Assignment 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

2 - Assignment Example Intuitively this can happen, but the evidence presented does not warrant that such would lead to the kind of seemingly dramatic downturn in the quality of the relationship between Lindsey and Malik, as described. The literature describes this fallacy as the Slippery slope fallacy which is a fallacy where the evidence to make a given conclusion is not sufficient. Here there may be an exaggeration of the consequences of Lindsey’s going to university over having a baby. After all, Lindsey can have a baby and go to university, and the choice does not preclude Lindsey having a baby after university. Moreover, given that the couple’s relationship seems long-term, it is unlikely that just one event whose consequences can be reversible can lead to the downturn of the relationship. The consequence is reversible because they can always have a baby during or after university, assuming that Lindsey is young and still have many childbearing years ahead of her (Bassham et al.). 2. Pr emise: (1) The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star reporters made the claim that Mayor Ford uses crack cocaine, and that the mayor’s brother was a drug dealer in the 80’s. (2) Mayor Ford says that the reporters are â€Å"just a bunch of maggots† Conclusion: People should not listen to the â€Å"sleazebags†. Fallacy: Personal Attack Here the mayor says that because the reporters have questionable professional and personal morals, the conclusion is that their assertions that the mayor did drugs and that his brother pushed drugs cannot be true. He is equating the reporters' morals with the non-truth of their claims (Bassham et al.) It may be that the reporters are of questionable morals and integrity as far as looking for news and making sure that their newspapers are able to feed off sensational reporting, but the character of the reporters do not preclude them from making truthful claims relating to the activities of the mayor and his brother, especially s ince the newspapers themselves are reputable and can be presumed to have done its fact checking prior to the publication of the claims. The personal attacks on the reporters are not relevant to whether the mayor and his brother used/are using and/or dealt drugs (Bassham et al.). 3. Premise: (1) There are many weight loss programs available. (2) The Weight Watchers sales associate said theirs is the best weight loss program among alternatives Conclusion: The Weight Watchers program is the best there is. Fallacy: Hasty Generalization Here the conclusion is that since the sales associate says Weight Watchers is the best, then that claim must be true. This is relying on the authority of one person, the sales associate, and not considering that other points of view may yield different answers as to which program is the best (Bassham et al.) It may be true that the Weight Watchers program that Keesha enrolled in is the best in the market, but this cannot be concluded from the evidence tha t Keesha presented, which is the word of the Weight Watchers sales associate. The evidence is small, and just consists of one sample so to speak, whereas a more