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CONWAY DAVID A. AND RONALD MUNSON (1997) The Elements of Reasoning, Wadsworth Publishing Company, New York.
PIRIE, MADSEN (2006)(2015) How To Win Every Argument, Bloomsbury, London.
WALTON, DOUGLAS (1996) ‘Informal Fallacy’, in Robert Audi, (ed), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Examples from Pirie
I met the ambassador riding his horse. He was snorting and steaming, so I gave him a lump of sugar.' (38)
'FOR SALE: Car by elderly lady with new body and spare tyre. (38)
Note
I now just realize this is how 'tyre' is spelled in British English. I wrote my MPhil and PhD theses with British English, but 'tyre' is still new to me.
(Canadian and American English is 'tire')
Amphiboly is the fallacy of ambiguous construction. (37)
The fallacy occurs often when one fails to consider alternate readings. (38)
This could be due to mistakes in punctuation and grammar.
He states that astrology makes good use of amphiboly as do fortune tellers and a prophet to 'hedge his bets' (38) and 'have it both ways. (38)
This would of course be a false prophet. A true prophet, receiving actual information from God would do no such thing and to hedge bets would risk death in error. Deuteronomy 13 and 18 both stating a false prophet within the Old Testament, Mosaic Law should be put to death.
In the New Testament context a false prophet is to be exposed as such by the Church. This minus the Mosaic Law. 2 Peter (false prophets and false teachers) and Jude (false teachers) are two notable New Testament books to expose false religionists. Jesus also mentioned false Christs and false prophets in Matthew 24.
I am not implying or indicating that all prophets use amphiboly, although to Pirie's credit, he points out a tool that can be used by false religionists.
'The Elements' text is useful considering vagueness and ambiguity in writing arguments.
Vagueness described as a term's lack of precision (176) and ambiguity allows for various possible meanings, each which may be precise. (176).
In Cambridge, Amphiboly is called '(double arrangement)' as traditional fallacy from Aristotle's list. (376). It is the use of 'syntactically ambiguous sentences.' (376).
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| trekearth |
I made a 'scene' at the local market Sunday buying all the blackberries, blueberries and most of the raspberries for my next week mostly fruit and veg diet. The owner states he buys them for me. An older man beside me stated with an accent 'Why you do that'?
ReplyDeleteIf my name was Chuck, I would be Chuck Berry, but Chuck is Chuck and I am not...
“The greatest of all human delusions is that there is a tangible goal, and not just direction towards an ideal aim. The idea that a goal can be attained perpetually frustrates human beings, who are disappointed at never getting there, never being able to stop.”
ReplyDelete-Stephen Spender, World Within World
Striving with One Mind
ReplyDeleteBelievers disagree so much with each other. The Bible warns against strong drink, does that cover beer? We are called to repent and believe, does that mean repent before you believe, or as you turn to Christ see how he gives all you need, so as you turn to him the old idols fall away? Do we really still think that Jesus must come back before we should work for a better world? It used to be on the short list of the essentials for the Christian faith!
Now “role of women” divides us. Are some of those passages really in the Bible or are they later add ons? If deacons don’t rule in the church anyway, why can’t women lead us in service? Not to mention reading Scripture in worship?
How faith and obedience, law and grace, work together seems the hardest. The great “second blessing” is my life has been the “sonship” of Jack Miller, with its other name of “living in grace” of Paul Kooistra. When I hear a sermon that doesn’t say how much the Lord loves us so much that he gave his beloved son to die for us—well then, I’m deeply disappointed and even hurt. Why doesn’t that preacher see things the same way I do? He must be OK, presbytery thinks so, but how can he think that way? Why are all those people so content? They’re not leaning forward eagerly the way I do when I hear about Jesus, but they came to church, didn’t they? But how can it make sense to me to be here? Maybe now and then, if I can get fed somewhere else in between?
Very similar to me is how the gospel only makes sense when you understand it within its culture. My problem is that I’m not a great listener, I like to talk too much. I have to keep coaching myself so that I ask people, “so how are you doing?” Once I get started it’s a delight to relate to people, to interact with them, to actually have a conversation with them—but it’s not easy to get going. So when I heard Harvie Conn explain anything “cross-cultural” it was so helpful to me. When Meredith Kline pulled me into the Hittite culture and showed me how the Lord himself was a listener and talked to his own people against that background—was that exciting!
