• Will I  buy my groceries at Stop & Shop or Super Walmart?
• Will I have my old computer repaired or buy a new one?
• Which vehicle shall I purchase, and do I buy an additional warrantee?
• Which restaurant will I try for breakfast, Burger King of McDonld's?
• Which candidate will I vote for this year?

Life's larger questions are also tested in the rich dialogue of our interior life.

• Which course will I sign up for?
• What will my major be?
• Shall I get married this year?          
• Where  should I live and work?

Our mosaic of life is painted with contrasting colors of infinite possibilities.  We are bombarded with arguments each day:

• Some arguments are carried on via letters
  • "Would you reimburse me, repair this, send me a replacement....?"
    "I am the best candidate for the job - the promotion...
• Some arguments are done via advertising in magazines, billboards, TV, radio, newspapers, the web...
  • "Buy Cold Eeze; accept no substitutes"
• Some arguments are written up in pamphlets, long reports, books
  • Assessment of Prior Learning - give me credit for these courses
  • Books and pamphlets on the latest & best way to be assertive, to raise good and bright & healthy kids.
     

When deciding on issues, it is important  to view  issues from opposing vantage points.

English instructors invite their students to record the workings of their multi-dimensional intellect onto the flat world of paper in a systematized format that is comprehendible to readers. How does one complete this Herculean task? In six simple steps:

1. Get Ideas:
2. List Pros and Cons
3. Formulate a workable thesis
4. Develop  a Convincing Argument
5. Select an appropriate organizational pattern
 1.  Get Ideas:

 Don't begin writing "write" away.  "Free write," bainstorm, draw pictures,  talk to friends is what most writing texts recommend.

What I would do is browse  one of my favorite web sites, Ethics Updates, as it contains an almost infinite list of debatable issues.  I would also  read online  magazines and newspapers (particularly editorial pages) for ideas, as well as visit sites, such as National Public Radio ,  and news magazine sites, such as   http://www.CBSnews.com,

Other great sites are listed alphabetically below:

• Argumentative Essay Topics from - Maracopa College. This site provides links to controversial topics, such as   Animal Rights, Assisted Suicide ,   Cloning, College Athletics and Money ,   Cybercrime  and Privacy ,   Gambling,  Genetic Testing , Gun Control , Legalization of Medicinal Marijuana ...
• Abortiontv.com for articles related to abortion - though many instructors are tired of this topic
• Affirmative Action  Affirmative Action & Diversity Project
• Alcohol Abuse  Rutger's University - Center of Alcohol Study
• Animal Rights  People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
  • Critique of animal rights
• Bilingual   Education Week
• Cloning  St. Anselm College - Biotechnology
• Death Penalty  Justice Center Web Site
• Divorce  Divorce Reform Page
• Drug Legalization   U.S. Dept. of justice - Drug Enforcement
• Drug Online Library
• Environment  Environmental Protection Agency
• Euthanasia  Euthanasia World Directory
• Fourth Amendment  The Privacy Pages
• Gay Marriage  Domestic Partner Policies
• Gun Control  Handgun Control, Inc.
• Immigration  Yahoo - provides links to immigration stories
• Internet Censorship  Electronic Privacy Information Center
• Juvenile Justice  Juvenile Justice Center - American Bar Association
• Multiculturalism  National Multicultural Institute
• Multiracial adoption and issues - From Multiracial Activist
• Racist Speech Internet Resources on Hate Speech
• Smokers' Rights  CDC's Tobacco Information source
• Smoking - eliminate

More specific ideas for argumentative writing assignments are as follows:
mandatory bilingual education; mandatory drug testing; standardization of curriculum throughout a college or the State; health benefits of a particular diet or exercise program; socialized promotions in schools;  local school board policies; do vegetarians love animals more than carnivores? ; limiting smoking in bars; distribution of contraceptives in junior high schools; sex education in grade school ; dress codes; advertising tobacco; SUVs as killers and gas guzzlers; change in college policy; ethics of gambling and casinos; video and media violence; war;  banning fraternities;  usefulness SATs;  funding obscene art; X-rated films, CDs, pictures, ... in college,  live art models in college or high school art classes; participation grades; gay marriages, political candidates; education cutbacks;

2.  List Pros and Cons

Gather support for your views while understanding the support for the opposing views. You must anticipate objections and to objectively  respond to these.

