The Language of Argument

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R e f u t a t i o n b y P a r a l l e l R e a s o n i n g

In each of the following examples, does the parallel argument succeed in refuting

the original argument? Why or why not? Consider the three possible responses

listed above. If the original argument is refuted, is there some simple way to fix

it so that it cannot be refuted by this parallel reasoning? If so, how? (You might

try to add a premise whose analogue would be false in the parallel argument.)

1. Chris: The United States is wealthy, so its citizens are wealthy as well.
   Pat: That’s just like arguing that a building is expensive, so the nails in
   its walls are expensive as well.


2. Chauvinist: Since women are the only people who can bear children,
   they should bear children.
   Feminist: That’s like arguing that, if I am the only person who can
   wiggle my own ears, then I should wiggle my ears.


3. Newt: Orphanages are fine places, as the movie Boys Town shows.
   Critic: That’s just like saying that Oz is a fine place, as The Wizard of Oz
   shows.


4. A young Child at 6:00 am: It’s morning. Morning is the time to wake
   up. So it’s time to wake up.
   The Child’s Sleepy Parent: That’s just like arguing that it’s daytime,
   and daytime is the time to eat lunch, so it’s time to eat lunch.


5. mark: You shouldn’t walk on that grass, because if everybody did that,
   the grass would die.
   bob: That’s just like arguing that I shouldn’t go to this movie right now,
   because if everybody did that, the theater would be packed like a can of
   sardines.


6. Thomas: Everything in the world has a cause, so the world itself must
   have a cause.
   Tony: That’s just like arguing that every leg in the relay race was run by
   a single runner, so the entire race itself must have been run by a single
   runner.


7. Hawk: Nuclear deterrence must work, because we have never had a
   nuclear exchange as long as we have maintained nuclear deterrence.
   Dove: That’s just like arguing that hanging garlic by the front door must
   keep thieves away, because I put garlic there and my house has never
   been robbed.


8. liberal: We ought to provide condoms for high school students,
   because they are going to have sex anyway.
   Conservative: That’s just like arguing that we should provide high
   school students with guns, because they are going to use guns anyway.


9. Scientist: My initial steps toward human cloning, no matter how
   controversial, are important because they bring the debate out into the
   public.

Exercise VI

(continued)

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