Phil 1102: Critical ThinkingPhil 1102: Critical Thinking

How to manipulate people (and how you, yourself, are

manipulated)

RhetoricRhetoric

• “The art of winning the soul by discourse” – Plato

• “the faculty of discovering in any particular case all of the available means of persuasion” – Aristotle

• So, how do we convince people, given that valid arguments from true premises are damn near impossible?– Intro to how to read Aristotle (2 Examples)– Using Language

3 ways to convince others3 ways to convince others

1. we could put the audience a frame of mind where they are likely to act the way we want them to.

2. we could convince others that we, as the speaker, are credible; and therefore, can be trusted to guide the correct action.

3. we can appeal to logic, reasoning and rationality.

How to understand How to understand AristotleAristotle

• The basic question is “how do you persuade an audience?” – Answer 1: appeal to their heart

(pathos)– Answer 2: make them think that the

speaker is ‘one of them’ (ethos)

• Since what we read today are more or less lecture notes, the conclusions are not always drawn out explicitly.

Aristotle!Aristotle!

• Chapter 2 can be divided into two parts:– 2.1-2.11: Pathos (appeal to emotion)– 2.12-2.17: Ethos (appeal to character)

Aristotle’s three-fold Aristotle’s three-fold classification:classification:

Ethos Pathos Logos

Appeal to Character

Appeal to Anger

Appeal to Reason

Matching Character

Anger <-> CalmnessKindness, Friendship <-> EnmityFear <-> ConfidenceShame Pity <-> IndignationFlattery <-> Emulation

LogicInductive

CausalDeductive

CategoricalConditionaletc.

Sub-forms that :Sub-forms that :

• Ethos -> Appeal to Authority (the argument is good insofar as the authority is good, and that’s a matter of ‘character’)

• Pathos -> Appeal to Force (ad bachulum) (insofar as it is an appeal to fear. If it is an appeal to the force of an authority, it is ethos)

Other: Argument from Other: Argument from AnalogyAnalogy

• Will talk about later.

AngerAnger

Joe?rhetoricMillerRNC2005.exe

Anger:Anger:

The persons with whom we get angry... ...[are] those who speak ill of us, and show contempt for us, in connection with the things we ourselves most care about: those those who are eager to win fame as a philosopher get angry with those who show contempt for their philosophy; those who pride themselves upon their appearance get angry with those who show contempt for their appearance; and so on in other cases.

Anger may be defined as an impulse, accompanied by pain, to a conspicuous revenge for a conspicuous slight directed without justification towards what concerns oneself or towards what concerns one's friends. (1378b)

1. those who laugh, mock or jeer at us, for such conduct is insolent

2. those who inflict injuries upon us that are marks of insolence

3. those who speak ill of us, and show contempt for us, in connection with the things we ourselves most care about. Especially if we suspect that we lack the qualities they highlight (belittling only hurts if you suspect that the person belittling you is right. If you are convinced that he or she is wrong, then he or she will just appear foolish and mean-spirited.)

1. those who usually treat us with honor or regard, if they change their behavior

2. On a related point, we get more angry at friends than strangersthose who fail to return kindness (as it shows contempt for our kind actions)

3. those who oppose us, even if they are our inferiors (for this shows contempt for our leadership)

4. For friends especially, those who fail to perceive our needs (for it shows contempt for us — if they really cared, they would see we were in trouble)

1. those who rejoice in our misfortunes, or fail to share our misery when misfortunes befall us (for this, again, shows contempt)

2. those who are indifferent to our pain3. those who seem to take particular interest in

stories about our weaknesses or mistakes4. those who treat us badly in front of those we

respect: either those we admire or those we consider rivals

5. those who slight "what honorable men are bound to champion — our parents, children, wives or subjects" (Mom and apple pie?)

1.those who reply with humor when we are speaking seriously

2.those who treat us less well than they treat others

3.those who are forgetful with respect to us, for it shows a lack of care — which is very close to contempt

ExamplesExamples

• MoveON Pac ‘Doesn’t get it’• SBV: all of them…

CalmnessCalmness

1. those who slighted us involuntarily, or those who actions were accidental

2. those who treat themselves in the same way they treat us (as no one can slight themselves)

3. those who admit their fault and feel sorry; since they recognize the slight and intend no more

4. those who humble themselves before us, for this shows respect, which is the opposite of contempt

1.those who are serious when we are serious

2.those who have done more kindness than we have done them

3.those who pray to us and beg for mercy, since this is an humbling act

4.those who do not mock or slight anyone at all, or not any unworthy person, or anyone like ourselves

5.those who we fear or respect (because you cannot both fear and be angry with a person)

Bobby K…Bobby K…

How to control others?How to control others?

• In the extreme: Political Force / prison life: – Arbitrary rules enforced arbitrarily– Mindless work– Rewards given to those who

cooperate– Enforcement by peers– Divide and conquer

Implicit:Implicit:

• Arbitrary rules enforced arbitrarily:

• Mindless, repetitive work– High school

• Enforcement of (organic) arbitrary rules by peers

FestingerFestinger

Cognitive DissonanceSuppose you were asked to perform a

mindless, annoying task for ½ hour. We compensate you $20.

Now suppose that you were asked to perform a mindless, annoying task for ½ hour. We compensate you nothing.

Which task was more unpleasant?

• Festinger showed that people consistently rated the tasks for which they were compensated as more unpleasant than the tasks for which they were not compensated.

• Why?

The theory is this: People like to have their minds in balance – so if you throw one side out of whack, they will believe false things in order to maintain balance – even if it means distrusting their own intuitions.(It wasn’t that bad, but he wouldn’t pay me if

it was painless – therefore, it really was bad, and I just didn’t notice)(Bad life? Buy a French car)

Cult-thinkCult-think

• “One of us. One of us.”– ‘Belonging’ love-bombing

• Being ‘in’ on ‘it’ / knowing something that others don’t.– Linux, Mac-users, VW owners,

Residents of the Pacific NW.

• Last: the ‘Calvinist’ rationality.

Marketing and Language…Marketing and Language…

Some of your aspirations tend to be fairly unrealistic. At times, you are extroverted, addable, sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary and reserved. You have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. you pride yourself on being an independent thinker and do not accept other's opinion without satisfactory proof.You prefer a certain amount of change and variety, and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitationsAt times you have serious doubts about whether you have made the right decision or have done the right thing. Disciplined and controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside.You have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not turned to your advantage. you have a tendency to be critical of yourself. You have a strong need for other people to like you and for them to admire you.

Our Results?Our Results?

• 10 respondents, average = 6.4• Last Fall: 11 users = 5.54

Why generalities?Why generalities?

