I also learned about Reasoning in a chain and the slippery slope from Chapter 6.
According to the text there is a formula on how to reason in a chain. " If A, then B, If B, then C, So if A, then C" (Epstein 132). One example of reasoning with a chain is:
If Juan doesn't go to school tomorrow, he will fail his test.
If Juan fails his test, then Juan's parents would be upset with him.
If Juan's parents become upset with him, then he will not be getting a new car.
So if Juan doesn't go to school tomorrow, then Juan will not be getting a new car.
But you could also reason in a chain badly. Here is an example of reasoning in a chain badly:
Go to class! If you don't go to class then you might miss something important the professor talked about.
Then, you might fail a test. Then you might be put on academic probation. Then you will lose your scholarship. Then you will have to drop out of school. Your life would be over.
Although this is written badly, you can easily correct it.
The book talk about Slippery Slope argument which "is a bad argument that uses a chain of condittionals, at least one of which is false or dubious "(Epstein 133).
I really enjoyed reading your post! Both examples you put up were very clear and easy to understand. In your first example, it is quite obvious of Juan’s consequences because you stated them very clearly. If he does not go to class, then he will fail his test, which will result in him not getting a new car. In your second example, the premises are unclear, which is the perfect example of a weak argument. The conclusion is also dramatic, in which absurd and dramatic conclusions usually stem from weak and unclear arguments. Anyways, thank you for your post!
ReplyDeleteHello Rossi,
ReplyDeleteI think your post is well written and thought out. Both of your examples can be easily understood an d related to. The difference between a good chain argument and a slippery slope is quite clear from the example you used. I find that slippery slope arguments are often used by parents when they are trying to discourage their kids from doing something that they don't want them to do but do not have a good reason for them not to do it. For example, often parents don't want their kids to date too early so they tell things like "If you kiss boys, then you will get pregnant. And if you get pregnant your life will be over. So if you kiss boys your life will be over. This is completely dubious but parents do not think these conversations through they just want to scare their kids out of the worst that could happen, instead of explaining the true possibilities clearly.