...of approximately 1,000 women and was, at the time the letter was written, the beneficial owner of a number of Cypress shares. The letter was a form letter, and it carried the stamped signature of Doris Gormley, OSF. In the letter, Sister Doris, speaking for the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia as a Cypress shareholder, expressed the view that a company "is best represented by a Board of qualified Directors reflecting the equality of the sexes, races, and ethnic groups." The letter went on to say that it is the congregation's policy "to withhold authority to vote for nominees of a Board of Directors that does not include women and minorities." In response to the letter, an individual wrote an argument in defense of our current selection process. On top of this defensive argument, the writer outlined the pitfalls associated with investors questioning our practices on the grounds of creating “responsible corporations”. This response letter is detailed and outlines facts and figures to support its claims concerning these pitfalls. Yet, this letter espouses its point using a confrontational tone and terminology designed to insult the intended audience. The individual has also proposed sending this letter to all Cypress shareholders and a select group of sympathetic veterans of the affirmative-action debate. Discussion The response letter can be broken down into three parts. The first part is outlines the current selection process for the board of directors as well...
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...Glossary for Philosophy 101 Logic – the study of argument, the study of inference. Statement/proposition – something that is true or false. Argument – a set of statements, some of which are premises and one of which is the conclusion. The conclusion is said to follow from the premises. Premise – a proposition in an argument from which the conclusion follows. Conclusion – a proposition in an argument which follows from the premise(s). Valid argument – an argument whose structure is such that if the premises are true, the conclusion must be true. (Alternative “negative” definition: an argument whose structure is such that it is impossible for its conclusion to be false when its premises are true.) Invalid argument – an argument whose structure is such that it is possible for its conclusion to be false when its premises are true. Sound argument – a valid argument with true premises. Tautology – a proposition which is always true, due to its logical structure. (Self-)Contradiction – a proposition which is always false, due to its logical structure. Contingent proposition – a proposition which can be either true or false, due to its logical structure. reductio ad absurdum – (“reduction to the absurd”), proof by contradiction – a form of argument in which we attempt to reach a contradiction, which is then used to deny the supposition that led to the contradiction. Necessary and sufficient conditions A condition is said to be necessary for something when that condition...
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...well as three examples to support each definition. All answers must be typed – print out a final copy for teacher and self E.C. = +5pts on Quiz and notes if completed by the end of the hour today 1. |wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn | | | | |Definition |Example #1 | |Example: |Claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant |Why should your views on welfare reform matter when we all know | |Ad Hominem |fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or |that your parents make a lot of money. | | |argument | | |Tu Quoque | An attempt to discredit the opponent's position by exposing |Bill: “It is wrong to use animals as clothing. | | |his failure to act consistently in accordance with that |Ted: “But you are wearing a leather jacket.” | | |position. | ...
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...goes on by breaking several of these words down to their base meaning and then places them into context, for example “virtually spotless” a claim made on nearly every dish and laundry cleaning product on the market. The word virtually is used by advertisers as a almost guarantee but actually by definition means not in fact. Several of these weasel words are brought to trial and put to the sword in the same fashion. William Lutz's logos is very powerful in the argument using the words own definition and the advertisements writers lack of context to let it defeat itself. His use of pathos is strong points to warn his readers to look deeper at words such as “like magic” and “helps...”. His ethos in the argument do relay a sense of reliability in the piece, but could be called into question by a more conservative reader for his use of a comical but slightly out of place rewriting psalms 23rd. One problem With These Word I Can Sell You Anything, is a lack of counter argument, or even having room where a counter argument can come into play. An advertiser could argue two strong points ageinst Lutz. One that advertisements aren't written to solely to mislead consumers, and that words like...
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...describe the continuing issue that the United States faces in regards to repeat offenders. In the article "Stopping The Madness: A New Reentry System For Juvenile Corrections." Author's Scott Sells, Irene Sullivan and Donald DeVore focus on some of the reasons that contribute to youth recidivism and programs that can help minimize this issue. Without first determining the causes of the issue we can not begin to address resolutions. This article focuses on an interview as well as studies and evidence based theories tto combat this issue that we are faced with. The artilce discusses issues that contribute to failing reentry programs which ultimately result in high recidivism in young offenders. Although they provide a strong logical argument, and sufficient evidence the authors do not go into detail the effects of implementing such facilities will have on those who do not have family. Also the authors reasoning for implementing the PLL program is justified but can come across as bias. "Look this was my second committment and here's the problem. I went from this totally structured environment for eight long months back to a totally unstructured home with no real plan before i left [residential]. I am going back to the same home [life]...