The voters should assume I have no litmus test on that issue or any other issue. Voters will know I'll put competent judges on the bench. People who will strictly interpret the Constitution and not use the bench for writing social policy. That is going to be a big difference between my opponent and me. I believe that the judges ought not to take the place of the legislative branch of government. That they're appointed for life and that they ought to look at the Constitution as sacred. They shouldn't misuse their bench. I don't believe in liberal activist judges. I believe in strict constructionists. Those are the kind of judges I will appoint. I've named four in the State of Texas and ask the people to check out their qualifications, their deliberations. They're good, solid men and women who have made good, sound judgments on behalf of the people of Texas.

Claims:Claims:

• Not be chosen by a litmus test• Be competent• Interpret the constitution strictly• Not use the bench for writing social

policy• Look at the constitution as sacred• Not misuse the bench• Not be liberal activists• Be strict constructivists• Be good, solid men and women who

make good, solid decisions

Example: Gore 2000Example: Gore 2000

• Vice President Al Gore, reaching for a personal example to illustrate the breathtaking costs of some prescription drugs, told seniors in Florida last month that his mother-in-law pays nearly three times as much for the same arthritis medicine used for his ailing dog, Shiloh... (Published on September 18, 2000 by the Boston Globe)

Videos:Videos:

• Debate 2, Q 16• Debate 3, Q 14

Orwell’s advice:Orwell’s advice:

I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.

OrwellOrwell

The first contains forty-nine words but only sixty syllables, and all its words are those of everyday life. The second contains thirty-eight words of ninety syllables: eighteen of those words are from Latin roots, and one from Greek. The first sentence contains six vivid images, and only one phrase ("time and chance") that could be called vague. The second contains not a single fresh, arresting phrase, and in spite of its ninety syllables it gives only a shortened version of the meaning contained in the first.

Fallacies:Fallacies:

• Embedding in the mouths of others:– Video 1: Fox News: ad hominem email– Video 2: Moveon Pac: Richard Clarke

Inverted Fallacy:Inverted Fallacy:

• "We assess that Baghdad has begun renewed production of mustard..."

• "Baghdad has begun renewed production of mustard...".

• Monday, July 12, 2004

Inverted Fallacy:Inverted Fallacy:

• "assesses that the tubes probably are not part of the [nuclear] program."

• "Most intelligence specialists assess this to be the intended use, but some believe that the tubes are probably intended to conventional weapons programs."

• Monday, July 12, 2004

USGSUSGSWarming will also cause reductions in the

mountain glaciers and advance the timing of the melt of mountain snow packs in the polar region. In turn, runoff rates will change and flood potential will be altered in ways that are currently not well understood. There will be significant shifts in the seasonality of runoff that will have serious impacts on native populations that rely on fishing and hunting for their livelihood. These changes will be further complicated by sifts in precipitation regimes and a possible intensification and increased frequency of extreme hydrologic events.

WhitehouseWhitehouse

• Warming could also lead to change in the water cycle in polar regions.

USGS & WHUSGS & WH

• The challenge for the USGCRP is to provide the best possible scientific basis for documenting, diagnosing and projecting...

• The challenge for the USGCRP is to provide the best possible scientific basis for documenting, understanding and projecting...

USGSUSGS

• In this new phase of the climate science programs, information that compares the potential consequences of different responses to global changes, including climate change, will be developed in a form useful to national debate and decision making.

WhitehouseWhitehouse

• In this new phase of the climate science programs, information that might allow comparison of the potential consequences of different responses to global changes, including climate change, will be pursued.

Fallacies of LanguageFallacies of Language

• Equivocation– Shifting the goalposts

• Straw Man– Quoting out of context

• Orwell / Luntz

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman"

I did not engage in any kind of sexual activity with that woman– When Clinton meant:

I did not have penetrative sex with that woman.

‘‘Last Throes’Last Throes’

BLITZER[The commander of the U.S. Military Central Command, Gen. John Abizaid] says that the insurgency now is at a strength undiminished as it was six months ago, and he says there are actually more foreign fighters in Iraq now than there were six months ago. That doesn't sound like the last throes.CHENEY: No, I would disagree. If you look at what the dictionary says about throes, it can still be a violent period -- the throes of a revolution. The point would be that the conflict will be intense, but it's intense because the terrorists understand if we're successful at accomplishing our objective, standing up a democracy in Iraq, that that's a huge defeat for them. They'll do everything they can to stop it.

Entertainment:Entertainment:

• See the exchange with Scott McClellan online – and Jon Stewart’s monologue on the topic! (dance scotty dance)

Others?Others?

• Bush ‘Victory’• PFA 11• SBV ‘Any Questions’

‘‘No True’No True’

• No true American can support al Queda

• No true Catholic can support Roe v Wade

Shifting the goal postsShifting the goal posts

• Dec 11, 2002: White house press release:

• Weapons of mass destruction pose a grave danger. They could allow America's adversaries to inflict massive harm against our country, our military forces abroad, and our friends and allies. Some rogue states, including several that support terrorism, already possess WMD and are seeking even greater capabilities, as tools of coercion. For them, these are weapons of choice intended to deter us from responding to their aggression against our friends in vital regions of interest. For terrorists, WMD would provide the ability to kill large numbers of our people without warning. They would give them the power to murder without conscience on a scale to match their hatred for our country and our values.

• G.W. Bush, Feb. 2003, in a speech to religions broadcasters

• "Chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained... ... Secretly, without fingerprints, Saddam Hussein could provide one of this hidden weapons to terrorists or help them develop their own. Saddam Hussein is a threat. He's a threat to the United States of America."

• Apr 29, 2003: White house press release• Saddam Hussein launched a large-scale

chemical weapons attack against Iraq's Kurdish population in the late 1980s, ... Saddam Hussein continues his efforts to develop chemical weapons: ...Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program before the Gulf War and continues his work to develop a nuclear weapon:...

• Jan 2004: State of the Union:• Some in this chamber, and in our country, did

not support the liberation of Iraq. Objections to war often come from principled motives. But let us be candid about the consequences of leaving Saddam Hussein in power. We're seeking all the facts. Already, the Kay Report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations. Had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day. Had we failed to act,... (State of the Union, 2004)

Straw ManStraw Man

– "heart and soul of America is found in Hollywood"

Kerry actually said, while in New York is this:– "Every performer tonight, in their own way,

either verbally or through their music, through their lyrics, have conveyed to you the heart and soul of our country"

Again:Again:"Today he said, and I quote, ‘We have traded

a dictator for a chaos that has left America less secure’. He’s saying he prefers the stability of a dictatorship to the hope and security of democracy."

What Kerry actually said is this:"Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who

deserves his own special place in hell. But that was not, that was not in and of itself, a reason to go to war. The satisfaction that we take in his downfall does not hide this fact: We have traded a dictator for a chaos that has left America left secure..."

Quoting out of contextQuoting out of context

Where would Christianity be if Jesus got eight to fifteen years with time off for good behavior?

