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10．The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper.
“This past winter, 200 students from Waymarsh State College traveled to the state capital building to protest against proposed cuts in funding for various state college programs. The other 12,000 Waymarsh students evidently weren’t so concerned about their education: they either stayed on campus or left for winter break. Since the group who did not protest is far more numerous, it is more representative of the state’s college students than are the protesters. Therefore the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students.”
Based on the fact that the group who did not protest is far more numerous than the group who did protest, the author concludes that the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students. To reach this conclusion, the author cites the number of both the students who did protest and those who did not protest. On the first sight, the author’s reasoning seems convincing, but after further reflection, I found that it is illogically problematic in three aspects.
First, the author concludes that the 12,000 students weren’t so concerned about their education because they either stayed on campus or left for winter break. But this may not be the truth. The students who did not travel to the state capital building to protest were not necessarily indifferent about the protest. For example, they may be eager to participate the activity, but they were not very well during those days, or they had such important things to do as taking exams or having interviews. In such conditions, these students who either stayed on campus or left for winter break had to get information about the protest from mass media such as radio, magazine, newspaper, television, or the Internet. Without giving the reason of these students for not going to protest, one can not draw the conclusion that they did not care the protest.
Second, the author states that the group who did not protest is more representative than are the protesters. While, this is not the case if the protesters are the representatives of the students who did not protest. A protest which too many people take part in is hard to organize. To ensure that the protest is well-organized and reaches its original goals, fewer people is needed.
Third, the author cites the case in Waymarsh State College to buttress the statement that the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students. But the issue is relevant to all the colleges through the state. So the situation in Waymarsh State College is not representative of several colleges. That few students in Waymarsh State College traveled to protest could be caused by the fact that few students in Waymarsh State College take the programs which will undergo the proposed cuts in funding. This situation is not necessarily applicable to other colleges. Without illustrating the representativeness of the example he cites, the author can not use a specific case to draw a general conclusion.
In conclusion, the author’s reasoning is flawed. The students who did not protest are not necessarily unconcerned about their education, the group who did not protest is not necessarily more representative than are the protesters, and the example in Waymarsh State College is not necessarily representative of all the colleges and universities in the state. To reach his conclusion, the author should investigate why the other 12,000 students did not protest and how the cases were in other colleges.
发现自己不会用七宗罪来对每一个fallacy进行概念上的说明，找出来的错误都不知道应该归类到哪一条罪，这样可以吗？？
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发表于 2005-5-7 13:37:00
楼主
发表于 2005-5-8 01:06:00
