Thank You for Arguing Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Summery

    Chapter 13 was about applying some logos to get what you want out of a discussion. The main point of the chapter was on starting with a commonplace, this is something everyone knows and can relate too. One of the biggest problems in most arguments is someone feeling like they don’t know enough about the issue. If you are in an argument and you suddenly feel like you are less informed than you will become less confident in your argument there for you lose your standing ground. Now a commonplace is a good place to start but sometimes you don't need to use such a hand fed message. You can use logos to skip the fact when you have to, focusing your attention on the rational strategies. This does not mean only use logic in an argument. This is something the book likes to call Spock Theory, the theory states that anything in emotion or values is “illogical”. This strategy is actually called dialectic, it is mathematical and formulaic. This is not true in rhetoric we need emotions and values in our arguments to help persuade the audience. Logic rarely gets people to do anything.  Logos in the biblical translation means “word”.  But the Greeks applied logos to logic in everything, logos lets you put in facts, values, and attitudes to your discussion. In your discussion you are trying to convince your audience of something but their beliefs are as important as the facts. An audience is as good as what it knows and what it thinks is true is true. This chapter also talks about syllogism, which Jay says he thinks Aristotle tried to make as boring as possible. Syllogism is basically the “well, duh” that is stated in your argument. It’s almost like an “if-then”, where you state something true and then follow it with something else true and you can reach the conclusion that must also be true. This can be a sort of fallacy because sometimes the conclusion you reach is not true, they use this a lot in politics. But sometimes to conclusion you reach is true and example is “ No dogs are cats, All pitbulls are dogs, therefore,no pit bulls are cats.” This type of argument you take something the audience knows or truth or a commonplace and apply it to your argument. This chapter was mainly on focusing on logos and how you can apply it to your argument and it still have emotion and values.

Reflection:

    This chapter right from the get go states how this subject of syllogism is boring and dry but it was bearable. It was not painfully boring it was interesting but it had its stale moments. One thing that really opened my eyes was when he started talking about using only logic and how you would think only using logic would be the best argument because it would have no flaws. Because we are predisposed to think that emotions and values are “illogical”. When it is something we can all relate to and a purely logical argument like what Spock and the rest of the Vulcans have is boring and a repellent for persuasion. The subject of syllogism is very interesting and after reading this chapter I can see how people draw wrong conclusions from the truth. I remember seeing it in the modern remake of Sherlock. In this series Moriarty sets but through the whole tv show little truths about Sherlock and in the end it leads everyone to believe something not true. He says “ To make a lie that’s more preferable to the truth, a big lie, wrap it up in a truth to make it more palatable”. This is how I see syllogism, wrapping up a lie inside a truth.