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Subject: Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion on Walker Percy

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  • From: David Alan Beck <dabeck AT iupui.edu>
  • To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: Fallacious but true? Re: Re[2]: [percy-l] homosexuality, redux
  • Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 17:23:58 -0500 (EST)

Ken,
I agree. What I was referring to was how you could have a valid argument
(i.e. deduction) and it can be false. "All cows are purple; Elsie is a
cow; ergo, Elsie is purple." As far as the slipper slope reference, I was
just pointing out that someone can argue that if A happens B will follow
and not have a "valid" argument, but it still can be true (or, better yet,
turn out to be true--i.e. the abortion argument).
Most of my postings are written too hastily and lack clarity. My fault.
-David


On Mon, 22 Sep 2003, Ken Armstrong wrote:

> At 09:28 PM 9/21/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>
> > Some may say that I'm presenting a slippery slope argument, but just
> >because an argument is fallacious, doesn't mean that it is untrue. For
> >example, some argued (fallaciously) that if we permit a woman to abort her
> >child (due to incest or rape), we open the door for abortion as a way of
> >birth control (and that is what happened--last I heard was that 96% of
> >abortions had nothing to do with incest or rape).
>
> David,
>
> Though I get farther and farther away from my grad school philosophy
> minor, I'm sure hoping that if an argument (not it's conclusion) is
> fallacious, it is not "true." Off the top of my head, I can't speak to
> the example you give because I don't know what made the original argument
> fallacious. But it seems to me that if the argument is faulty (any
> argument), it is not a good argument. It doesn't stand. Period. If the
> conclusion, illogic of the argument notwithstanding, is true, it is true
> because it is the legitimate conclusion to a different, if unstated, good
> argument. Emotionally charged issues, I think, attract bad arguments. Which
> is not to imply anything except the necessity for caution in analyzing
> them, as ends never justify means, etc.
>
> Ken A
>
>
>
> --
>
> An archive of all list discussion is available at
> http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/hypermail
>
> Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
>
>
>


David Beck






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