Exercise Set 22 PHI
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Dec 6, 2023
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Exercise Set 22.1
Identify the ambiguity (the distinct senses of words, phrases or statements that are or might be
confused) in each of the following:
22.1.1
“Wal-mart... do they like make walls there?”
–Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton is confused by the name “Wal-Mart”.
Because it has “wal” in it, she is relating it to an actual wall.
22.1.2
“Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that
we can find in our neighborhoods.”
–George W. Bush
22.1.3
I hope he gets everything he deserves (said of one’s enemy).
Because we do not know the “enemy”, or who he truly is as a person, this sentence could mean
that he deserves good things back to him, or bad things.
22.1.4
“All men are created equal” --Declaration of Independence
The literal meaning of “all men are created equal” is that only men, are created equal. The actual
meaning of that statement is that “all men” meaning everyone, is created equal.
22.1.5
John Franklin has recently completed a Ph.D. degree in philosophy with an area of specialization
in medical ethics. He has gotten a job as a professor and clinical ethicist in a teaching hospital.
As part of his job he conducts ethics consults with patients who are having ethics problems.
When he introduces himself to these patients he states, “Hi, my name is Dr. Franklin.”
It is true that John Franklin is a doctor because he has his doctorate in Philosophy. Although he
is a clinical ethicist in a teaching hospital, he is not a doctor who practices medicine.
22.1.6
“You say that you have a dog.”
”Yes, a villain of a one,” said Ctesippus.
”And he has puppies?”
”Yes, and they are very like himself.”
”And the dog is the father of them?”
”Yes,” he said, “I certainly saw him and the mother of the puppies come together.” “And is he
not yours?”
”To be sure he is.”
”Then he is a father, and he is yours; ergo, he is your father, and the puppies are your brothers.”
4
22.1.7
Heard from a New Zealand interviewer...re global warming:
"It's very important for New Zealanders to try to help, even if it doesn't make a difference."
5
22.1.8
The only proof capable of being given that an object is visible, is that people actually see it. The
only proof that a sound is audible, is that people hear it; and so of the other sources of our
experience. In like manner, I apprehend, the sole evidence it is possible to produce that anything
is desirable, is that people actually desire it.—John Stuart Mill
6
22.1.9
Everybody has some sort of philosophy of life. So, everybody is a philosopher.
22.1.10
"
Amnesty means that you've got to pay a price for having been here illegally, and this bill does
that." --George W. Bush on the immigration reform bill
7
Exercise Set 22.2
In your estimation is lying morally worse than telling a half truth? Would President Clinton’s
moral transgression have been worse had he lied (said something false) rather than simply failing
to be forthcoming about his definition of “sexual relations”? Defend your responses.
In my opinion, I believe if President Clinton had lied, his situation would be a lot worse. If he
said he did not have any sort of relation with with Monica Lewinsky, he would be called a liar.
Because he told half the truth, it was better that he mentioned his wrong doing.
Lifting Out of Context
Exercise Set 22.3
Each of the following represents a different way in which something may be lifted out of its
original context. For each case, explain why it commits this fallacy. What exactly has been left
out of the original quote? How does this omission make it deceptive?
22.3.1
TOM CRUISE: UNBALANCED
Tom finally admits the truth!
READ MORE >>
How he suffered for his art as a wannabe one-eyed Nazi assassin in Valkyrie.
The role required him to don an eye patch but as shooting continued his vision became impaired
making Tommy feeling dizzy - and worse – unbalanced!
"I was surprised,” Cruise confessed to a UK glossy.
“I lost depth perception and balance.
“In terms of visual cinematic storytelling it was a challenge...especially when it was dark."
It ain’t easy being myopic, is it Tom?
--National Enquirer
14
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22.3.2
“What occurs shortly after 8 p.m. at the Schoenfeld Theatre feels so fresh that you stop to catch
your breath.”—Advertisement from the producers of a 2006 Broadway revival of “A Chorus
Line” quoting New York Times reviewer, Ben Brantley.
“What occurs shortly after 8 p.m. at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, where the otherwise
pedestrian new revival of A Chorus Line opened last night, is a sort of time bending that
Einstein would have trouble explaining. Light, music and a mass of bodies in motion combine
to allow you to exist both in 1975, when this musical was first staged, and 2006. This is what A
Chorus Line was when I saw it 31 years ago, and yet it feels so fresh that you stop to catch your
breath...Watching the show, directed by Bob Avian, is like drinking from a pitcher of draft beer:
You never repeat the tang or sting of that first swig
....
In providing us with an archivally and
anatomically correct reproduction of a landmark show, its creators neglected to restore its
central nervous system and, most important, its throbbing heart.” --Actual review by Ben
Brantley.