Write a list of pros on cons on a sheet of paper:

3. Formulate a  workable thesis

• Select a good debatable topic not an obvious statistic
  Children watch X hours of TV each week (no good)
  Children watch too much TV (no good)
  The effect of excessive TV viewing is... (good)
   
• Come up with a thesis (proposition)
  Although television offers quality programming, children should not be allowed to watch over X hours of television per week because they risk becoming aggressive, disrespectful and ill-prepared for the rigors of academia.

Consider an "Although....because"  format.

Although some students maintain final exams are of no significant value and should be done away with,  exams should be given to all students because they promote learning, reward those who have learned the material, and are excellent preparation for college.

4. DEVELOP  AN EFFECTIVE ARGUMENT

5. Select an appropriate organizational pattern

What is a fallacy?
Fallacies are defects in an argument - other than false premises - which cause an argument to be invalid, unsound or weak. Many were identified bY Renaissance and Medieval logicians, and their Latin names still survive. 

They usually reflect an appeal based on emotion rather than reason and divert attention away from real issues.

Detailed Explanation of Fallacies

Ad Hominem Argument:___________________________________

• Latin Root: "Directed to or against the person"
• Definition: An attack on the opponent's character rather than on the opponent's argument
• Commentary: 
  • Very persuasive because people are concerned with ethical character
  • Often used in politics
  • The point is to have someone's opinion disregarded because of his character
  • We are asked the believe the opposing viewpoint of the person being attacked
  • The flaw is that personality bears no direct relationship to truth.
  • Rather than listening to or rationally debating an idea, one listens to a personal attack on another (slander).
• Example:  discounting
  • a furrier's views of animal rights
  • a divorcee's qualifications as a marriage counselor or minister
  • a carouser's or alcoholic's view on any topic
  • a drug user's views on the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes
  • a person's ability to be an effective teacher

Appeal to Ignorance  _____________________________________

• Latin:  "argumentum ad ignorantiam"
• Definition: Drawing a specific conclusion from a lack of information and knowledge.
• Comment: the absence of evidence is not proof in and of itself. It could still be so.
• Examples:
  • UFOs must be real, because skeptics have never been able to prove that they don't exist; therefore UFOs are real
  • No one has conclusively proven that there is no plant life on Pluto; therefore there is plant life on the Pluto
  • Global warming is (not) a threat because no one has proved that it is (not) a threat.

Begging the Question_____________________________________

• Definition:  The truth is presented as what is supposed to be proven in the argument.
  "Assuming as a premise what you want to prove"
• Comment: One begs the question, like a beggar, to get something for nothing from the reader. The writer  simply asserts  a premise as a fact  while giving no evidence for what must first be proven & argued i.e. that pornography is dangerous.
• Examples:
  • Dangerous pornography should be banned
  • Unfair laws  (like bill 69) should be  banned
  • Useless laws (life bill 13) should be banned
  • Affirmative Action opponents are racist for if they weren't, they wouldn't oppose it.

Equivocation___________________________________________

• Latin root:   equi (equal) and vox (voice). When a term is used univocally in an argument, it always has the same meaning. But, when it is use equivocally, more than one meaning is given equal voice.
• Definition: Implicit reliance on two different meanings of the same word to reach a conclusion;  a term being used with two or more meanings.

   

  • Example:  The Preamble to the Constitution: "all men are created equal" this does not include women.
  • Tommy is a turkey (meaning not too bright).  Turkeys gobble; therefore, Tommy eats fast (another meaning of gobble). The conclusion does not follow.

