John Blosser's Shocking Truth About The Homeless
Laquannis Haynes
Dr.Jameson
February 21, 2011
In John’s Blosser “Shocking Truth about the Homeless”, he shatters America’s stereotype of the homeless and presents the concealed truth. Many Americans view the homeless as helpless and innocent victims that crumble under the pressure of the cruel world but Blosser view is the opposite. Blosser relies on statistics and testimony of authority figures, who study the homeless to persuade Americans that the homeless are not in their unfortunate circumstance by chance. Blosser presents a controversial argument and fails to defend it due to his blatant use of fallacies such as the ad hominem, begging the question, and hasty generalization.
Blosser opened his argument with an ad hominem, which is an ethical fallacy. By stating, “Homeless Americans have been portrayed as pathetic victims of society, ordinary people down on their luck but most of them are really alcoholics, drug-abusers, and criminals or are mentally ill, experts say.” (166, Blosser) The quote somewhat damages his argument because not all homeless people are alcoholics, drug-abusers, criminals, or mentally ill. There are other causes of homelessness besides alcohol, drugs, mental …show more content…
How can this be proven? Were surveys conducted in high populated homeless communities? What about the homeless children. Begging the question, a form of logical fallacies is defined as a statement assuming what needs to be proven. “I estimate 80 percent have serious drug, alcohol or mental problems. Many of them are involved in crime.” (166, Blosser) This statement needs to be proven in order to strongly support Blosser’s argument. Blosser’s inability to prove numerically that homeless people are users of drugs and alcohol, mentally ill, or criminals weakens his argument because it provides evidence that his argument is a baseless
Dr.Jameson
February 21, 2011
In John’s Blosser “Shocking Truth about the Homeless”, he shatters America’s stereotype of the homeless and presents the concealed truth. Many Americans view the homeless as helpless and innocent victims that crumble under the pressure of the cruel world but Blosser view is the opposite. Blosser relies on statistics and testimony of authority figures, who study the homeless to persuade Americans that the homeless are not in their unfortunate circumstance by chance. Blosser presents a controversial argument and fails to defend it due to his blatant use of fallacies such as the ad hominem, begging the question, and hasty generalization.
Blosser opened his argument with an ad hominem, which is an ethical fallacy. By stating, “Homeless Americans have been portrayed as pathetic victims of society, ordinary people down on their luck but most of them are really alcoholics, drug-abusers, and criminals or are mentally ill, experts say.” (166, Blosser) The quote somewhat damages his argument because not all homeless people are alcoholics, drug-abusers, criminals, or mentally ill. There are other causes of homelessness besides alcohol, drugs, mental …show more content…
How can this be proven? Were surveys conducted in high populated homeless communities? What about the homeless children. Begging the question, a form of logical fallacies is defined as a statement assuming what needs to be proven. “I estimate 80 percent have serious drug, alcohol or mental problems. Many of them are involved in crime.” (166, Blosser) This statement needs to be proven in order to strongly support Blosser’s argument. Blosser’s inability to prove numerically that homeless people are users of drugs and alcohol, mentally ill, or criminals weakens his argument because it provides evidence that his argument is a baseless