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fandomhigh2009-09-24 04:13 pm
clevermsbennet.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2009-09-24 04:13 pm
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Logic, Reason and Critical Thinking, Class 4: Period 4, Thursday, September 24
Miss Bennet seemed a touch subdued, at the start of class. She had been male yesterday. It had been terribly jarring, especially when she realized she would not be able to pass the entire day without using the facilities. Students were advised not to inquire as to that particular matter.
She did, however, resolve herself to bravely press on. It was not as though she was male today. One of the island's few kindnesses.
"Today," Miss Bennet said, "we continue our conversation about logical fallacies. Last week, if you recall, we discussed fallacies of relevance -- the common thread which these fallacies shared was that one or more of the premises for the argument had no relevance to the argument in question. This week, we are discussing fallacies of presumption. We start with an incorrect supposition, either stated as one of the premises of the argument, or a subtle, hidden presupposition that we do not even realize we are including. Therefore, whatever conclusion we reach will be flawed.
"A classic example would be the false dilemma. Often, arguments are presented in a binary, one-or-the-other form. I could say to you:
"Straightforward enough, and in this case, it holds. My sister might be engaged to be married, or tragically widowed, but either of those states would still place her as 'single.'
"The problem is that so little in life can be placed in such a black-or-white state. Life involves a great many shades of gray. Let's try this, instead:
"This ignores the third option, that perhaps you were perfectly on time.
"Another frequent error is what is known as affirming the consequent. We know that one thing would cause another, so we falsely assume that seeing the result proves the cause. An example might go as follows:
"What we have overlooked is that it is Tuesday evening, and Mother is having dinner with the Bingleys, and wishes to wear her very nicest clothes. Do remember that our original statement never said that Mother only wears her nicest bonnet to church. Or, for those of you who are inclined towards mathematics: all squares are, in fact, rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares."
Miss Bennet leaned back against her desk with a smile. "We have handouts, as we did last week, and I will assume that you can infer from there what we shall be doing, for our class discussion."
She did, however, resolve herself to bravely press on. It was not as though she was male today. One of the island's few kindnesses.
"Today," Miss Bennet said, "we continue our conversation about logical fallacies. Last week, if you recall, we discussed fallacies of relevance -- the common thread which these fallacies shared was that one or more of the premises for the argument had no relevance to the argument in question. This week, we are discussing fallacies of presumption. We start with an incorrect supposition, either stated as one of the premises of the argument, or a subtle, hidden presupposition that we do not even realize we are including. Therefore, whatever conclusion we reach will be flawed.
"A classic example would be the false dilemma. Often, arguments are presented in a binary, one-or-the-other form. I could say to you:
Either my sister is married, or she is single.
My sister is not married.
Therefore, she is single.
"Straightforward enough, and in this case, it holds. My sister might be engaged to be married, or tragically widowed, but either of those states would still place her as 'single.'
"The problem is that so little in life can be placed in such a black-or-white state. Life involves a great many shades of gray. Let's try this, instead:
Either you were late to class today, or you were early.
You were not early.
Therefore, you were late.
"This ignores the third option, that perhaps you were perfectly on time.
"Another frequent error is what is known as affirming the consequent. We know that one thing would cause another, so we falsely assume that seeing the result proves the cause. An example might go as follows:
If Mother is going to church, she will wear her nicest bonnet.
Mother is wearing her nicest bonnet.
Therefore, Mother is going to church.
"What we have overlooked is that it is Tuesday evening, and Mother is having dinner with the Bingleys, and wishes to wear her very nicest clothes. Do remember that our original statement never said that Mother only wears her nicest bonnet to church. Or, for those of you who are inclined towards mathematics: all squares are, in fact, rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares."
Miss Bennet leaned back against her desk with a smile. "We have handouts, as we did last week, and I will assume that you can infer from there what we shall be doing, for our class discussion."
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