The Language of Argument

3 3 6

C H A P T E R 1 7 ■ R e f u t a t i o n

Find a counterexample to each of the following claims, if possible.

Example: Claim: “Sugar” is the only word in which an s is pronounced sh.

Counterexample: Oh, sure.

1. No prime number is even.


2. Three points always determine a plane.


3. Balloons that are filled with helium always rise in the air.


4. All mammals bear their young live.


5. You can never get too much of a good thing.


6. What you don’t know can’t hurt you.


7. You can’t be too careful.


8. It is always wrong to tell a lie.


9. You should never ask someone else to do something that you are not
   willing to do yourself.


10. If lots of people do something, then it must not be wrong for me to do it.


11. If it would be horrible for everyone to do something, then it would be
    morally wrong for anyone to do it.


12. If it would not be horrible for everyone to do something, then it would
    not be morally wrong for anyone to do it.

Exercise I

There cannot possibly be any counterexamples to the following claims. Explain

why.

1. There is life on the moon.


2. Killing is usually wrong.


3. Any short person is a person.


4. Every horse is an animal.


5. 2 + 2 = 4.


6. Everything with a size also has a shape.

Exercise II

1. How can the Golden Rule be best reformulated to avoid the above coun-
   terexamples of the judge and the sadomasochist? Can you think of any
   counterexamples to this reformulation of the Golden Rule?

Discussion Questions

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