Further Discussion

So far, after reading Epstein's book, i realize that there are many things that seem confusing because when one chapters talks about lets say premises, it jumps to conclusion out of no where. I did some researching and found a website where it describes in detail what an argument is and how we can pinpoint them, because i know that some people read a chapter of Epstein and they are like, what is this guy talking about? On www.about.com under "what is an argument?", it shows an article about understanding premises, inferences, and conclusions. I find that this website really helped me because to be honest, i was puzzled after reading what Epstein had said. This website helped by breaking down into little parts of understanding premises and how it is used inside a sentence. I believe that if a beginner learning critical thinking and how to create arguments can find this website really useful for them. Not only does this website explains on how to understand premises and so forth, it gives us examples so when we are reading a newspaper ad or article, we can pinpoint easily what the premise and conclusion is.

Usefulness

After having done the two major course assignments, i realize that there are lots to learn other than school curriculum and sports, there are other things in the world we have to learn about. For example, i have heard of animals being tortured in very different ways but once i saw chickens being prepped for food on the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , it was just disgusting. Seeing cows get ran over by tractors because farmers think it is funny? It is useful doing these assignments because we get to broad out into other aspects of learning. We get to learn new things and be updated of what the world is offering us and what we can do to make our lives and future lives easier. I believe that these assignments are useful for anyone because instead of having your heads in the books that are boring and makes you fall asleep, we can research on stuff that would help us in life so that we will not have to live in a world that is full of discomfort and pain. 

Chapter 8

After reading chapter 8, i have learned many things. For example, i did not know that some of the words we use today are general claims. Some people say that all Chinese people know kung fu, so if i am Asian, then i must know kung fu? i just used a general claim when i said "some people" meaning at least one person has to have said all Chinese people know Kung Fu. I also learned that some general claims are very vague, they just say a sentence like "all dogs bark" well some dogs do not because some are too shy and some cant speak due to vocal damage. I know a friend that put a shock collar on his dog n when the dog barked once, that was the last time i ever heard him. I worked at McDonald's before and i just have to say that the manager was horrible. Even though the workers say she was fair. They say that all managers are bad when they do not offer any sort of promotion, my manager did not give any promotions and kept it for herself, so she is a bad manager. She was also racist because i was the only Chinese guy working there and she would say bad stuff about me not knowing that i knew what she was saying.

Interesting

After reading chapter 6 and chapter 7 from Epstein, i find that counterarguments are very effective when negotiating with someone. Say person A wanted to buy a mustang and his or her friend is an environmentalist, he or she would be negotiating from sunrise to sunset about how person A would be killing the earth much faster because of all the air pollution being thrown in the sky. Counterarguments are also good for advertisements because they are effective when talking about something that is important. For example, a teen just got his or her driver's license and they are always texting, one way you can fight this is to say "texting while driving is bad because it can cause severe car accidents or even death". These counterarguments have been used so that people will be persuaded to commit some other action. Overall, i think that counterarguments is a great way to start a conversation when you want to end up arguing instead.

Counterarguments

In chapter 7, Epstein says that a counterargument is raising objections in a standard way to show that an argument is bad. In my opinion, counterarguments are very good ideas because it can actually save someone from doing something. Counterarguments are said everyday, from cars to food. Environmentalist say that people should ride bikes to school and work because not only does it save money but it saves the earth from air pollution coming from cars. There are actually clubs on campus that promote these activities. People promote counterarguments by saying that fast food is bad for you but in a way, they are so good. These days parents use counterarguments a lot when they are negotiating with their children about driving a car or going out to parties, they might say wait until you are eighteen so the insurance will be lower, or do not go to the party because there will be underage drinking. Overall, i think that counterarguments is a very good strategy when it comes to persuading. Not only is it true but it can also be life saving.

Compound Claims

After reading chapter 6 about compound claims, i have learned many things. But the two things that i found interesting was that the claim is never honest but one action or the other is always done. According to Epstein, a compound claim is one composed of other claims, but which has to be viewed as just one claim. Their example about how the neighbor says "ill return your lawn mower or i will buy you a new one" this statements gets on my nerves because i have been in that situation where one of my friends borrowed my game and never gave it back for at least two years. When i confronted him about it, he said he would buy me a new one or he would buy me another new game. But i guess compound claims has its benefits in which when one action is not done, another one will be done instead. It might not be true but sometimes someone will get their way.