-James Donovan, on the floor of the NY State Senate

(see google)

A testA testJudging by the most recent communications that we have

received from Afghanistan in the form of encrypted cables, as well as by telephone conferences... the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated sharply. There, as we know from the previous cables, [a division of the army] was stationed, and had restored order, but now we have received news that this division has essentially collapsed. An artillery regiment and one infantry regiment comprising that division have gone over to the insurgents. Bands of saboteurs and terrorists, having infiltrated from the territory of Pakistan, trained and armed not only with the participation of Pakistani forces but also of [a foreign power] are committing atrocities.. The insurgents infiltrating into the territory... from Pakistan and Iran have joined forces with domestic [resistance]. The latter is especially comprised of religious fanatics. The number of insurgents is difficult to determine, but our [commanders] tell us that they are thousands, literally thousands.

• Soviet General named Gromyko reporting to L.I. Breshnev on March 17, 1979.

in 1983, a Soviet journalist named Vladimir Danchev referred, on air, to the Soviet actions in Afghanistan as an 'invasion'. The Communist party preferred the term 'liberation', as Breshnev had pointed out, it can't be an invasion if the forces had been 'invited' in by the Government to help fight the terrorist, saboteurs and religious fanatics. Vladimir Danchev had the courage to call an invasion an 'invasion', and for that, the Soviets took him away to be 'cured' of his 'illness'.

Zell Miller, RNC 2004:Zell Miller, RNC 2004:

Frank Luntz’ Greatest HitsFrank Luntz’ Greatest Hits

• Changed the term 'Estate tax' to 'Death tax'. This change alone changed public opinion from overwhelmingly opposed to supporting — without any change in policy. Why? Because very few of us have estates. In fact, only the 1% who have estates will be affected by this tax. But we all die. So we all think that this tax will affect us. It won't. There was no change in policy. But perception is all that matters in politics, and the perception is that anything called a 'death tax' will affect us.

Frank Luntz’ Greatest HitsFrank Luntz’ Greatest Hits

• 'Climate Change' instead of 'global warming'. The impact of this has yet to be seen, as the environmental policies of this administration have been of little importance to the voters.

• Dubbed the relaxing of pollution controls the 'clear skies initiative'.

Frank Luntz’ Greatest HitsFrank Luntz’ Greatest Hits

• Encouraged the administration and Republican congressmen and women to use the term 'War on Terror' instead of 'War on Iraq'. Again, this is a part of the calculated strategy to conflate Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. But as three independent commissions have said, there was no connection. Al Queda came to Iraq after the US invasion.

• 'Tax relief' v 'tax cuts'. For example:

Frank Luntz’ Greatest HitsFrank Luntz’ Greatest Hits

• 'Nuclear Option' v 'constitutional option'. See below.

• On social security: 'privatization' v. 'personal accounts'.

• And most recently: the term 'people of faith' to describe ultraconservative judges who were blocked by Democrat filibuster.

‘‘Nuclear Option’Nuclear Option’

• The implication of 'nuclear option' is way too hot and extreme... Someone comes up with a cute phrase like 'nuclear option', and all of a sudden the debate is named. This is an example of how cute phrases can kill."– Frank Luntz, Quoted in the

Washington Post, May 17, 2005

So…So…

• Republicans started to use ‘constitutional option’ – Orrin Hatch did so explicitly on NPR– and started requiring all news organizations to follow suit (any that did not were labeled as displaying a ‘left-wing bias’).

The Irony?The Irony?

• The term 'nuclear option' was coined by Trent Lott (R-TX) when he was Minority leader in the Senate. At the time, the Republicans were filibustering President Clinton's judicial nominees in exactly the same way, and the Democrats were considering changing the rules by which the Majority can end debate on a nominee.

Back to Aristotle!Back to Aristotle!

• Recall that ‘anger’ was opposed to ‘calmness’, and that we feel kind towards “those who have done more kindness than we have done them”

• Thus, to make people feel kind towards us (or our cause) we should cultivate a sense that we have done more kindnesses to others than they have done to us.

Friendship and KindnessFriendship and Kindness

wishing for him what you believe to be good things, not for your own sake but for his, and being inclined, so far as you can, to bring these things about.(Book 2, S4 Rhetoric 1381b35)

1.Doing kindnesses2.doing them unasked3.not proclaiming the fact when they

are done, which shows that they were done for our own sake and not for some other reason.

Kindness, is then…Kindness, is then…

helpfulness towards some one in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped. (Book 2, S7 Rhetoric 1385a33)

EnmityEnmity

We can also see how to eliminate the idea of kindness and make our opponents appear unkind: we may maintain that they are being or have been helpful simply to promote their own interest — this, as has been stated, is not kindness; or that their action was accidental, or was forced upon them; or that they were not doing a favor, but merely returning one, whether they know this or not— in which case the action is a mere return, and is therefore not a kindness even in the latter case.

FearFear

• Johnson’s Daisy• Bush’s Horton• Shaw’s Dukakis question• Dukakis ‘Heartbeat’• Helms

Quick:Quick:

• If your involved in an accident, is it more safe to be in a car, a truck, or a bus?

Quick:Quick:

• If your involved in an accident, is it more safe to be in a car, a truck, or a bus?– Car: 513 deaths / 67,349 = 0.4%– Truck: 257 / 42,201 = 0.6%– Bus: 8 / 2,844 = 0.2%

Quick:Quick:

• In which state are you more likely to be killed by a drunk driver (by percentage of population)?– Texas– California– Maryland– New Mexico– Missouri

Quick:Quick:

• In which state are you more likely to be killed by a drunk driver (by percentage of population)?– Texas 1106 / 22,118,509 = 5 x10-5– California 1309 / 35,484,453 = 5.13 x

10-5– Maryland 176 / 5,508,909 = 9.8 x 10-

5– New Mexico 206 / 1,874,614 =10.9 x

10-5– Missouri217 / 5,704,484 = 3.8 x10-5

Rhetoric of fear:Rhetoric of fear:

• Tuesday, Sept 21: Sen Orrin Hatch (R, TX): “[terrorists] are going to throw everything the can between now and the election to try to elect Kerry”

• Sunday, Sept 19: Sen John Thune (R, SD): “His [Daschle’s] words embolden the enemy”

• Sat, Sept 18: Speaker Dennis Hastert (R IL): “I don’t have data or intelligence to tell me one thing or another, [but] I would think they [al Queda ] would be more apt to go [for] somebody who would file a lawsuit with the World Court or something rather than respond with troops.”

• When asked if al Queda would be more successful under Kerry: “That’s my opinion, yes”

• Fri, Sept 17: Dept. Sec. Of State Richard Armitage said terrorists in Iraq are “trying to influence the election against President Bush”

• Earlier this month: Cheney “If we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we’ll get hit again, that we’ll be hit in a way that will be devastating”

• And, when asked about the theme of the 3rd day of the RNC, one of the chair people of the convention said “Vote for Bush or die.”

