Questions tagged [rhetoric]
the practice of effective persuasive speech/argumentation
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How do I counter this argument? [closed]
Essentially I was in an argument with a pro black/#BlackLivesMatter proponent, and they asserted that the USA is out to get black people, and that white's are constantly killing blacks.
I countered ...
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Why do people who subscribe to self-refuting skeptical philosophies still argue with others?
The belief that everything is relative is obviously self-refuting, because it holds to an absolute.
However, in my experience, people who believe this (or some form of it) such as some Buddhists and ...
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"That religion is not a race doesn't stop people who attack it from being racist!" Is this a logical fallacy?
Does this argument represent a logical fallacy? If so, which one?
Jack: People who argue against [religion] are racist.
Jill: But, [religion] is not a race!
Jack: Well, that religion is ...
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What fallacy excludes "outsiders" from discussing "insider" issue?
I see this a lot on the internet, especially as of late with what's trending in the news:
You're a man, so you're not allowed to comment on women's issues.
You're a woman, so you're not allowed to ...
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How would you explain the is-ought dichotomy to an "Objectivist"?
I've recently met someone who identifies as an "Objectivist." I'm a moral nihilist, so naturally, I asked about the is-ought problem.
His response was frustrating.
He claims that Rand avoids ...
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How to write clearly about philosophy?
Are there any guides on how write clearly, especially when writing about philosophy?
I ask because I am usually baffled when someone says that they don't understand me, and at a loss as to how to ...
user6917
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name this fallacy: A was P in the past -> A must be P now
I've been seeing arguments of this form for awhile:
(agreed true premise) Some predicate P was applicable to behavior/event/thing A in the past. Variations: P(A) may have been true at some particular ...
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Why does Hume raise the Missing Shade of Blue?
From reading this question on Hume, having read the first seven sections of the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (which covers the relevant section), a further question hit me. Hume dismisses ...
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What fallacy dismisses problems by presenting "bigger" problems?
Wasn't really sure how to phrase this, but I'm thinking of an instance in which someone diminishes a problem by presenting one of larger scope - as a rather shoddy example, "x political problem in ...
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How to avoid the slippery slope fallacy in arguments and discussions? [closed]
I´m looking for advice on how to argue better. Sometimes, in a discussion, I have the bad habit of generating strong examples, that are near to violating Godwin's law or invoking the slippery slope.
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Is there a logical fallacy that describes insulting an argument rather than addressing it?
I'm having a net debate and the person is raving about how pathetic my argument is rather than explaining why it is a pathetic argument. I believe its a logical fallacy but I'm not sure.
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How to effectively undertake the study of a philosophical work?
I feel like this question gets posed a lot in different ways and was curious if it might be possible to formulate it narrowly enough to get answered here.
For the most part I think the answer is ...
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Money and Friendship - Is this a logical fallacy?
I overheard a conversation that went something like this:
A: You could buy that for me.
B: I can't afford that.
A: Are you going to let money get in the way of friendship?
Specifically, I like the ...
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Attacking a rejected hypothesis
I’ve noticed a type of fallacious argument for which I’m not able to find a recognized name. It goes something like this:
Ms. W.: You might believe hypothesis A to be true, but reject it for reasons ...
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Is it Unethical to Use Sarcasm?
I am trying to find an ideal example of when it is best to use Sarcasm. It seems that sarcasm in general is a rude, and disrespectful approach to talk to someone. I can see how it may be used to prove ...
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Aristotle's Wording Is Either Wrong Or Confusing
In Rhetoric, Book I, Part 6, Aristotle states:
We may define a good thing as that which ought to be chosen for its
own sake; or as that for the sake of which we choose something else;
or as ...
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best Phaedrus edition to start with for beginner
I'm interested particularly in Socrates' condemnation of written words and its propensity to create a false and superficial sense of intelligence which seems so prescient in light of how people use ...
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Is there a term for the logical arguing of what *should* be done, as opposed to what is true?
I'm trying to explain to someone that an appeal to consequences is a fallacy in formal logic, but is appropriate when you're discussing policy, for instance, or more generally, when choosing between ...
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Is contemporary advertising a form of Rhetoric?
The definition that Aristotle gives of Rhetoric makes me think that it could also include contemporary advertising.
The definition of Rhetoric is the following:
Rhetoric may be defined as the ...
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Which logical fallacy relies on the credibility of academic professors?
You can trust that academics know the truth because they have tenure and are free to think for themselves.
Question: What percentage actually have tenure?
Does having tenure mean you're right about ...
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What is meant by an Appeal?
To Appeal to a concept would seem to originally be (in the day of Greek metaphysics) a somewhat poetic device metaphorically gesturing toward whatever concept understanding might be sought from.
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Is this paragraph in The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine an example of a rhetorical argument?
I found the following passage in The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine
When Samson ran off with the gate-posts of Gaza, if he ever did so,
(and whether he did or not is nothing to us,) or when he ...
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Is there any Philosophical significance to why Plato chose to present his work in the form of a dialogue?
Spinoza presented his work in a proposition/theorem format following Euclid, presumably to varnish his work in the seemingly eternal verities of mathematics.
Is there any significance as to why Plato ...
