretch. There are limitations but they are not extensive for the most part.

D would really depend on what one defines as acting like one has too much knowledge. There is nothing ethical about stealing one's work so doing so with attribution is not right and just because one cites someone else does not mean they are unknowledgeable.

E is a bridge too far because it presupposes that all people under 21 are careless with credit cards. It can tend to be true but not always.

F is false because even if the statement is true, it does not necessarily mean that Marvin will not succeed plus "distinction" would have to be defined clearly to assess truth or falsity of the assessed or projected acumen or Marvin or prior students.

G is false because street drugs are a menace to society as they cause other crimes. Even crimes like prostitution are not "victimless."

H is false because sometimes parents must or should make a child's decisions, even all of them, depending on age and maturity of the child

I is a flat-out opinion and his tone of voice does not necessarily mean he cannot teach well, it just may be annoying to some.

J is false because while power can lead to abuse of it, the corruption is arguably (if not nearly always) there to begin with before the power came to be.