Want to get notified of all questions as they are asked? Update your mail preferences and turn on "Instant Notification."
Claims are constantly being made, many of which are confusing, ambiguous, too general to be of value, exaggerated, unfalsifiable, and suggest a dichotomy when no such dichotomy exists. Good critical thinking requires a thorough understanding of the claim before attempting to determine its veracity. Good communication requires the ability to make clear, precise, explicit claims, or “strong” claims. The rules of reason in this book provide the framework for obtaining this understanding and ability.
This book / online course is about the the eleven rules of reason for making and evaluating claims. Each covered in detail in the book.
|
P1) There are some things, some believe, that are beyond reason and logic P2) These things make Hell a possibility C) Thus, Hell is as real as 'The Lord of the Rings' and other pop culture franchises. Firstly, if something is claimed to be "beyond reason and logic" then the person stating that the thing exists is making an unfalsifiable claim, and it should not be taken seriously without strong empirical support. Secondly, we have an appeal to possibility as we move from P2 to C. Just because Hell is a possibility, does not mean it is real in any sense. Of course, the conclusion is expressing an analogy - by comparing Hell to Lord of the Rings (a fictional franchise), but this does little to help the argument, as it basically implies Hell is akin to a fictional story series - oh dear. |
|||||||
answered on Wednesday, Oct 06, 2021 07:27:40 PM by TrappedPrior (RotE) | ||||||||
TrappedPrior (RotE) Suggested These Categories |
||||||||
Comments |
||||||||
|
|
It would be a valid argument if the argument was: "The same things that are required and capable to make hell a reality are also required and capable to make "Lord of the rings" a reality. I would imagine that initially what the person would want to say is "Hell is as real as Lord of the rings" period, which is just an unsupported claim (may be true or may be false). But in the author's despair to make it appear as something more than an unsupported claim, they created a non-sequitur. And I'm saying that as an atheist myself, meaning I am someone who do believe that Hell is as real as Lord of the rings. But I know that that's not an argument, that's a claim. |
answered on Thursday, Oct 07, 2021 12:31:54 PM by Kostas Oikonomou | |
Kostas Oikonomou Suggested These Categories |
|
Comments |
|
|