Moral Reasoning and Principles and Analysis of Arguments
Moral Reasoning and Principles and Analysis of Arguments
For the first part of our reading in Ch. 1 (pgs. 3-12) the book covers a lot of ground. Let’s talk about some of it. I’d like to here your analysis of one of two things (choose one).
1) What is the most important concept introduced introduced in the “Ethics and the Moral Life” sections?
or
2) Of the five prima facie principles introduced in “Moral Principles and Bioethics” which is the most important?
The second one is Analysis of Arguments [almost 300 words]
Starting on page 19 we are given a set of ideas and tools that we can use to analyze arguments. These concepts and tools are meant to help us understand whether an argument is good or not.
Use the analytical tools from this section of text on a commercial (from TV, radio, youtube, whatever). Does the commercial make a strong argument? Why or why not?
(Edit: Include a link to the commercial, if you have one.)
Don’t spend time explaining the commercial without giving an explicit statement of the commercial’s conclusion and premises.
Don’t claim that the commercial is effective or strong (or weak) without using the tools in the chapter to explain why.
The assignment explicitly asks you to consider whether it is a strong or weak argument in light of the ideas in the textbook (starting on pg. 19). The book focuses on ideas like validity and cogency. In short, it focuses on whether (and how well) the premises of an argument support the conclusion. This is an important element of philosophical analysis and moral reasoning. It’s a different question from how effective an argument is. As some you may notice a bad argument (the premises don’t support the conclusion) can still be effective because it uses emotional appeals and a compelling narrative.
All of the assignments (discussion and writing assignments) that we do in class will incorporate ideas found in the related readings. Be sure to incorporate them into your analysis.
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