ReplyDeleteJohn Leonard’s Get Real is all about listening while you talk to others about Jesus, just an amazing book. Then there are the people in the Christian counseling world, Jay Adams to David Powlison and Ed Welch to Mike Emlet. Not only do they listen, but they actually know how to ask the right questions so what they hear is worth listening to! All that was in the air we breathed in the Westminster Seminary where I worked. Cross-cultural Harvie, counseling Jay, listening Bible study with Ed Clowney, Ray Dillard, Moises Silva, Al Groves all the way to Doug Green and Mike Kelly. If you understand people today by listening, try listening way back then in the Old Testament.
All that has been vanishing, and I struggle to understand. But I'm trying. I know people can give too much attention to the culture, so much so that all the truth there gets relativized away. That’s not a theoretical danger, it happens all the time. So in order for me to value anti-culture people, I can value with them that no matter what the Bible is always truly God's word, and that’s well worth doing. Not that I think it would be a good idea for most people to get their training with them, but I can imagine some would. I hate it that people got fired because they weren’t close enough, but I try to understand.
ReplyDeleteHow should I listen to a sermon without Jesus in it? Well, I do know Jesus already, don’t I? If I’ve learned David Powlison’s take on Psalm 119, “keep up your end of the conversation with God,” enjoying my interaction with him all the time, then can’t I do that hearing a sermon without that biblical theology? I doubt that’s the way to do it, but there are people who need to know the basics, laying the foundation to build on later.
ReplyDeleteThose fundies against beer and movies? They sure have their major priorities straight. These days beer makes me sleepy anyway, so who needs it? You can enjoy Jesus together over coffee.
Role of women? If we’re all here to serve the Lord all the time, we can think together about the other six days in the week, and share great stories about our learned daughters. We can keep talking about those hard texts, original or add ons, and read Phil Payne together to figure that out.
ReplyDeleteWouldn’t it be wonderful if we could just agree on everything? With some church history in your head, you know that won’t happen with baptism, with what you say at the Supper, with what collars preachers wear, and we’ve gotten well used to all that. All the rest today, we can deal with that, at least to the extent where it really doesn’t divide us deeply.
But if you put to your mind to it, we all could think of new things where we’re smarter than anyone else. I know from Nehemiah that Sabbath begins at sundown the night before, so why aren’t we having worship then? The Seventh-Day Baptists go too far, but I could see starting a Six and a Half Day Presbyterian Church, but I have other things to do right now, like appreciating all the people who don’t agree with me on everything.
ReplyDeleteI still thinking reminding each other of the gospel is always worth doing, but I know brothers and sisters in the Lord who don’t think so. I’m not eager to get behind an a-cultural seminary, but I appreciate its stand for God’s infallible world, when so many others don’t.
What Paul had to say in Philippians is helping me, in 1: 27-28 and then 2: 1-8:
ReplyDeleteOnly let your manner of life be worthy[ of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
With one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel!
ReplyDeleteD. Clair Davis
What’s so good about being a Calvinist?
ReplyDeleteWhat’s so good about being a Calvinist? Well, it’s good for nostalgia. If your people came from Scotland, then you can put on your tartan bathrobe, play a bagpipe record, and say the first question of the Catechism. But then you’re only playing a game. You’re not a Scot, you’re a Tarheel. Grits beat oatmeal anytime.
It gives you something special to do while everyone else is into Halloween. You can have a Reformation Day slide show of the pastor’s wife in front of the John Calvin statue, which does brighten it up! Back in college we used to bring out a history prof to talk about Luther with a Norwegian catch in his voice. Then he disappeared for another year. He was the only Lutheran we had and we treasured him. Calvinists are rare too, but are you ready to be a prized antique?
ReplyDeleteYou can hear far-out sermons on the Five Points of Calvinism … But basically the Five Points tell you how God saves people, and you’ve been saved for years. What you need to know is how to be a better wife and mother. You need to know how to get ready for your next mid-life crisis. You need to know how to pray when the pain gets sharper. How does being a Calvinist help then?
ReplyDeleteIt helps because underneath all those questions about how to live is a much bigger, much more essential one: Why bother? How do you know the Lord really cares?
You don’t ask that one out loud in your Sunday-school class. But you know you’re eaten up with worry. You’ve gotten used to being bored with the Bible. You can’t identify with the things the other Christians talk about. You need a fresh start with the Lord. But where do you begin?
