There are three tests that are used to consider if an argument is a good argument or a bad one, according to the Epstein text. The premises are plausible, the premises are more plausible than the conclusion, and whether the argument is valid or strong.
One should speak the language that their ancestors spoke. Mark's parents speak Spanish. Therefore, he should be able to speak Spanish.
It is possible that Mark is not able to speak Spanish. Just because his parents can speak Spanish, it does not mean that he can. The conclusion may be true but it is a bad argument, because the first premise is false. It is false because his parents may not have taught him or even wanted him to learn language to begin with. Everyone has their own way of raising their son and or daughter. We don't know his background and if anything he may be disabled, in which he could be mute or deaf. There are many factors that can prevent Mark from speaking Spanish.
Yours Truly,
ReplyDeleteI thought that your example for testing whether or not the argument was good or bad was great! Just because Mark's parents speak Spanish does not mean that he can. It's a false conclusion even though the second premise was true. This example is also an example of an invalid/weak argument because there are so many reasons as to why Mark shouldn't know Spanish. Like you had pointed out: He may be disabled or his parents might not have taught him. Maybe he didn't want to learn Spanish. There are so many possibilities as to why this conclusion could be false, making this a bad argument. Overall, I thought you came up with a great example. Good Job :)
Having to provide a good argument that involves with the three tests is kind of hard to think of. But the example that you provided is still a great concept to determine what a good or bad argument is. The way you specify to determine if mark was able to talk in Spanish or not, shows that even though he lives with his parents, it doesn’t mean that he can communicate in Spanish. Plus, maybe he is unable to speak the language for some odd reason. Unfortunately, this is a great concept to prove that this is a bad argument.
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