Argument Vs Rationalization
Theory of Knowledge
07 February 2012
How can beliefs affect our capacity to reason well and to recognize valid arguments? Can they affect a person 's capacity to distinguish between fallacy, good argument and rationalization? What is the difference between a rational argument and a rationalization?
Reasoning is known as the process of forming conclusions, judgments, and inferences from facts or premises ("_reasoning_"). Being able to reason is a trait any developed adult with a small background of education can possess therefore should be able to recognize easily. However, simple reasoning can be altered by the beliefs that we believe in.
In order to argue whether having a belief can affect a person 's ability to differentiate between fallacy, …show more content…
Having too much or lacking any morality can change the way people reason. An abundance of morals causes people to overthink therefore resulting in an attempt to preform actions that are over reasoned through and intangible. One of the most famous controversies known, that can be related to moral reasoning, is the idea of abortion. By thinking that abortion is wrong by morals, one is unable to grasp any reason as to why abortion would be okay, which can be seen as an example of ad hominem, or poisoning the well. Since the idea that abortion is wrong is already in the head, no matter what argument a counter presents, the idea will always seem invalid because of their set mentality. On the contrary, lacking any morals leads to people distorting reasoning therefore causing them to be unable to realize which arguments are valid and invalid. For example, Iago is a character in William Shakespeare 's_Othello_ who very much lacks morals and attempts to twist any small truth into a lie. Iago is seen to consistently deceive Othello and distorts Othello 's mind into thinking that Desdemona, his wife, is cheating on him with Cassio. By persuading Othello to abandon his morals and become reeled into his lies, Othello can no longer rationally reason through arguments made by Desdemona to prove that she is innocent and that she did not cheat on him. Although she says "By heaven, you do me wrong! (4.2.84), Othello refuses to believe her and ultimately kills her. This proves the point that having a lack of morals can change one 's state of mind and make difficulty when faced with problems that deal with valid and invalid
07 February 2012
How can beliefs affect our capacity to reason well and to recognize valid arguments? Can they affect a person 's capacity to distinguish between fallacy, good argument and rationalization? What is the difference between a rational argument and a rationalization?
Reasoning is known as the process of forming conclusions, judgments, and inferences from facts or premises ("_reasoning_"). Being able to reason is a trait any developed adult with a small background of education can possess therefore should be able to recognize easily. However, simple reasoning can be altered by the beliefs that we believe in.
In order to argue whether having a belief can affect a person 's ability to differentiate between fallacy, …show more content…
Having too much or lacking any morality can change the way people reason. An abundance of morals causes people to overthink therefore resulting in an attempt to preform actions that are over reasoned through and intangible. One of the most famous controversies known, that can be related to moral reasoning, is the idea of abortion. By thinking that abortion is wrong by morals, one is unable to grasp any reason as to why abortion would be okay, which can be seen as an example of ad hominem, or poisoning the well. Since the idea that abortion is wrong is already in the head, no matter what argument a counter presents, the idea will always seem invalid because of their set mentality. On the contrary, lacking any morals leads to people distorting reasoning therefore causing them to be unable to realize which arguments are valid and invalid. For example, Iago is a character in William Shakespeare 's_Othello_ who very much lacks morals and attempts to twist any small truth into a lie. Iago is seen to consistently deceive Othello and distorts Othello 's mind into thinking that Desdemona, his wife, is cheating on him with Cassio. By persuading Othello to abandon his morals and become reeled into his lies, Othello can no longer rationally reason through arguments made by Desdemona to prove that she is innocent and that she did not cheat on him. Although she says "By heaven, you do me wrong! (4.2.84), Othello refuses to believe her and ultimately kills her. This proves the point that having a lack of morals can change one 's state of mind and make difficulty when faced with problems that deal with valid and invalid