15
22.3.3
“Money is the root of all evil.”—Popular quotation from the Bible
“But people who want to get rich keep toppling into temptation and are trapped by many stupid
and harmful desires that plunge them into destruction and ruin. For the love of money is a root
of all kinds of evil. Some people, in their eagerness to get rich, have wandered away from the
faith and caused themselves a lot of pain. – What is
actually stated in the Bible (I Tim. 6:10)
16
I believe the meaning of “money is the root of all evil” is saying that money can control a
person, cause greed, and have a negative impact on someone if they were to put money above all
else. This can make a person selfish, lead to temptation, and make “the love of money” their
god.
This quote is deceptive and has been lifted out of context. If we took this quote literal, we
wouldn’t be able to survive. Not all money is rooted in evil. We need money for bills, travel,
food, housing, and much more.
22.3.4
"To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different
distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and
chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess,
absurd in the highest degree."—Charles Darwin, the Origin of Species as quoted by Andrew
Snelling
17
"To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different
distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of Spherical and
chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess,
absurd in the highest degree. When it was first said that the sun stood still and the world turned
round, the common sense of mankind declared the doctrine false; but the old saying of Vox
populi, vox Dei ["the voice of the people = the voice of God "], as every philosopher knows,
cannot be trusted in science. Reason tells me, that if numerous gradations from a simple and
imperfect eye to one complex and perfect can be shown to exist, each grade being useful to its
possessor, as is certain the case; if further, the eye ever varies and the variations be inherited, as
is likewise certainly the case; and if such variations should be useful to any animal under
changing conditions of life, then the difficulty of believing that a perfect and complex eye could
be formed by natural selection, should not be considered as subversive of the theory."
18
In the first lines of Darwin’s quote, he is talking about the evolution of the eye and how he
believes it is absurd. This could possibly mean that he doesn’t believe in evolution.
As I continue reading the quote, it’s not that he doesn’t believe in evolution, with reason and not
just science, he does believe natural selection is the answer. “Reason tells me, that if numerous
gradations from a simple and imperfect eye to one complex and perfect can be shown to exist,
each grade being useful to its possessor, as is certain the case;” – Charles Darwin
22.3.5
This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it. --John Adams
quoted on Metro State Atheists [Website]
19
Twenty times, in the course of my late Reading, have I been upon the point of breaking out
,
.This would be the best of all possible Worlds, if there were no Religion in it.. ! ! ! But in this
exclamati[on] I should have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without Religion this
World would be Something not fit to be mentioned in polite Company, I mean Hell. So far from
believing in the total and universal depravity of human Nature; I believe there is no Individual
totally depraved. The most abandoned Scoundrel that ever existed, never Yet Wholly
extinguished his Conscience, and while Conscience remains there is some Religion. . . .—
Letter from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, April 19, 1817
20
I believe what John Adams is saying, is that religion can be corrupt. A lot of people take
passages out of the bible and turn them into what they believe is true. For example, The Bible
says
“The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves
violence” Psalm 11:5 This means literally, that God hates the wicked. On the other hand, God is
a forgiving God and hates the choices that person made. My belief is that we were made all
pure love and energy. Therefore, no one is truly wicked. Throughout time and many different
opinions of religion and reading out of context… I don’t think John Adamas is saying he is an
atheist, rather this is what he’s justifying.
Exercise Set 22.4
22.4.1
Provide at least one example of the fallacy of Lifting Out of Context. Your example/s may be
taken from newspaper articles, literature and arts reviews, websites, magazines, or other media
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sources. Include both the statement/s taken out of context as well as the original source from
which this statement/s was taken.
22.4.2
Provide at least one example of a photograph that lifts an event out of its context and is, as a
result, misleading or deceptive. Explain why the photograph is deceptive. Your example might
be found on the Internet or in the print media such as a magazine or newspaper.
News Slanting
News slanting is a manner of interpreting the news according to a news bias.
Exercise Set
22.5.1
Go online and search out a news story that appears to have received considerable attention by
online independent media sources, but relatively little coverage by big American corporate
mainstream media (major broadcast and cable news companies such as NBC, MSNBC, Fox,
CBS, CNN, and ABC, and newspaper companies such as the Wall Street Journal, Washington
Post, and the New York Times.) The story you find should be one that you think in important for
the American people to know about. You can check to see how much mainstream media
attention it received by doing a Google search of the story. Explain why you think the news story
you have found should have been more thoroughly covered by the mainstream media.
22.5.2
Find a news story that plays up some aspects of the story and plays down others. Find another
media source that covers the same story but plays up and down different aspects of the story.