• In 2001, Ashcroft said that critics of the Patriot act “only aid terrorists” and “give aid and ammunition to America’s enemies”

• In 2003: Rumsfeld said if terrorist think that Bush’s opponents might prevail, “they take heart in that, and that leads to more money going into these activities or that leads to more recruits or that leads to more encouragement.”

• In March, 2004, Rep Tom Cole (R OK): “If George Bush loses the election, Osama bin Laden wins the election”

• Anne Coulter (Fox News): “It’s unquestionable that Republicans are more likely to prevent the next attack” Kerry “will improve the economy in the emergency services and body bag industry”

• CNN’s Bill Schneider said al Queda “would very much like to defeat President Bush”

• Debate 1 question 1&2

• Those wolves…

Non-PoliticalNon-Political

Mark and Kelly were first-time parents who were blessed with a high-need baby — especially at night. They were sensitive and responsive parents, but one day a friend game them a cry-it-out book, with the admonition, "Now you'll be tempted to give in, but harden your hearts and in a few nights he'll sleep." As their one-year-old baby screamed, these sensitive parents stood sweating and hurting outside his door, afraid to go in and "break the rules." Each night baby's night waking decreased, as did the parents' attachment. Baby cried in a feeling of mistrust and cried the sensitivity right out of the parents. Previously Mark and Kelly had taken baby Matthew with them everywhere because they wanted to and it felt wrong to leave him. Well, it was now easier to leave him. Getaway weekends extended to getaway weeks. A distance developed between parents and baby. More was cried out of the family than only night waking.

AristotleAristotle

a pain or disturbance due to imagining some destructive or painful evil in the future (Book 2, S5)

So…So…

• We can’t fear something that has happened, unless we imagine it happening again

• We can't fear something that causes us only pleasure, unless we find pleasure painful.

BUT, there are some evils that don't cause us fear:– those that are a remote possibility or a long

way off in the future (like an asteroid strike), or

– those that don't cause great suffering to us (like environmental disaster).

Fear is caused by whatever is imagined to have great power and that power can cause us great pain or suffering directly and immediately.

Note: it's not the actual suffering that causes fear. We suffer after surgery, but we don't really fear recovery. The real cause of fear is the perception of the power to cause suffering; and it is accentuated if the power appears to be arbitrary, irrational or relentless

Things we fear:Things we fear:

• those those who have power to do something to us, have will to do it, and are on the point of doing it

• those who use their power unjustly• those whom we have harmed unjustly, if

they have any power at all• those who are feared by those stronger

than us• those who have destroyed those

stronger than us

• those who are attacking those weaker than us, for they might come after us when they get stronger

• Of these, we don't fear the passionate and outspoken, but the quite dissembling and unscrupulous, as the quietness gives them power

State of the Union, 2002State of the Union, 2002

Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror.  The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a decade.  This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens -- leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children.  This is a regime that agreed to international inspections -- then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.

States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.  By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger.  They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred.  They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States.  In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.

Aug 2002Aug 2002

• There should be no doubt in anybody's mind this man is thumbing his nose at the world, that he has gassed his own people, that he is trouble in his neighborhood, that he desires weapons of mass destruction. I will use all the latest intelligence to make informed decisions about how best to keep the world at peace, how best to defend freedom for the long run.

Sept 2002Sept 2002

The danger to our country is grave. The danger to our country is growing. The Iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons. The Iraqi regime is building the facilities necessary to make more biological and chemical weapons. And according to the British government, the Iraqi regime could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as 45 minutes after the order were given.

The regime has long-standing and continuing ties to terrorist organizations. And there are al Qaeda terrorists inside Iraq. The regime is seeking a nuclear bomb, and with fissile material, could build one within a year. Iraq has already used weapons of mass death against -- against other countries and against her own citizens. The Iraqi regime practices the rape of women as a method of intimidation; and the torture of dissenters and their children.

Conditions of FearConditions of Fear

• we only fear that which can actually happen to us (if it has happened before, or to someone similar, we'll fear it) [Environmental Devastation v. Pandemic flu v. Terrorist attack]

• we only fear those who have power over us [but not too much power – I.e. Iraq v. N. Korea or Iran]

• we only fear the immediate [Lung cancer]

ConfidenceConfidence

• it is the opposite of fear, and what causes it is the opposite of what causes fear; it is, therefore, the imaginative expectation of the nearness of what keeps us safe and the absence or remoteness of what is terrible: it may be due wither to the near presence of what inspires confidence or to the absence of what causes alarm.

• One word: Ashley

Great Uses of FearGreat Uses of Fear

• http://soundsofhistory.com/ChurchillAndRoosevelt.html– “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears

and sweat.“… (3:00)– ‘We will fight them on the Beaches…’

(10:00)

• Churchill’s inauguration of the Battle of Britain

• MP3 Clip

ShameShame

• ‘Married to Mommy’

..Not to be underthought, VP Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld also rushed to Gitmo's defense. Cheney advanced the masterful thesis that the camp had to be kept open because it held "bad guys." Rumsfeld claimed it must stay open because taxpayers had invested $100 million US to build it and spend $90 million annually to run it. The Senate majority leader, Republican Bill Frist, added, "to cut and run because of image problems is the wrong thing to do." Brilliant, Bill. In an earlier time, you might have advised: "Mein Fuhrer, ignore all that stupid criticism of our concentration camps. Stand firm!" Fortunately, decent Americans find the Guantanamo gulag an outrageous violation of everything the nation stands for. Former president Jimmy Carter, who has become the country's conscience in a time of growing totalitarian impulses, demanded it be closed, as have a growing number of legislators, including the Republican party's most courageous senator, Chuck Hegel. ...

Sen. John McCain, himself a former POW, is right to call for speedy trials of Guantanamo's inmates and an end to their indefinite jailing. But the past three years have shown that people charged with terrorism are unlikely to get fair trials in post-9/11 America. A military defense lawyer told Congress this week his superiors warned that if he represented a prisoner at Gitmo, "only a guilty plea would be accepted" -- shades of the U.S.S.R. ...Guantanamo violates the Geneva Conventions, international and U.S. law. There are reports that in the rest of the secret U.S. gulags in Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Diego Garcia, even worse crimes are being committed against those suspected of anti-U.S. activities. ...Guantanamo, just 150 km from Miami, is not a problem of image. It is an arrant violation of every American value. It's worthy of KGB. Close this disgrace now.

ShameShame

• pain or disturbance in regard to bad things, whether present, past, or future, which seem likely to involve us in discredit; and shamelessness as contempt or indifference in regard to these same bad things.

• things we think are disgraceful to ourselves or to those we care for.

– For example: throwing away one's shield, for that is cowardly; having 'carnal intercourse' with forbidden persons, for that is due to 'licentiousness'; making profit in petty or disgraceful ways, or at the expense of the poor, for that is due to greed...

• In money matters: giving less help than you can, accepting help from those worse off, borrowing when it will seem like begging, begging when it will seem like asking for the return of a favor,...

