Saturday, October 2, 2010
Common Mistakes in Evaluating Premises
I found the section titled "Common Mistakes in Evaluating Premises" to be very interesting. The first common mistake in arguing premises is arguing backwards. Arguing backwards is when "it's a mistake to reason that because we have a strong or valid argument with a true conclusion, its premises must be true" According to the text, an argument is supposed to convince us that its conclusion is true, not that its premises are true. The second mistake discussed is called confusing possibility with plausibility. When this common mistake comes up, we should not believe the theory, but rather look for evidence before we believe the argument. The third mistake discussed is bad appeals to authority. This is "a mistake to accept a claim as true solely because a lot of other people believe it. This mistake is common in everyday conversation when we are talking to our friends because we tend to view our friends as authorities. The next mistake discussed is mistaking the person for the claim. This is when you reject a claim solely because of who said it. If you did not believe what your classmate said just because that particular classmate said it, then you are making this mistake. The final mistake is mistaking the person for the argument. This is very similar to the previous mistake. With this mistake, you should not reject an argument solely because of who said it.
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Yes, these are mistakes everyone should watch out for no matter how knowledgeable they think they are. Sometimes people may even make arguments that are very flawed and not even notice it. Because of this, it can be other people's job to correct people who make these mistakes. In doing this, people can make stronger arguments. For example, as you said, people shouldn't accept an argument if everyone accepts it because everyone may be wrong as well. Also, confusing possibility with plausibility a mistake too because basing something on possibility is just a mere assumption or theory. It's like saying that if someone doesn't talk to you, they hate you but really, it might just be because they don't have time to talk or they're sick and don't want to make contact.
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