Asking the Right Questions - Fallacies (part 2)

Quick overview of the fallacies outlined in the critical thinking textbook, "Asking the Right Questions" (AKA ARQ). The book is written on a very simple level but it has some good concepts in it.

For more info on the book see: http://www.amazon.com/Asking-Right-Questions-Critical-Thinking/dp/0137581866

For more fallacies see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

Special thanks to thinkmorepink for teaching me to edit in moviemaker. Her channel is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/thinkmorepink

Also, thanks to Azrienoch (http://www.youtube.com/user/azrienoch)
and bubonicnate (http://www.youtube.com/user/bubonicnate)
for letting me sample them so I could add a little color to an otherwise drab and boring video (I know, I'll get better at this).

The video I sampled from is titled "Hear no argument see no argument" and can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJswXUSXmfw

No puppies or Canadians were harmed in the making of this video.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• ARQ
• critical
• thinking
• philosophy
• fallacy
• rhetoric

[nicolatwo]

Why did you use this example? Why not take a neutral example, one without violence?

[bubblesort]

If we're going to discuss something that most people find dry we might as well use colorful examples. That, and philosophers such as Kant thought that kicking puppies was important enough to discuss. Who am I to argue?

Besides, violence in and of itself is not wrong. The situation surrounding it can make it wrong, but violence is not necessarily bad.

[nicolatwo]

What do you mean violence is in and of itself not wrong? I didn't know Kant has used this example.

[bubblesort]

Yes, Kant said specifically that it is not unethical to kick puppies because they are not rational. Kicking puppies, he said, does lead to unethical behavior, though. I'd give you the exact citation but I'm home for Thanksgiving break so I don't have my books with me.

Things that you can thank violence for: Democracy, the decline of naziism, the legal system, social contracts and labor unions.

[nicolatwo]

Your videos should be deleted by YouTube. You are promoting cruelty to animals.

[bubblesort]

ROFLMAO!!!

Straw man - I'm not promoting anything of the sort, although I did say in the video that I believe kicking puppies is evil. If I was promoting cruelty to animals, though, it would be unethical to censor me.

Think before you type.

[HelloCaille]

Thanks :D This just helped me with my essay!!

[HelloCaille]

@nicolatwo It's just an example. He never gave a statement that said "I personally believe kicking puppies is good and you should do it too." And even if he did, one would hope that the viewers are smart enough to recognize right and wrong. If he thinks it's good, it's his opinion and he's entitled to free speech. He should not be kicked from YouTube because A) he's teaching us, and B) He did nothing wrong.

[Rhonda9]

This is a great video. It immediately reminded me of a chapter, in one of my favorite books.

Carl Sagan had a chapter in The Demon-Haunted World that I enjoyed, which was called The Fine Art of Baloney Detection. Such a useful way to discern the truth of a matter in any situation. Thank you for this vid.

[maliniG]

Very useful information, bit dry perhaps, but that might be necessary due to time restrictions ...