PityPity

• You asked for it!

PityPity

• a feeling of pain at an apparent evil, destructive or painful, which befalls one who does not deserve it, and which we might expect to befall ourselves or some friend of ours, and moreover to befall us soon.

Note:Note:

those who imagine themselves immensely fortunate — their feeling is rather insolence, for when they think they possess all the good things of life, it is clear that impossibility of evil befalling them will be included, this being one of the good things in question. Those who think evil may befall them are such as have already had it befall them and have safely escaped from it; elderly men, owing to their good sense and the their experience; weak men, especially men inclined towards cowardice; and also educated people, since these can take long views.

Those who are likely to Those who are likely to feel pity:feel pity:

• those who have dependents (children, elderly parents, etc) to worry about, for they understand that evil befall their dependents through no fault of their own,

• those who believe in the goodness of people, for those who believe others totally bad cannot believe that the evil that befalls others is undeserved,

• those who remember some undeserved evil that has befallen them, but who are not currently in danger, for in those cases, the primary concern is themselves.

Those toward whom we Those toward whom we are likely to feel pity:are likely to feel pity:

• those whom we know, so long as they are not closely related (for if they were, we would suffer as well),

• those who are like us in character, age, disposition, social standing or birth, for it makes us think that we are vulnerable to the same evil,

• those who are suffering now, or just recently, for we don't feel pity for those who suffered hundreds of years ago

• those with 'noble character', for the suffering is undeserved.

IndignationIndignation

• Pity = bad things happen to those who don’t deserve them.

• Indignation = good things happen to those who don’t deserve them

ExamplesExamples

• Michael Moore’s use of Bush ‘fool me once’

• SBV (again)

ExamplesExamples

• Michael Moore’s use of Bush ‘fool me once’

• SBV (again)

EnvyEnvy

• You guessed it: eHarmony

• envy is a pain at seeing good fortune befall our equals – Good fortune befalling our those who

are less talented, less deserving, worse than us = indignation

– Good fortune befalling those who are more talented, more deserving, better than us = emulation

People who are likely to People who are likely to feel envy:feel envy:

• those who have much, but not everything

• those who are distinguished, esp. for wisdom or good fortune, for they often need to be more distinguished, or worry about someone overtaking them

• ambitious men, especially those who aim at reputation, for they are never satisfied

• small-minded men, for they feel everyone is great

People toward whom we People toward whom we are likely to feel envyare likely to feel envy

• those with undeserved goods• those who have the same ends as us• those with whom compete in love and

sport• those whose possession of a thing is a

reproach on us (say, if there is only one, and he or she has it)

• those who have what we believe we ought to have (success, money, etc), or have what we once had, but have lost (youth, e.g.)

EmulationEmulation

• a pain caused by seeing the presence, in persons whose nature is like our own, of those things that are highly values and are possible for ourselves to acquire; but it is felt not because others have these goods [which is envy], but because we have not got them ourselves.

Those towards whom we Those towards whom we feel emulationfeel emulation

• those of lofty positions, if we believe that they are deserving of those positions

• those to whom we are related, for we believe them our equals, and hence, that we are deserving of what they get

• those who have the ability to give pleasure to their friends and neighbors, as we would like to do it.

FlatteryFlattery

• Edwards Closing• Dell• Liz Taylor

DellDell

Liz TaylorLiz Taylor

HopeHope

• Debate 3, closing statement• Kerry Ad, ‘jobs’

EthosEthos

Ashley

WineWine

7UP7UP

TrustTrust

• Who do we trust?– Those we know.

Kerry Identity 1Kerry Identity 1

Kerry Identity 3Kerry Identity 3

TrustTrust

• Who do we trust?– Those we know. – Those with whom we share values.

Bush Values 1Bush Values 1

Bush Values 2Bush Values 2

Kerry Values 1Kerry Values 1

Kerry Values 2Kerry Values 2

TrustTrust

• Who do we trust?– Those we know. – Those with whom we share values.

• Who to undermine trust?– Undermine public biography– Undermine perception of shared

values• Do I really have to tell you where

I’m going with this?

Cultivating IdentityCultivating Identity

Campaigns that workedCampaigns that worked

• Credit cards• Fashion• Cars• AND: Product placement

The Last Ride!The Last Ride!

• Eeek!

The King:The King:

Oddities, Fallacies, and Oddities, Fallacies, and other bad arguments:other bad arguments:

• Analogies• Enthymemes

– Example– Authority– Maxims

• Miscellaneous Fallacies

AnalogyAnalogy

Anti-miscegenation laws were supported via a 'defense of traditional marriage'.

Anti-gay marriage laws are supported via a 'defense of traditional marriage'.

1)Anti-miscegenation laws were discriminatory

2)anti-miscegenation and anti-gay marriage laws are alike because:

Therefore:Therefore:

• Anti-gay marriage laws are discriminatory.

EnthymemesEnthymemes

• small change (12:32:26 p.m.)– Nope , I was a limited resource before the

market and now I am not sure that any market activity is a good idea. I am considering investing in a fireproof mattress and hoarding gold.

• Dan Seiver (12:34:33 p.m.)– It is always darkest before the dawn!

• ajw (12:36:11 p.m.)– So, do you think we're close to a "dawn"?

• Dan Seiver (12:36:56 p.m.)– getting close!!!

My favorite example in the My favorite example in the entire semester:entire semester:

Now, I am terrible when it comes to guys. I think he's interested in me, but it seems like once we have a connection, we both back off and kind of freak out. I really want something to happen, but I don't know a) if he's interested in the first place, or b) how to let him know I'm interested without making the work environment weird. (Someone mentioned another woman here who was interested in him, and his response was, "You don't shit where you eat.") Am I crazy? Should I back off and see if he pursues me? Should I make my intentions known?

What the hell?What the hell?

How is 'don't shit where you eat' supposed to constitute an argument?

A deduction dealing with practical subjects. (S21, Rhetoric)

But, for the most part, we mean:

An enthymeme is an argument that has one or more premises implied or assumed, not mentioned explicitly.

Enthymemes and Enthymemes and Analogies:Analogies:ExamplesExamples

Enthymemes, Authority Enthymemes, Authority and Analogies: Examplesand Analogies: Examples

• EJ Dionne ‘Conservative’• Stalin and Bin Laden• The Nazis and Everyone

ExampleExample

• An argument from example is any incomplete argument, or enthymeme, that references a event, past, present or fictional, to make the case. The event is not used as data point in an inductive argument to establish a general conclusion, or as an analogy pre se. It is used as a kind of illustrative case or paradigmatic example for the current situation.

AuthorityAuthority

• Pat Robertson• Dr. Phil• Etc...One produces an argument from

authority if the only reason given in support of a conclusion is the endorsement of a putative authority in the field.

Other Character-basedOther Character-basedpersuasionspersuasions

• “Help, Mom, there are liberals under the bed!”