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...CETM11 Portfolio item 1 –A comparative literature review This is worth 30% of your module The following learning outcomes are assessed: Knowledge 1. A critical appreciation of the nature of research and the goals of academic reading, information searching and communication. 2 A critical appreciation of the clarity, scientific approach and structure of academic writing. This item will allow you to get feedback on skills that you need to help with the Research Plan in Portfolio item 2. TASK You are required to do a comparative literature review of the following topics (you may need to customise the title to include the domain) Choose one of the following topics on which to do a comparative literature review (word limit 2000 words): * The impact of personality traits of the project leaders in project success * Managing change management * Communication skills and project success * Network security and social networking * The role of effective IT management strategies in organisations * Assessing risks in home and public access wireless networks * Ethics in the design of business applications You may find the Q5 technique useful to map out the structure of each paper before you do the review. The task You will select a topic then find two or more academic papers that address the topic. You are required to write a comparative review of the topic from the perspective of these papers. This may require you to examine several schools of thought...
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...or a phrase that makes something less important, gives a way out if challenged, and specific words to upscale something. Class two devices succeed on unwarranted assumptions. Class three, which is my favorite, is humor or exaggeration. I use this one all the time and never realized that there was a specific name for what I was doing. Class four is using or conforming a definition to meet your needs. The devices when used properly can captivate the audience. If they are used wrong it can get the audience in an uproar very quickly. If the author or speaker uses these devises the way they are intended to one could not argue against them and they would have an air tight opinion. A very experienced person using these devices can convey their argument to any group and have them at least stop and think. If these devices are once again used correctly the claims that are made could sound extremely creditable. It will once again depend on how they are used and if confronted how the author could explain his claims without skipping a beat. If he had to think about the confrontation before he responded I believe that his claims would take a hit, but if his rebutted immediately then that would save him and his...
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...propositions. eg.I am taller than you, It is raining, She will win the race. Premise- A statement that is offered in support of a conclusion Conclusion - A statement that is held to be supported by a premise or premises eg. All whales are mammals. Moby Dick is a whale. Moby Dick is a mammal. Argument- a set of statements one of which (the conclusion) is taken to be supported by the remaining statements (the premises). • The conclusion is what the speaker wants you to accept. • The premises state the reasons or evidence for accepting the conclusion. Inference- is the process of reasoning from a premise (or premises) to a conclusion (or conclusions) based on those premises. Explanation- tells you why something happened. Argument- tells you why you should believe something. • Arguments have something to prove; explanations do not. eg. 1. Adam stole the money, for three people saw him do it. 2. Adam stole the money because he needed to buy food. Premise-Indicator words: Since, Because, For, as, given that, inasmuch as, for the reason that Conclusion Indicator Words: Thus, Therefore, Hence, Entail(s), it follows that, we may conclude, consequently, so In arguments, premises do not always come before conclusions; conclusions do not always come after premises eg. Religious beliefs cannot be proven. If something is a matter...
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...Examining Different Arguments Related to the Choice of a Career Assessment Part A: Critically Evaluating an Argument Build your mindmap. Arts and Sciences (Advantage): Lots of flexibility in career choices: Overgeneralization Arts and Sciences (Disadvantage): Leads to a career in food service –“Do you want fries with that?”: irrational appeal Education (Advantage): The best way to make a difference in the world: overgeneralization Education (Disadvantage): Guaranteed low paying job: either/ or thinking Nursing (Advantage): People always will need nurses: logically sound Nursing (Disadvantage): Too much schooling (according to Theo, the Law student): double standard Information Systems and Technology (Advantage): No other degree concentration is as innovative (according to Grace): irrational appeal Information Systems and Technology (Disadvantage): Too limited in scope for much advancement in business situation (according to Ritesh): Logically Sound Business (Advantage): Infinite career options (according to Ritesh): Logically Sound Business (Disadvantage): Boring work, stuck behind a desk all day: oversimplifying Health and Human Services (Advantage): All the benefits of Arts and Sciences, but vastly more focused and relevant: Logically Sound Health and Human Services (Disadvantage): Job options are all in very un-creative fields.: Irrational Appeal Assessment Part B: Articulating the Steps Involved in Evaluating an Argument Write out the two...
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...a pragmatic, hard-science approach to the issues we value and the news we receive we can help minimize the frequency that our trusted news outlets are incorrect. For a more interactive person you can also do more fact checking, but even then fact checking is interpretive as well. For example, I love politifact, but their conclusions are still based in interpretation of data rather than the raw data itself, even though they are really good about it. How do I consider information to lack validity?... Well logical fallacies present in an argument are usually red flags, but we can't assume the data is wrong just because of a fallacy, for that would create a logical fallacy in itself. Next is to compare it to data and experiences I have as either expert or greater knowledge and also understand that anecdotal data is not viable grounds for scientific conclusion, though it can often help me spot weaker bits of information/arguments. Another tactic I take is to look at several sources as the internet is...