Faulty Analogy____________________________________________

• Definition: Analogy refers to finding a likeness or similarity between two otherwise dissimilar objects or concepts.  This is fine in and of itself.  A faulty analogy, takes the analogy too far: weak similarities are used to infer other, stronger similarities which are simply not justified. 
• Comment: A faulty analogy would say if 2 things are alike in one sense, they MUST be alike in the sense I am arguing. Wyrich reminds us that compelling analogies may suggest similarities, but they cannot prove anything, like sex education is analogous to taking an alcoholic to a bar.
• Example: Olen states both tigers &  hard-core pornography are similar in that they are harmful.  The faulty analogy would occur when we conclude that both should be banned from private homes.
• Example from advertising: Coke is like family. You can never have enough.   always Coca Cola.  Coke and family  are not similar enough to draw these conclusions

Hand Waving____________________________________________

• Definition: Claiming that something is true because everyone knows so.  
• Example from text  We don't need evidence to prove capital punishment is a better deterrent to crime than life imprisonment because everyone knows so; it's just common sense.
• Further Example:  Everyone knows women has a natural instinct for taking care of children and are better day care providers.

Hasty Generalization______________________________________

• Definition:  Reaching a general conclusion from too small a sample
• Example:  Surveying athletes & determining they are held to higher academic standards and that "college students want the bulk of general fund monies spent on an athletic complex."

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc_________________________________

• Latin: "after this, therefore because of this"
• Definition: Mistaking a temporal connection for a causal relationship.  Confusing correlation with causation.  In plain English, assuming that because one event follows another in time, that the first event caused the second event.
• Examples:
  • Walking under a ladder causes bad luck
  • Politicians take credit for whatever good thing occurs after they are in officet (as they supposedly directly  caused it)

Questionable Authority    (argumentum ad verecundiam)________________

• Definition: Supporting a conclusion by depending on the judgment of someone who is no a reliable authority on the subject
• Comment:  Questionable authority involves a mistaken supposition that there is a connection between  the authority and the truth of the proposition. Having fame or expertise in one area guarantees the truth. Even expertise in one area doesn't guarantee the truth.
• Examples:
  • Athletes endorsing cereals
  • Brooke Shields endorsing cameras
  • Heyward (NFL Running Back) zest soap
  • The Vice President said tarantulas are insects; therefore tarantulas are insects.

Red Herring____________________________________________

• Definition:  an irrelevant issue introduced to distract attention from the issue at hand
• Comment:  the term originates from escaping prisoners  who dragged a smoked herring (strong smelling)  across their trail to confuse tracking dogs.
• Example:
  • Blaming someone for never taking turns to take out the garbage & diverting the issue by saying, "I've been helping you with school work."

Slippery Slope___________________________________________

• Definition: One action will lead to an unwanted action
• Example  Having sex with one partner will lead to sex with more partners & then to prostitution

Straw Man______________________________________________

• Definition: Arguing against a position which the other person does not actually hold. Distorting and refuting  the opponent's actual position and claiming victory as if the real position were also refuted.
• Example from Olen: Arguing a regulation is too expensive with a come back that the opponent want to poison the children. Arguing for better support of endangered species  with the come back that owls are more important than people.
• Example:  A famous example occurred in 1952 when Nixon was accused of misappropriating his campaign funds when his 6-year old daughter received a dog named Checkers from a Texas supporter. Nixon spoke at length about this rather than addressing $18,000 in missing campaign funds.

.

A formal fallacy is a defect  in logic. It is an error in the formal structure. It involves  invalid deductive rules. It can be identified by looking at the illogical structure of an argument,  rather than any specific statements.

.

Schopenhauer, a German philosopher tells us there are two ways to win an argument:
1.  Include a  Greek or Latin quotation (however irrelevant) to impress to the uninformed.
2.  Loftily state, "That's all very well in theory, but it won't do in practice."

Great Links:

Logical Fallacies: Sources and Resources - ... By Leo Groarke, from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . ... of the place of fallacies in informal ... An interesting example of the Ad Hominem Fallacy, together ...  http://gncurtis.home.texas.net/resource.

An interesting example of the Ad Hominem Fallacy, together with an explanation of how different theories explain what is wrong with it.

A fascinating example of fallacious visual argument in an advertisement.

Fallacies of Relevance

http://www.aros.net/~wenglund/Logic101a.htm  index of fallacies

 http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/indexes/blglossary_logic.htm