- 22 Mar, 2021
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Assignment 2: Errors in Reasoning
Assignment 2: Errors in Reasoning
In this assignment, you will select one of the topics listed below.
Using what you know about the topic, describe at least four claims
that might commonly be made that display some of the errors in
reasoning covered in this module’s readings. You may have to do a bit
of research to find popular positions on these topics.
For example, if the claim is: Children should not be allowed to play
violent video games.
Then four common claims about the subject might be:
1. Children have always played violent games and they turned out
okay.
2. Dr. Dre says that violent video games are okay.
3. Everybody knows that violent video games don’t cause
problems.
4. Many countries banned violent video games and they have
higher crime rates than we do.
And the errors they represent might be:1. Children have always played violent games and they turned out
okay (appeal to tradition and false analogy).
2. Dr. Dre says that violent video games are okay (argument by
mistaken authority).
3. Everybody knows that violent video games don’t cause
problems (appeal to common belief).
4. Many countries banned violent video games and they have
higher crime rates than we do (post hoc ergo propter hoc).
Because
1. Any sentence that talks about how we have always done
something as a way to justify doing it is an appeal to tradition.
2. The claim looks like it comes from an authority, but Dr. Dre is a
musician, not a doctor.
3. Any claim that says that everyone knows something as a way
to justify doing it is an appeal to common belief.
4. Showing that two things happened (that video games are
accepted and crime is up) does not prove that the two things
are related or that the first caused the second; this is called
post hoc ergo propter hoc, which means after this, so because
of this.
Select one of these topics. Using what you know about the topic and
additional research you conduct, describe at least four claims that
might commonly be made that display some of the errors in reasoning
covered in this module’s readings.
1. Should people under 18 be subjected to legal curfews or
restricted driving privileges?
2. Should libraries be required to install filtering software or
otherwise censor the materials that they provide?