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...Title: Stereotyping By: Sheila Cowan PHI 103: Informal Logic Instructor: Issac Brown Date: November 07, 2011 Stereotyping, prejudices and discrimination are ways in which society maintains class and status distinctions and disparate rights and resource distribution. Whether stereotypes are personal, socially based or institutionally legitimized, stereotyping uses flawed logic. It universally applies a belief, idea or an observation to a group of people with a specific trait or characteristic. This leads to invalid logic arguments, hypothetical imperatives and categorical imperatives that look something like this (Brown, 2001): • If a person has brown hair they are always less intelligent. When constructed as a universal or categorical imperative it looks like this (Brown, 2001): • People with brown hair are always less intelligent. Nevertheless stereotypes persist. Stereotyping and Discrimination Wherever people must compete for resources or position, stereotyping becomes a powerful tool. Governments and organizational leaders charged with the distribution of these positions and resources often use stereotyping and discrimination as a process of elimination. Therefore, negative stereotyping exists in almost every sphere of participation. It exists in schools, in financial institutions, in nearly every industrial and societal sector. Sometimes, negative stereotyping is less obvious than others are. As demonstrated...
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...He states that the climate-change theory is facing a sudden collapse, because of two recent arguments: The first argument being the observations that Monnett and fellow researcher Jeffrey Gleason made in 2004 - of four polar bears drowning after being forced to swim long distances in the open sea, because of the climate changes - are now being questioned and investigated. Monnett has now been put on “leave” due to integrity issues. The other argument being a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal ‘Remote Sensing’ by Drs. Roy Spencer and Danny Braswell. The two scientists had compared the predictions about what the atmosphere ‘should’ do and what satellite data actually showed during the 18 months before and after warming event. They found that the computer models vastly overestimated the greenhouse effect. According to the two scientists the Earth is far more capable of equalizing its own temperature than people might think. Matt Patterson closes the article saying that there is a huge discrepancy between global-warming theory and actual, observable reality. Therefore, he claims that the climate-change theory is facing a sudden collapse. Jerrald Hayes, the author of “Matt Patterson & The New York Post Clueless About The Climate” writes his personal perspectives on various topics in his blog. In the blog he is very critical towards Matt Pattersons article and his arguments...
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...I played the role of a mountaineer in the Everest Simulation. From the very beginning I had problems identifying with my role. So I started my expedition with an apathy towards my role. After a while, at camp 2, my health became critical. I understood my condition perfectly, analyzed the given information and asked for the correct treatment, which helped in getting the team an additional bonus point. But as the task progressed, I could see myself focusing on my personal goals rather than the team goals. Most of the team members were very vocal about their personal goals and were getting into arguments with each other. I had team goals in my mind at the beginning, but once other team members started focusing on their personal goals, I swiftly changed my priorities. At camp 4, I put my foot down and stayed there for a day to gain personal points. There was also an increase in conflict between other team members and me. I felt it was unjustified as everybody else in the team was trying to complete his personal goals. I felt this situation arose because we did not plan properly as a team and there was no clarity about the team goal. At every stage, lack of information and strong leadership was making me more furious and unsure about my performance. Ultimately, we could complete only 70% of the team goals, while my personal goal completion was 71%. I attribute my poor performance to many factors. First of all a lack of flexibility in choosing my own role, kept me dissatisfied until...
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...conclusions. Without the use of this logic errors can occur, which in philosophy are called logical fallacies. Mere Assertion The first logical fallacy I am going to define is mere assertion. This is an argument of opinion. There is no guarantee that what you say will be expected. But all opinions whether they are believed to be true or not must be supported by evidence. Here is an example of a mere assertion fallacy. My cats love me because they sleep on my bed. Also when I open their cat food they come running, so they must love me. Both of these statements are not supported by evidence. They are just statements of opinion that I believe to be truth. Circular Reasoning The second logical fallacy I am going to define is circular reasoning. This is an argument where your conclusion and premise are the same. It is an argument that asks you to simply accept the conclusion without real evidence. Also it can be an argument that simply ignores an important assumption. So to avoid this fallacy you cannot just assume or use as evidence that very thing you are trying to prove. Here is an example of a circular reasoning fallacy. When people murder they do it because they are ignorant. So this means only ignorant people murder. This argument only shows that you have restated it using different wording. It does not give us any reasons why we feel people murder. Ad Hominem The...
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...Aurora Salinas Eng. 1302.33 Stuart Greene writes a realistic fiction in Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in Writing a Researched Argument (2001). In this article, Greene discusses how an argument is not a dispute, but rather an ongoing discussion that can include the historical context hidden behind it and that engaging in and then leaving said argument does not mean that it will be over. He presents his opinion in framing and research as inquiry, cites other authors, and writes Argument as Conversation the way he is describing it in the first place. He explains the importance of using sources and the necessity of doing so in order to have a basic understanding of how to effectively argue a point. Greene intends the audience to be students barely going into college and have yet to learn how to debate in an academic setting. In my opinion, this article is perfect for the incoming freshmen students that do not know how to argue efficiently. It shows how to write, read, research, structure, and overall make better an argument. But I feel like there is nothing that can help a more experienced student. The article does not introduce anything new with how to argue a point. It is very basic and therefore, useless to those experienced students looking for new ways to debate a certain point. After hearing Greene’s description of research writing, the task seems clearer, and useful in my mind. A research writing is so much more than jotting down reasons and facts about...
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