Friday, March 4, 2011
Common Mistakes in Evaluating Premises
One idea that I found to be interesting and somewhat enlightening was the "Common Mistakes in Evaluating Premises" in Chapter 5. Arguing backwards was a little confusing at first, but then the idea that just because an argument is strong and the conclusion is true does not always mean that the premises are true. I think my favorite mistake and probably one of the more common mistakes that we make in evaluating premises would be the "bad appeals to authority." I know for me personally I often find myself doing this, stating an argument is true or valid simply because I trust the source I heard it from or because a person I trust feels the same way I do. Therefore rather than taking the claim as false or looking for the facts and premises, we often just assume it is true because of the source. Another common mistake that I know I make is mistaking the person for the claim. Again this idea that Epstein suggests many of the same ideas as bad appeals to authority. It is incorrect to reject a claim because of the source. Overall these ideas and concepts actually make it easier to understand the ideas of premises and statements. Epstein has a way of surprising me every time I read a new chapter.
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I’m glad that you brought up “Common Mistakes in Evaluating Premises” in your discussion because I, too, have trouble with this because I assume claims to be true just because of the source. I think that has a little to do with bad appeals to authority. You didn’t really mention confusing possibility with plausibility. I think that is an important common mistake that is seen a lot in politics and the government. Good or interesting explanations are not necessarily true and we need more than that for us to believe something. If there is no supporting evidence, what reason do we have to believe?
ReplyDeleteThere are five common mistakes in evaluating premises.They are (1) arguing backwards, (2) confusing possibility with plausibility, (3) bad appeals to authority, (4)mistaking the person for the claim, and (5) mistaking the person for the argument. I think that it was good that Epstein included these common mistakes because it makes it bit easier when determining if premises are true or false. Bad appeal to authority happens all the time, such as advertisements on tv. The people who are on commericials to praise a product are motivated to saying a script written by that specific company. We can''t trust all of the people are commericials because they are being paid to say certain things about a product without actual evidence if it works or doesn't work. Here then people should be using their own judgement and experience when making a decision to accept or reject a claim.
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