PHI 458 Week 3 Evaluating Truth and Validity Exercise
Evaluating Truth and Validity Exercise
Patrick St. Louis
PHL/458
April 22, 2015
Professor Keith Suranna
"All religious authorities are concerned about the dangers of nuclear war. All politicians are concerned about the dangers of nuclear war. Therefore, all politicians are religious authorities." This argument is invalid because of two reasons. First it is an overgeneralization. How can someone actually say that all religious authorities are concerned about the dangers of nuclear war or all politicians are concerned about nuclear war? Has anyone polled all religious authorities or politicians? There can be a very few religious authorities that might think it will never happen, so there is no reason to be concerned about it, or there could also possibly be a small religious faction that believes that nuclear war will get rid of all the evil in the world and is God 's way of cleansing the world. The same can be said for politicians. Maybe there are a few that would want to start a war because of their selfish motives. One can argue that there are politicians in Syria and Iran that would love to bomb the U.S and Israel. Nothing was said about the politician having to be from this country. The second reason is that it is an illogical conclusion. One can not say that just because politicians and religious authorities share the same concerns that they will become one in the same. They just share one interest. It takes more than caring about nuclear war to become a religious authority. Religious authorities must go through a process that usually takes years of religious education, and practice. There are certain instances, of course, where some politicians are religious authorities also; however that is not predicated on the fact that they share the same view on one certain issue. “If the Social Security system is further weakened, the elderly will have to fear poverty. Therefore, if the Social Security system is
Patrick St. Louis
PHL/458
April 22, 2015
Professor Keith Suranna
"All religious authorities are concerned about the dangers of nuclear war. All politicians are concerned about the dangers of nuclear war. Therefore, all politicians are religious authorities." This argument is invalid because of two reasons. First it is an overgeneralization. How can someone actually say that all religious authorities are concerned about the dangers of nuclear war or all politicians are concerned about nuclear war? Has anyone polled all religious authorities or politicians? There can be a very few religious authorities that might think it will never happen, so there is no reason to be concerned about it, or there could also possibly be a small religious faction that believes that nuclear war will get rid of all the evil in the world and is God 's way of cleansing the world. The same can be said for politicians. Maybe there are a few that would want to start a war because of their selfish motives. One can argue that there are politicians in Syria and Iran that would love to bomb the U.S and Israel. Nothing was said about the politician having to be from this country. The second reason is that it is an illogical conclusion. One can not say that just because politicians and religious authorities share the same concerns that they will become one in the same. They just share one interest. It takes more than caring about nuclear war to become a religious authority. Religious authorities must go through a process that usually takes years of religious education, and practice. There are certain instances, of course, where some politicians are religious authorities also; however that is not predicated on the fact that they share the same view on one certain issue. “If the Social Security system is further weakened, the elderly will have to fear poverty. Therefore, if the Social Security system is
References: Federal Register (2015) (Accessed: 21 April 2015). fetus | a human being or animal in the later stages of development before it is born (no date). (Accessed: 21 April 2015). Office, P. (2014) Social Security Administration: Social Security Basic Facts. (Accessed: 21 April 2015). Ruggiero, V. R. (2012) The Art of Thinking, a guide to critical and creative thought (10th ed.). New York, NY; Pearson