Fallacy
“The BCS is a bunch of crock. A championship cannot be determined by computers, sportscasters, coaches or college presidents. An honest championship should be decided on the field, by the players. College football fans ought to be ashamed. They should be screaming the loudest. They should be demanding an honest playoff system. Is honesty and integrity not important? When did we lose sight of what is right, what is good, what is great?”
This is from the Opinion/Letters section of the Deseret News. This is a red herring fallacy. Red herrings try to cover up the real issue by bringing up more emotional issues. The writer’s last sentence is talking about society’s moral decline and claims that people no longer care about what is right and good. The real issue is whether or not the current playoff system is fair. The writer obscures the real issue by asking about the values of humanity which are a much more emotional issue than college football.
Ethos/Pathos/Logos
Ethos 1- “I am a soldier” 2- “The gates of mercy shall be shut” –by saying this Henry suggests that he has the authority to choose when to extend mercy.
Pathos 1- “With conscience wide as hell, mowing like grass/ Your fresh-fair virgins and your flowering infants. 2- “your pure maidens fall into the hand/ Of hot and forcing violation?”
Logos 1- “will you yield, and this avoid,” 2- “If I begin the battery once again,/ I will not leave the half-achieved Harfleur/ Till in her ashes she lie buried.”
Your example of red herring is interesting, because it's a very subtle. Red herring is often a blatant change of subject, but this one is very interesting because it definitely detracts from the issue at hand by bringing up honesty and integrity in general.
ReplyDeleteYour examples for ethos/pathos/logos are good, but I was also looking for a small analysis explaining how each example fits into the separate appeals.
Overall, nice work
Natalie
I like your fallacy example and I think it's interesting that there are more fallacies than just one in most examples. They come in droves. Like when he says "Is honesty and integrity not important?" it's poisoning the well because it would make a person feel guilty to argue. So it's red herring and well-poisoning and, I'm sure, a bunch more if we look hard enough. Cool!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that the quote is in a way a fallacy, I also believe that people are actually forgetting how college football should really be. The BCS is a cash crop for its 6 conferences that are all given automatic bids. Teams in these conferences rake in millions of dollars every year from the BCS even if they have a losing season. While teams like BYU and formerly Boise st. win 10 to 12 games and make far less money. Simply put if it weren't for the money that the BCS provides to the 6 major college football conferences there would already be a playoff system. