21-02-2008 @ 14:16 by Wi11ow
I’m currently doing research into a topic for my thesis, and I found this article about fallacies in arguments. Even though I’m not going to discuss this subject, it’s a really interesting read. It is also a sad story about Sam who loses his job because Todd rejects all his arguments in a number of ways. I guess Todd didn’t like him much.
A small abstract, discussing one particular fallacy:
Either-or fallacy (”black-and-white fallacy” or “false dilemma”)
This occurs when an argument is built upon the assumption that only two outcomes are possible when there are several, or when of two possible outcomes, one would not contradict the other. This faulty adversarial construction places the listener “between a rock and a hard place.”
Sam: “Todd, I conducted an investigation on Triki not to “judge” her, but because I received a complaint from a client. What I found was certainly more than I expected. Triki has clearly violated not one, but several of the company’s rules. Triki herself admitted to abusing her position repeatedly and to providing false documents upon enrollment. All this is in my report; its goal was to review employee conduct—as per our usual procedures—and to propose a review of our employee recruitment and verification system. I don’t understand what is wrong about bringing up this matter here.”
Todd: “Sam, you seem more interested in being right than in being truthful.”
This statement implies that being right is inconsistent with being truthful; there is also innuendo (…).
This is all the stuff that’s made me lose about ten thousand arguments on irc ;)
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