1. My neighbor should be forced to get rid of all the cars in his yard.
2. People do not like living next door to such a mess.
3. He never drives any of them.
4. They all look old and beat up and leak oil all over the place.
5. It is bad for the neighborhood, and it will decrease property values.
Argument? Yes.
Conclusion: The neighbor should be forced to get rid of all the cars in his yard.
Additional premises needed? If the neighbor owns old, beat up, leaky cars in his yard and doesn't drive nay of them, then he be forced to get rid of them since people do not like living next door to such a mess bcause it is bad for the neighborhood, and it decreases property values.
Identify any subargument: 2,3,4 and 5 are independent and support the conclusion, 1.
Good argument? No, it is a bad argument.
It is a bad argument since the conclusion is begging that the neighbor should get rid of his junk cars. The premises could be good but how could the writer know if the people do not like living right next to that neighbor's mess? And no one should be forced to get rid of their belongings since they have their own rights to whether they want to keep such things or not. Maybe they want to fix those old cars but don't have the money to do it yet. Plus, the old cars are in their yard. They could do whatever they want in their yard.
This exercise was useful since it gave me ideas on how to do determine whether an argument is good or not and how to explain it.
Hey! Your post is preeettyyy similar to mines! Anyway, I agree that the argument is bad because it have plausible premises, but false conclusion. The exercise to me was useful because I was able to break it down, but honestly, it took me a while to analyze the argument . I was a little confused about the additional premises needed and identifying the subarguments. I also agree that no one should be forced to get rid of their belongings because it’s their property. I don’t think people have no right to tell others to get rid of their own possessions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that this is a bad argument because the house is the person's own property. The owner of the house can do whatever he or she wants with his or her house. It is not like the neighbor is living there! Anyone and everyone should not be forced to throw away things they do not want to just because someone tells them that it is bad for the neighborhood. The premises could also be true; however, the neighbor should not be assuming things just because it is his own opinion (subjective claim). Also because other people may think otherwise..
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