• “Why Mommy is a democrat”• http://

www.brawnyman.com/products/ads.html

• And: http://www.brawnyman.com/innocentescapes/indexbroadband.html

Arguments from AnalogyArguments from Analogy

1. A and B are alike with respect to {a, b, c …}

2. A has property x.3. Therefore, B likely has property x.

Attack it here

Either that {a, b, c…} are not relevant to having x – or that B does not share {a, b, c…} with A.

When animal models go When animal models go bad:bad:

Cont’dCont’d

"Once we understand the biology of Escherichia coli, we will

understand the biology of an elephant".

Jacques Monod.

ModelingModeling

• Models (of all sorts, but particularly animal models) are analogies – so are we to discard all animal experimentation?

Animal Model hall of fame:Animal Model hall of fame:

The Thalidomide TragedyThe Thalidomide Tragedy

• Thalidomide is a anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant that was prescribed to expectant mothers in the 1950s

• Thalidomide is a teratogen in a few rabbit breeds and in seven species of primates.

• It is not a teratogen in at lest 10 rat strains, 15 mice strains, 11 rabbit breeds, two dog breeds, three hamster strains, and eight species of primate.

In reverse:In reverse:

• Aspirin, insulin, epinephrine, and certain antibiotics (I don’t know which) are known to cause malformations in rodents

Argument from analogyArgument from analogy

• A and B are alike with respect to properties {a, b, c…}

• A has property x • Therefore, B should have property

x as well.

Argument from model:Argument from model:

• A and B are functionally isomorphic with respect to properties {1, 2, 3…}

• A has the functional property n • Functional isomorphism usually

betrays similar underlying structures.

• Therefore, B should have functional property n as well.

Argument from model:Argument from model:

• A and B are functionally isomorphic with respect to properties {a, b, c…}

• A has the functional property x • Functional isomorphism usually

betrays similar mechanism.• Therefore, B should have

functional property x as well.

A Question:A Question:

• Is the Thalidomide story a case of pseudo-science, or just science done badly?

• Is this evidence that animal models are unreliable, or is it just that these studies were poorly performed?

Problems for Many Problems for Many Sciences.Sciences.

• How do we observe / experiment on the internal workings of something (I.e. cognition)?

Sternberg’s ExperimentSternberg’s Experiment

Sternberg’s ResultsSternberg’s Results

Response Time = 398+38(S)Gravitational Force =

(A constant called G) x (mass of first object) x (mass of second object)(the square of the distance between them)

MechanismMechanism

MechanismMechanism

MechanismMechanism

MechanismMechanism

MechanismMechanism

Models & Mechanisms:Models & Mechanisms:

• Mechanism: entities and activities organized to produce a phenomenon (teleological?)

• Entities and activities organized in such a way as to realize a functional role.

‘‘Model’?Model’?• A Model is a description of some

phenomena / onA model is verdical insofar as corresponds to the actual phenomena it seeks to model. (‘fit’)

A model, just like a ‘law’ or a ‘theory’ explains phenomena / on and can be used to make predictions about novel / unobserved aspects of the phenomena it seeks to model.

Therefore, it is plays the same roll as ‘law’ or ‘theory’ in the H-D method or D-N model of explanation.

ModelsModels

Modeling

Formulae relating observables

Investigation of underlying structure

‘Mathematical Models’ in Psych Discovered Models Invented Models

‘Experimental Systems’

MathematicalSymbolic

Neural Network

V = d/t

F=ma

Categorization of different Categorization of different Models / Systems:Models / Systems:

1st use: relating observables1st use: relating observables

• The most simple use of a mathematical model is to fit a mathematical function to some data collected in an experiment. That function can then be used to make predictions about novel or unobserved behavior.

• Sternberg’s Memory Scanning Model – Response Time = 398 + 38(Memory Set

Size)

• De Castro and Brewer – Intake of food = s(Number of People

Present)0.22

Sternberg’s ResultsSternberg’s Results

Response Time = 398+38(S)Intake = s(People)0.22

Gravitational Force = (A constant called G) x (m1) x (m2)(d2)

The importance of The importance of Mathematical Models:Mathematical Models:

Quick: what is the most famous mathematical model in the US right now?

The BCS FormulaThe BCS Formula

• ‘Fit’?• Data: team record, opponent’s

record (‘strength of schedule’), poll rankings over the season, team losses & ‘quality wins’.

Example: Oklahoma 2000?Example: Oklahoma 2000?

• AP & Coaches poll end of season rank = 1.

• Average rank over the course of the season= 1.86.

• Average of AP & Coaches poll + average over season = 2.86.

• (Thanks to Richard Billingsley at ESPN for the explanation).

Strength of scheduleStrength of schedule

• Add the opponent’s records together = 73 Wins, 62 losses.

• Drop wins against teams that were not 1-A, and you have 70W.

• Drop losses from opponent’s schedule that were against OK, and you get 50 losses.

• Total: 70 Wins, 50 losses.

Opponent’s winning %.Opponent’s winning %.

• The winning percentage is 70/120 = 58.3% or 0.583.

• 0.583 * 2/3 = 0.3889• Do the same ‘opponent’ calculation for

each of the opponent’s opponents and weight it by 1/3 = 0.1749

• Add these 2 together and you get 0.5638

Now…Now…

• Rank all the teams according to this ‘strength of schedule’. OK is 11th

• Finally, take that rank / 25 = 0.44.

• Add ‘Team losses’ (0 for OK) and ‘Quality wins’ (0 for OK).

• Add that to ‘Poll average’ and you get 3.30.

New BCS:New BCS:

•I. Harris Interactive Poll (1/3rd) Replaces the AP Poll. The first poll will be released September 25, then weekly through December 4. A team's score in the Harris poll will be divided by 2,825, which is the maximum number of points any team can receive if all 113 voting members rank the same team as Number 1. (Example: 2,825 / 2,825 = 1.0. If a team receives a total of 113 voting points, an average of 25th place, their BCS quotient of this component would be .04. (1.0 / 25 = 0.04).

New BCS:New BCS:•

II. Coaches Poll (1/3rd)A team's score in the USA Today poll will be divided by 1,550, which is the maximum number of points any team can receive if all 62 voting members rank the same team as Number 1. (Example: 1,550 / 1,550 = 1.0. If a team receives a total of 62 voting points, an average of 25th place, their BCS quotient of this component would be .04. (1.0 / 25 = 0.04.)

(Better understanding the polls: In both human polls, voting members fill out their own top 25 rankings ballot. Each team receives 1-25 points in reverse order of the way they are ranked. The 25th place team on each ballot receives 1 point, 24th place gets 2 points, 23rd receives 3 points... first place receives 25 points.)