You may look for your story on line and/or in print media such as newspapers and news and
political magazines.
22.5.3
Find at least one example of a news article (on line or print) that buries important facts toward
the end of the article. Explain why the facts in question are important to the story and how the
burying of these facts might reflect a bias of the news organization in question.
Straw Man Fallacy
The salient feature of a literal straw man is that, by virtue of being made of straw, it lacks
substance and can easily be blown over. The Straw Man Fallacy arises when one presents
another’s position (argument or claim) in such a way that it can easily be blown over (defeated)
Exercise Set 22.6
Each of the following quotes criticizes a specific individual or group of individuals. In your
estimation, does the criticism make a Straw Man out of its target? Defend each of your
responses. In at least some cases, you may find it helpful to familiarize yourself with the subject
at hand (for example, by conducting a Google search) before responding.
22.6.1
When I was in basic training, never once wrote to me or any of that, did not attend my BCT
graduation, did not attend my AIT graduation. She never once offered to come and visit me. It's
always "so, when are you coming home to visit me?" She wants me to come home so I can do
things that I used to do when I was still living at home. And that's EVERYTHING. She's always
complaining that she can't put up with my brothers anymore and they're stressing her out and
that she has to cook and clean. Since I got pregnant, all she talks about is how she wants me and
the baby home so I can help her with the household stuff while she plays with my baby. Umm,
yea.--Blogger
29
22.6.2
Democrats view tax hikes as a "quick fix to any and every problem, no matter how big or small,"
and American taxpayers should worry about attacks on their wallets, Republican leaders are
warning.—CNS News.com
30
22.6.3
Republicans love war. Republicans only care about the rich. Republicans are crazy religious
fanatics. Republicans are at fault for all problems in America.—The Miami Hurricane
31
22.6.4
“Bush was a war monger, thats all he wanted to do. He said, "daddy? when will i get to drop
bombs on unsuspecting countries. The rest is history...” --Blogger
32
22.6.5
"I'm not interested in going in there like an idiot and going, 'OK, I'm going to build ten
orphanages and I'll see you guys later
....
I could've joined the UN and become an ambassador,
visited various countries and just showed up and smiled and looked concerned. But that's not
getting to the root of the problem. And neither is building orphan care centers."—Madonna
regarding Angelina Jolie’s activities as a U.N. ambassador and lobbyist for the world’s
orphaned children.
33
22.6.6
"Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect
enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."—Sarah
Palin, 2008 Republican, vice-presidential candidate
34
(Palin is here referring to Democrat
presidential candidate Barack Obama, and to his association with William Ayers, a professor of
education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who in 1969 co-founded the Weathermen, an
anti-Vietnam War organization, which, through the mid 1970s, engaged in riots and bombings
of federal buildings in protest of the war.)
22.6.7
This [George W. Bush] administration can tap our phones. They can't tap our creative spirit.
They can open our mail. They can't open economic opportunities. They can track our every
move. They lost track of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline and electricity
skyrockets. They skillfully played our post-9/11 fears and allowed the few to profit at the
expense of the many. Every day we get the color orange, while the oil companies, the insurance
companies, the speculators, the war contractors get the color green.—Dennis Kucinich, D. Rep.,
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Ohio
35
22.6.8
At the moment, I'm sad to report that many academics around the world are contributing to an
atmosphere that makes peace more difficult to achieve. They are encouraging those Palestinians
who see the end of Israel as their ultimate goal to persist in their ideological and terrorist
campaign. By demonizing and de-legitimating Israel in the international community and on
university campuses throughout the world, they send a doubly destructive message to those who
must make peace on the ground. To the Palestinians, the message is don't compromise. If you
hold out long enough, the next generation of leaders will buy into your efforts to de-legitimate
Israel and will give you the total victory you seek. To the Israelis, the message is: Whatever you
do in the name of compromise, you will continue to be attacked, demonized, divested from,
boycotted and de- legitimated, so why make the compromise efforts?—Alan Dershowitz
36
22.6.9
The Palestinians have nothing to offer the US. People have human rights insofar as they provide
services to power. Israel provides substantial services to US power, Palestinians on the other
hand provide nothing. They have no wealth, they have no power, they are mostly a nuisance.
They even have a negative value because their plight stirs up antagonism in what is called the
‘Arab Street’, the disdainful term for the Arab populations.—Noam Chomsky
37
(responding to a
question about how the U.S. views Palestinians in contrast to Israelis).
22.6.10
“The Christian faith from the beginning, is sacrifice, the sacrifice of all freedom, all pride, all
self-confidence of spirit, it is at the same time subjection, self-derision, and self- mutilation.”—
Frederick Nietzsche
38