ReplyDeleteNow that’s where Calvinism really comes through for you. It applies the Bible where you need it the most. Think through the basics. Jesus died for you personally (Personal Atonement). He loves you, not what he can get out of you (Unconditional Election). He pours out his love on every bit of you, not just on what you think is your sweeter and nicer side (Total Depravity). His love is stronger than all your doubt and foolishness and fear put together (Irresistible Grace). He keeps on loving you, all the way through to the end (Perseverance of the Saints). That’s the Five Points of your Father’s love!
When you’ve digested how much the Lord has done for you, then you’ll know what you’re doing. That’s why the Lord kept telling his people, ‘Remember the Exodus!’ In the middle of the clutter and snarls in your life, keep in mind the Lord’s mighty, loving arm that lifted you out of slavery into the Land of Promise. ‘He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?’ (Romans 8:31-32).
Pondering the five points of God’s grace isn’t a nostalgia trip. When you’re alert about your salvation, then you know what life is all about. When you see how your salvation comes only from the Lord and not a bit from yourself, then you understand a lot of other things too. You know what’s really important and what to do next…
But don’t stop there. Orthodox Presbyterian minister Henry Coray once told his congregation to turn 360 degrees from sin, and it took them five minutes to figure out where that would take them. But your problem isn’t in going too far, but in not going far enough. After turning away from glorying in yourself, be sure to start glorying in Jesus Christ. If you stop half-way, all you have left is apathy. But the Lord has called you to enjoy him forever. You do that by looking at Philippians 2 and doing some solid thinking about what Jesus gave up for you. Weigh what it means for him to be a servant. Consider his obedience all the way to death. Try to grasp Jesus Christ crucified, crying out, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me!’ Now you’re ready to start telling yourself and the Lord how wonderful and glorious Jesus Christ is.
ReplyDeleteAnd then worship him in the Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can turn your foolish heart away from that list of achievements to the cross of Christ. Only the Spirit can show you Jesus in his glory. Only the Spirit can focus your whole heart and life and hope upon your Savior.
ReplyDeleteThat’s what so good about being a Calvinist. You have a way to apply the splendor of God’s love to the nitty-gritty of your life. Go on taking the Lord seriously, in all his grace and mercy. Go on living before his face with joy.
D. Clair Davis
“The death of Guillaume Apollinaire at this time made a very serious difference to all his friends apart from their sorry at his death. It was the moment just after the war when many things had changed and people naturally fell apart. Guillaume would have been a bond of union, he always had a quality of keeping people together, and now that he was gone everybody ceased to be friends.”
ReplyDelete-Gertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
During the wedding rehearsal, the groom approached the pastor with an unusual offer: "Look, I'll give you $100 if you'll change the wedding vows. When you get to the part where I'm supposed to promise to 'love, honor and obey' and 'be faithful to her forever,' I'd appreciate it if you’d just leave that out." He passed the minister a $100 bill and walked away satisfied.
ReplyDeleteOn the day of the wedding, when it came time for the groom's vows, the pastor looked the young man in the eye and said: "Will you promise to prostrate yourself before her, obey her every command and wish, serve her breakfast in bed every morning of your life, and swear eternally before God and your lovely wife that you will not ever even look at another woman, as long as you both shall live?"
The groom gulped and looked around, and said in a tiny voice, "Yes." Then he leaned toward the pastor and hissed, "I thought we had a deal."
The pastor put the $100 bill back into the groom's hand and whispered, "She made me a better offer."
…..Mikey’s Funnies (http://www.mikeysFunnies.com) by way “Christian Voices” (ChristianVoices@att.net)
640K ought to be enough for anybody.
ReplyDeleteBill Gates, 1981
A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.
ReplyDeleteDan Quayle
Airplanes are interesting toys, but they have no military value.
ReplyDeleteMarshal Ferdinand Foch in 1911
Do you have blacks, too?
ReplyDeleteGeorge W Bush, to Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso
For NASA, space is still a high priority.
ReplyDeleteDan Quayle
Gaiety is the most outstanding feature of the Soviet Union.
ReplyDeleteJosef Stalin, November 1935
I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.
ReplyDeleteBill Clinton
I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.
ReplyDeleteJohn Wayne
'Genius' quotes...
ReplyDelete