Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Structure of Arguments
I picked "I'm on my way to school. I left five minutes late. Traffic is heavy. Therefore, I'll be late for class. So I might as well stop and get breakfast." Yes, this is an argument because the person is saying if they are late, they might as well get something that will satisfy their hunger and not starve throughout the day. The conclusion is the last sentence because the first four sentences seems like it is a fact. According to Epstein, a premise is reasons for believing the conclusion is true. So if this person is late for class, it is because he or she is running five minutes late and the traffic is being heavy. I don't think this is a good argument because it is the person's fault for waking up late and running late to school. The person should have put their alarm five to ten minutes earlier than they would normally wake up, avoid the traffic so that way, they would not be late for class and they would not have to explain to their teacher what happened. If the teacher did ask and the student said the sentences above, he was get punished for being late to class since it was the students fault. I think that this is a great exercises because this help us point out what the argument is and what the claims, premises, and other statements are.
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I agree with you on how the argument is not strong enough to prove its point. The sentences were written so simple that it begs the question to why the student left the house five minutes late. There can be many possibilities that make the student late. What if it was an emergency? If it was, the student can possibly be excused. This argument is weak that we can't clearly understand the whole premise. It leaves out so much that many readers can assume many things that a student could be late. Most of us would immediately blame the student for not getting up on time and has poor time management. Nice job on the post!
ReplyDeleteHi layers! I agree with you that this argument is very weak and doesn't have enough premises to support the conclusion of the argument. The sentence, "I'm on my way to school." It is not really a premise but more of a statement. That sentence does not really support the argument. The writer of this argument could have put in more premises in order to make the conslusion more plausible. The writer of this argument could have added something like, "I already know the material being taught in class today anyway so I won't be missing too much." Good job on your analysis!
ReplyDeleteHey Layers.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and like the others before me, believe this argument is weak. The student does not give a solid reason as to WHY they were late to school. It might have been because they were just sleeping in to late or it might have been because they were helping their elderly grandmother take her medication for the morning. The argument leaves out to much information and forces us too side with the fact that the student is late, and does not care that they are late. Well on a lighter note; good job on your blog!