New BCS:New BCS:

•

III. Computer rankings (1/3rd) Six computer ranking systems will participate. The highest and lowest rating of each team will be thrown out and the remaining four will be averaged. The current participating computer rankings are:

Peter WolfeWes ColleySagarin Seattle Times Richard Billingsley Kenneth Massey

New BCS:New BCS:

•A = Harris PollB = Coaches PollC = Throw out the high and low of the six computer rankings for each team. Add the remaining four. Divide that total by four.Result: A+B+C = Total Score (thanks to collegefootballpoll.com for the

explanation)http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/bcs_standings.htmlhttp://www.collegefootballpoll.com/bcs_explained.html

‘‘Mathematical’?Mathematical’?

– Obvious: algebra / calculus– Recursive functions– Game Theory

• Other kinds of models– Physical (geology)– Virtual

• Neural Network• Symbolic

– Animal• In Vitro• In vivo

Scientific Reasoning Scientific Reasoning ConclusionConclusion

If I’m right that the main structure of explanation in scientific inquiry is the investigation of underlying mechanisms, then…

1. Correlational / observational studies are primarily used for establishing the parameters of the mechanism’s behavior.

2. Modeling is a fundamental, essential part of scientific activity.

3. Models serve the same roll in scientific inquiry as Popper’s ‘laws’ – they entail falsifiable predictions.

4. The line between science & pseudoscience is more clear:

Psychology v. AstrologyPsychology v. Astrology

Phenomenon explained / predicted: human behavior and personality.Mechanism: beliefs and desires interact to determine human behavior, which beliefs and desires get precedence in any one choice is influenced by the hodge-podge of previous experiences and genetic dispositions we call ‘personality’.

Phenomenon explained / predicted: human behavior and personality.Mechanism: the forces of the planets at time of birth.

Biology v. Creation Biology v. Creation ScienceScience

Phenomenon to be explained: Variation of species over time and space.Mechanism: Natural Selection (random mutations are replicated if they help the creature reproduce by (a) increasing survival in the environment (b) changing the number of offspring the creature has or (c) increasing the chances that that will creature mate.)

Phenomenon to be explained: Variation of species over time and space.Mechanism: ?

Evaluating Competing Evaluating Competing MechanismsMechanisms

Ptolemaic Astronomy

Phenomenon:

Copernican Astronomy

Phenomenon:

Parameters:Parameters:

Fit the location of the planets & stars in the sky(They’re equal on this one)

“Other” External Values:The Copernican system is far simpler

and more elegant.

Venus

VenusVenus

Galileo deduced that:If the Ptolemaic system is correct, then

Venus should not show phases. AndIf the Copernican system is correct, the

Venus should show phases.Venus shows phases.Therefore, the Ptolemaic system is not

correct.

REVOLUTION!REVOLUTION!

‘‘Real’ Revolutions as Real’ Revolutions as metaphor.metaphor.

• Scientific Revolutions are those ‘non-cumulative developmental episodes in which an older paradigm is replaced in whole or in part by an incompatible one’ Thomas Kuhn The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Analogical points:Analogical points:

1. Revolutions are inaugurated by a ‘growing sense, often restricted to a segment of the political community, that existing institutions have ceased to adequately meet the problems posed by an environment that they have in part created’

2. Revolutions often seem revolutionary only to those whose paradigms are affected to them.

3. Success of a revolution necessitates, in part, the ‘relinquishment of one set of institutions in favor of another, an in the interim, society is not governed by institutions at all.’

Conclusion:Conclusion:

• Well, that’s the point:– During revolutions, society is divided

into competing camps or parties – one seeking to defend the old, others seeking to replace it with new.

– (There may be competing new camps as well)

– Once that kind of polarization occurs, political recourse fails.

• The parties are fighting over the legitimacy of institutions by which political decisions can be made – for that very reason, there is no political mechanism for adjudicating between the parties.

• So, the parties must ‘take to the streets’ – appeal to something other than political will (such as God, history, etc) or resort to force.

• The success of the winner is determined not by political institutions, but by extrapolitical institutions – by the very fact that they replace those institutions by which they legitimize themselves.

Therefore, by analogy…Therefore, by analogy…

• Scientific revolutions gain legitimacy not by factors internal to science, but by extra-scientific methods, such as social factors. And this is precisely because the issue at stake is the legitimacy of factors internal to science.

Some analogies are just Some analogies are just better than othersbetter than others

1) How many properties are, in fact, shared between the target and the analogical organism?

2) Are the shared properties relevant to the predicated property (conclusion)?

3) How varied are the instances used in the analogical case? (i.e. the problem with Thalydomide studies)

Fallacies:Fallacies:

• Hasty analogy (too few properties)• Irrelevant analogy (properties not

relevant)• Shallow analogy (no robust data

available)

Attacking Authority?Attacking Authority?

• You know this already: it's all about trust – and we undermine trust just like we undermine character: attack the motivations, the public biography, the qualifications, etc.

ExampleExample

In early 2005, it was revealed that the Bush administration had paid Armstrong Williams, a conservative commentator and columnist $241,000 to promote their "No Child Left Behind" act in his newspaper columns and appearances on the talk shows.

Is Mr. Williams a legitimate authority on the subject of educational policy?

FundamentalismFundamentalism

The site you are about to enter contains the Gospel truth on an important, hot-button issue. This Gospel truth includes, but is not limited to: Sodomy is an abominable sin, worthy of death. "If a man also lie with mankind..." -Godhatesfags.com

Warning!!! To God's Elect: Leave Sweden NoW!!! "And I head another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Rev. 18:4

... Sweden's doom is no irreversible! With the imprisonment of Ake Green, Swedes have allowed the filthy sodomite agenda to be completely fulfilled.. With this act, Sweden has drawn to it the wrath and mocking of God! "I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you...

THANK GOD FOR ALL DEAD SWEDES!!!

... Unconfirmed numbers of Swedes are dead as a result of the tsunamis which ravaged Thailand and the other lush resorts of that region, and thousands more are unaccounted for, either still rotting in the tropical conditions or buried, as they deserve, as asses in mass graves (see Jeremiah 22:19). Scarcely a family in Sweden has been untouched by the devastation. Bible preachers say, THANK GOD for it all!

The living GOD that created us made us to be two halves of a whole, male and female (it was Adam and Even, not Adam and Steve). Scripture says that homosexuality is an abomination before GOD...

Quick history of the Quick history of the movementmovement

• In 1920, a journalist and Baptist layman named Curtis Lee Laws appropriated the term 'fundamentalist' as a designation for those who were ready "to do battle royal for the Fundamentals." (http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/fund.html)

1925: Daily Mail 24 May 8: Mr. William Jennings Bryan... has been exerting the full force of his great eloquence in a campaign on behalf of what is termed 'Fundamentalism'. (OED)

1922 Contemp. Rev. July 20 The fundamentalist creed. Ibid. 21 The Fundamentalists have been fortunate in their non-ministerial leader [sc. W. J. Bryan].

Basic theses:Basic theses:

• A commitment to a particular text as the authority in all matters, and the belief that their interpretation of that text is literal, that is, uninterpreted.

