Criteria for Cause and Effect

One concept that I found interesting in Chapter 15 of Epstein’s text was the criteria for cause and effect. First and foremost, the cause and effect of the argument must have occurred and must be true, otherwise this concept cannot be applied. Second, the cause must come before the effect and cannot be reversed. It is also not possible for the cause to be true and the effect to be false (and vice versa). Additionally, “the cause makes a difference” (pg 307). In other words, if the cause had not occurred in the past, there would not be an effect resulting in no cause in the first place. Finally, the last necessary factor is that “there is no common cause” (pg 307). All of these need to be applicable to the argument in the current situation otherwise the concept of cause and effect cannot be used and applied in the scenario.

Mission Critical Website

Along with the Cause and Effect website, the Mission Critical website was another outside source that was extremely useful because it had so much valuable information on just about every topic we had discussed throughout the semester in this class. The organization of this website was also very helpful because it laid everything out and made it simple for students to find the topic that they needed more information on whatever topic they found to be a little confusing or not clear. Just like the Cause and Effect website, the Mission Critical website also came along with different exercises for every single concept that was explained. Having the exercises there made it so much easier because they also were given a detailed explanation as to why that was the answer and how come it was a better choice than any other one. I am very glad that there are sites like these out there on the web because they help out students a lot more than a simple textbook can. They also encourage students to try to use other resources outside of the text so that they can understand the concept from different perspectives.

Usefulness of the Cause and Effect Website

I thought that the Cause and Effect website was extremely helpful. It makes it so much easier for me and perhaps a few others to understand something when it is organized and that is exactly what was presented on the website. Everything was explained in simple terms and in great detail so just about anyone could understand the material and take something from it. I also really liked how the author of the website took the examples that he or she gave and broke them down and provided reasoning behind each one of why it would be better or worse and whatnot. Additionally, the exercises that came along with the website were very useful and beneficial to the reader. They were a good variety of questions that asked each reader about what they had learned in the passage and challenged them to think about what would be the right answer instead of what most exercises do by making it so simple that the answer is obvious.

Fallacy of Composition

One concept that I had found in Epstein’s text was towards the end of the chapter. The concept fallacy of composition is when the truth of an individual is also true for a group of individuals in an argument. This concept could also ring true if the truth for a group of individuals is also true for one individual. This concept can be seen in reasoning by analogy because most individuals come up with their analogies from groups and individuals. However, since the groups and individuals are so different it sometimes is too good to be true for the analogy to be valid. Although this concept is not discussed in detail in the text, I still thought it was interesting because I have not been able to find an example in my life because throughout this entire course, I have always been able to find an example in my life however this is the one time I have not been able to.

Reasoning by Criteria

The type of reasoning that I thought was a little difficult to understand was reasoning by criteria. After doing additional research, I was able to fully understand the definition of this concept. Reasoning by criteria is when you come to a conclusion or premise that is backed up by certain information or facts that are related to the argument. In other words, you make your conclusion based on the given information that you have about the person or situation at hand. One example could be that your best friend loves sports and in particular football. You tried really hard to think of the perfect Christmas gift for him that he has not gotten before, but you cannot find anything. You rely on the information that you know about him (the fact that he likes sports especially football) in order to narrow down your options for possible gifts. After coming up with different ideas, you result to giving him an authentic jersey of his favorite player.

Examples of the Different Types of Reasoning

Reasoning by Analogy- Students are like worker bees because they are constantly studying and doing work for their classes.

Sign Reasoning- When the fire alarm is going off in the kitchen, something is burning.

Casual Reasoning- The girls all got food poisoning when they were at the restaurant. They all ordered different entrees but had the same appetizer so they must have gotten sick from the appetizer.

Reasoning by Criteria- My friend likes giraffes so I sent her a giraffe birthday card.

Reasoning by Example- You should really learn how to cook. My dad never learned so now he has to rely on my mom for just about every meal throughout the day.

Inductive- Every morning I wake up and make my bed before I do anything else so tomorrow morning when I wake up, I will make my bed before anything else.0020

Deductive- All students must take English 1A/B and pass the WST in order to enroll in upper division courses. Julie is a student at SJSU therefore she must take English 1A/B and pass the WST in order to begin her upper division courses.

Appeal to Emotion Continued

One idea that I thought was interesting that I found in the reading was the box on page 194 at the very bottom that stated “An appeal to emotion in an argument with a prescriptive conclusion can be good or can be bad.” On the next page, the box in the middle states that “Any appeal to emotion with a descriptive conclusion is bad, if the appeal cannot be deleted as premise.” I found this to be very interesting because in previous chapters, we have learned that we are supposed to elaborate in communication, yet in this chapter, it is telling us to avoid giving as much detail as possible in order to use the concept of appeal to emotion correctly in a discussion. Although what the textbook is saying makes sense, I found it very interesting because I sometime catch myself not giving as much detail as I normally would in order to make a good argument.

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3. Find  an advertisement that uses an appeal to fear. Is it a good argument?

Although I could not find the example online, I saw a commercial on TV a few days ago for Allstate Insurance. It showed a someone who was in a car accident all alone and then all of a sudden, someone else comes to help them along with a police officer, tow truck, and then their insurance agent. As the commercial continues, there are images of the individual who was in the car wreck being supported by all who had arrived on the scene and at the close of the commercial, it says something along the lines of “Aren’t you glad that you’re in good hands?” This is a perfect example in regards to the concept of appeal to fear because it shows the other side of the concept that could be seen positively. Even though it does not directly put viewers into a fearful state, it does urge them to change their insurance policy from whatever it was before to Allstate because their customers “are in good hands.”

Appeal to Emotion

The concept of Appeal to Emotion is an argument that is greatly affected by one’s emotions regarding the idea. If the argument brings up a point that results in affecting an individual’s feelings, this concept could be applied. There are many different subtypes to this concept. One is appeal to pity which is when an individual feels sympathy for a certain individual or cause and makes them want to reach out and help. Another type is appeal to fear which is commonly used in campaigns. This type makes individuals feel like they have to do whatever the speaker is saying or else everything could be their fault. An example could be found in the campaign ads for the upcoming election. Many advertisements leave individuals fearful for the future if they do not cast their vote. Because of this, many voters consider what the advertisement says in order to avoid whatever could come in the future. Appeal to spite, another subtype to the concept of appeal to emotion, is all about revenge and the common belief that two wrongs make a right. The Appeal to Emotion that strikes me is appeal to fear because I have seen so much of it recently especially in on TV and radio in regards to the election. Many advertisements left me feeling uneasy about the way I was going to vote and caused me to constantly be thinking if I was making the right decision.