Presentation over content

Duino, Italy, Google+ added colour

PIRIE, MADSEN (2006)(2015) How To Win Every Argument, Bloomsbury, London.

Presentation over content

When a claim, or premises, conclusion (s) making arguments, presented do not establish true content or logical validity. Instead an attempt is made to influence. (170).

Influencing the reader or listener may be more effective than a 'mundane' argument. (170). The fallacy resides in that presentation is not in the packaging but in the content. (170).

In my online psychological studies, I have read and heard those that opine that the best looking political candidate usually wins an election. The looks of this person is often more important than his/her platform. When this occurs this would be presentation over content. People are influenced to vote for the perceived best looking candidate.

Pirie:

'This book is about logic, not marketing'. (171). Pirie places this fallacy within The Informal fallacies of relevance (Intrusion). (230).

Fallacy files

Cited

'Exposure: The distinction between a Formal and an Informal Fallacy is that a formal fallacy is based solely on logical form, and an informal fallacy takes into account the non-logical content of the argument. This roughly parallels the distinction between deductive and non-deductive modes of reasoning. Typically, formal fallacies are committed by deductive arguments, whereas informal fallacies occur in arguments that could be at best inductively strong. However, there are exceptions to this pattern, for instance Begging the Question.

Source: Robert Audi (General Editor), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 1995.'

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In Three Minutes: Manhole

Last night at the movie theatre

Recent sermons

Proverbs 12: 9: From today's sermon at church.

English Standard Version

Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and lack bread.

New American Standard Bible 

Better is he who is lightly esteemed and has a servant Than he who honors himself and lacks bread.

In an earlier sermon I heard this week, Pastor John Courson preached similarly from Jeremiah 45.

Jeremiah 45:5

English Standard Version (ESV)

5 And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”

Jeremiah 45:5

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

5 But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the Lord, ‘but I will give your life to you as booty in all the places where you may go.’”

Courson states that the Lord warns against seeking success for self. (568). Being esteemed by other people to make one feel good. (568). This can even be spiritialized as in having a 'noteworthy ministry'. (568). To be approved by others and to make a name in history is problematic (568). The flesh will be destroyed. (568). The mind should be set on God. (568).

Jon Courson

COURSON, JON (2005) Application Commentary, Thomas Nelson, Nashville.

Manhole?

Public domain

Fallacious assumptions

La Campagna, Italy, trekearth: Added colour

PIRIE, MADSEN (2006)(2015) How To Win Every Argument, Bloomsbury, London.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

From the Latin, this is translated as 'therefore on the account of this'. (168).

This fallacy assumes that because one event follows another, the first event caused the second event. (168). Even though two events might be consecutive, it should not be assumed that the second event resulted because of the first event, notes Pirie. The second event may have occurred regardless. (168).

My example

Event A
Event B

It is fallacious to assume that because Event B followed Event A, in chronological succession, that Event B is a result of Event A.

Simple succession in time, does not suffice. (169). Cause and effect is assumed. (169).

More evidence would be required to provide reasonable argumentation of cause and effect.

My example

Celebrity A died
Celebrity B died
Celebrity C died

Three celebrities die within three weeks and some assume that the universe or some force is targeting these three celebrities. There is no significant evidence for this assumption. Rather within a Christian worldview, all persons die eventually, and then are judged (eventually, but certainly). Hebrews 9: 27 states that a persons dies and then judgement follows.

Hebrews 9:27-28

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

27 And inasmuch as it is [a]appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Footnotes: Hebrews 9:27 Lit laid up

The post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy speculates on the consecutive human death of three celebrities, while the Scripture provides documented revelation as religious history in regard to universal human death.

It is an example of speculation versus religious revelation.

From a secular, critical perspective, religious revelation may be viewed as religious literature of human origin alone. Based on biblical scholarship, I disagree and reason Scripture is inspired by God through human authors. However, the Scripture is documented religious history, regardless.

BBC: Unstoppable bacteria?

Yesterday: The traffic was not unstoppable.

Edited today

BBC July 7 2017

Author: James Gallagher

Cited

'Oral sex is producing dangerous gonorrhoea and a decline in condom use is helping it to spread, the World Health Organization has said.

It warns that if someone contracts gonorrhoea, it is now much harder to treat, and in some cases impossible.

The sexually transmitted infection is rapidly developing resistance to antibiotics. Experts said the situation was "fairly grim" with few new drugs on the horizon. About 78 million people pick up the STI each year and it can cause infertility.'

Cited

 '..."Gonorrhoea is a very smart bug, every time you introduce a new class of antibiotics to treat gonorrhoea, the bug becomes resistant."'

Cited

'"These cases may just be the tip of the iceberg,"...'

Cited

'"When you use antibiotics to treat infections like a normal sore throat, this mixes with the Neisseria species in your throat and this results in resistance." Thrusting gonorrhoea bacteria into this environment through oral sex can lead to super-gonorrhoea.'

Cited

'The disease is caused by the bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoea. The infection is spread by unprotected vaginal, oral and anal sex.'

Cited

'But ultimately, the WHO said vaccines would be needed to stop gonorrhoea.'

End selected citations

Articles on the subject of sexually transmitted diseases have philosophical, theological and worldview considerations. Not to claim moral perfection, whatsoever, within a Christian worldview. But, following a marriage or celibacy morality and ethic, although it does not guarantee mental purity (Matthew 5), it does keep one from many of the results of fornication, including sexually transmitted diseases.

From 1 Corinthians 6:18, Gordon Fee comments that the Apostle Paul argues for the Christian believer to 'flee from pornia' (260). The footnote further explains that feugete (pornia) is in the present imperative implying that one is to 'keep running from'. (260). The Greek root word from Bible Hub is πορνεία, meaning fornication. Another commentator, Marsh, writes that this is too powerful to be opposed safely and needs to be approached with the attitude of flight. Sexual sin effects the body in a particularly negative way. (1360).

It seems to me that the more fornication occurs, at least in many cases, the more difficult it is to resist as one's already fallen and corrupted nature (Genesis, Romans) further embraces the pleasure associated with this sin. Another possible result, in a minority of persons, is eventually viewing fornication as futile and at least somewhat, setting sexuality aside.

Fornication is sin (1 Corinthians 6) and celibacy does not suit most people (1 Corinthians 7), but modern western society and many within the modern Christian church negate biblical marriage via social norms, at least for a time. Although, based on 1 Corinthians, I am neither the unrepentant, defiant fornicator, nor the joyful, obedient, content, celibate, many of the attitudes within the church on dating and marriage, definitely and definitively tarnish my own views of dating and marriage. I am in dialogue with somewhat interested women daily, but these worldview stances noted, very much limit a reasonable pool of candidates for dating and potential marriage.

Embracing fornication and the risk of sexually transmitted diseases is not a good, philosophical, theological worldview, approach and neither is celibacy without contentment. This is yet another aspect of problems of evil.

Biblehum.com

FEE, GORDON D. (1987) The First Epistle To The Corinthians, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

MARSH, PAUL, W. (1986) ‘1 Corinthians’, in F.F. Bruce, (ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Marshall Pickering/Zondervan.