• A rejection of all other forms of reasoning and knowledge formation, especially empirical science.

• The use of violent language and imagery, especially when talking about those who reject their interpretation.

Another Form of authority: Another Form of authority: ‘folk’ wisdom‘folk’ wisdom

• We have a saying in the United States, it's a saying that "friends don't let friends drive drunk". Ladies and gentlemen, we have an alcoholic at the wheel of American foreign policy, named George W. Bush, and we the people of the United States of America need your assistance to reach in, grab the keys from the ignition and say no, we will not allow you to drive the vehicle of international peace and security over the cliff of war. Thank you very much for being here today. Thank you.– Scott Rider, UN Weapons inspector, Hyde

Park Corner

MaximsMaxims

1)Friends don't let friends drive drunk2)Bush is drunk, and the President

'drives' the country.3)England is a friend of the US.4)Therefore, England shouldn't let

Bush drive the US.

Question: Will the US administration manage to forget our disagreements? As soon as the war began, you, Mr. Vershbow, hinted that America might make some decisions not in favor of Russia.

Vershbow: Of course, the harshness of our disagreements, especially in the course of the last debates in the UN, caused strong displeasure among Americans. One of instances of this displeasure was the draft law aimed at punishing Russian companies by excluding them from the process of restoration of Iraq. However, the US administration has not supported this draft law.

We have a saying: "It takes two to tango." We need to give up ideological arguments and start practical cooperation.

There is no part of the means placed in the hands of the Executive which might be used with greater effect for unhallowed purposes than the control of the public press. The maxim which our ancestors derived from the mother country that "the freedom of the press is the great bulwark of civil and religious liberty" is one of the most precious legacies which they have left us. We have learned, too, from our own as well as the experience of other countries, that golden shackles, by whomsoever or by whatever pretense imposed, are as fatal to it as the iron bonds of despotism. The presses in the necessary employment of the Government should never be used "to clear the guilty or to varnish crime." A decent and manly examination of the acts of the Government should be not only tolerated, but encouraged.

• Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1841

• When two elephants fight... Nigeria, “the grass,” suffers: An editorial in "KWENU", a Nigerian web site. In this case, the elephants are the US and the UK. The grass is Nigeria.

• Medicine for Dry Bone: A sermon from a United Methodist minister, reprinted on a Christian inspirational web site. In this case, the elephants are parents, and the grass is their children.

• Armed Conflict and Environment - Enviro Fact Sheet 24: A 'fact sheet' distributed by the South African grocery store chain 'Pick and Pay'. In this case, the elephants are the two sides in a number of armed conflicts in Africa, and the grass is the environment.

• The $200 million disinformation campaign: Social Security privatization cabal will break the bank to convince you to break yourself. An editorial on 'WorkingForChange.com', the publication of Working Assets Long Distance, a telecom company that donates its profits to progressive causes. In this case, the elephants are the two sides are trial lawyers and big business, the grass is the American voter.

Fallacies of Relevance Fallacies of Relevance ClassifiedClassified

• ad hominems• Appeals to Authority• Appeals to Emotion• Non Sequetors• Red Herrings

ad hominems Classifiedad hominems Classified

• ad hominems– ad hominem (basic) = irrelevant personal

information• Abusive / Humiliation:

The funniest ad hominem in the history of Televised debates.

• Circumstantial (Of course you support tax cuts, you’re wealthy)

– Common Abusive forms:• Poisoning the well = preemptive attack• ‘Genetic’ fallacy = attacking the origin of the idea (the

idea’s history), not the idea itself• Guilt by association = attacking an idea because of

those who have held it in the past

– To Quoque = “You too”• inconsistency

AbusiveAbusive

• Abusive ad hominems QUAYLE: I have as much experience in the

Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency. I will be prepared to deal with the people in the Bush administration, if that unfortunate event would ever occur.

WOODRUFF: Senator Bentsen.BENTSEN: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I

knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy. (Prolonged shouts and applause)

CircumstantialCircumstantial

• Circumstances = the circumstances of the individual attacked, instead of their argument– Note: There are ‘good’ cases of this –

I.e. self-interest. Think of Enron, or Haliburton

Appeal to MoneyAppeal to Money

• Equating cost (or lack thereof) w/ value– That’s expensive, therefore it is good.– (Linux): It’s free, therefore it must

suck.– Anyone seen that ad for Focusyn (?)

where the woman says “The let you try it free – it must be good!”

Appeal to Age / NoveltyAppeal to Age / Novelty

• Equating youth (the latest) w/ value– It’s new (young) therefore, it must be

good– Netscape 7

Poisoning the wellPoisoning the well

• “There he goes again”• “My opponent is going to propose

lots of big new social programs”• “Let me introduce the next guest.

An columnist known for her wildly liberal views…”

‘‘Genetic’ FallacyGenetic’ Fallacy

• Atheists often have difficult relationships with their fathers. That’s why they can’t accept the truth of the Heavenly father.

• Careful: History does tell us important things, and many, many people who make arguments seem totally unaware of history (I.e. the people who wrote The Bell Curve, but Gould will make that point for me).

To QuoqueTo Quoque

• Explicit: “How can you call me … when you … all the time!” (Flip-flopper?)

• Subtle: Attacking consistency: How can you call your self a vegetarian, when you would accept life-saving drugs that were tested on animals!

• Related: What you would do, given the chance. “Make no mistake, he would do the same thing to me if he could!”

• "Rich hire lawyers and accountants for a reason — to stick you with the bill. We’re not going to let him tax you, because we’re going to win…" Bush: (quoted in EJ Dionne's column, Washington Post September 24, 2004).

InconsistencyInconsistency

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds– Ralph Waldo Emerson ‘self-reliance’

EmersonEmersonThe other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence

for our past act or word because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them.

But why should you keep your head over your shoulder? Why drag about this corpse of your memory, lest you contradict somewhat you have stated in this or that public place? Suppose you should contradict yourself; what then? It seems to be a rule of wisdom never to rely on your memory alone, scarcely even in acts of pure memory, but to bring the past for judgment into the thousand-eyed present, and live ever in a new day. In your metaphysics you have denied personality to the Deity, yet when the devout motions of the soul come, yield to them heart and life though they should clothe God with shape and color. Leave your theory, as Joseph his coat in the hand of the harlot, and flee.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.--"Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood."--Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.

RecentRecent

• 'John Kerry and the liberals in congress'

• Bush PFA 02• NARAL's ad on John Roberts (video)

Non SequetorNon Sequetor

Red HerringRed Herring

Guilt by associationGuilt by association

• Hilter cited Nietzsche in Mien Campf.

• Therefore, Nietzsche is dangerous.

• An Anarchist assassinated W. McKinley in 1908 (?), and Anarchists started the Hay Market Sq. Riot in 1889. Therefore, all anarchists are bomb-throwing, gun-toting lunatics.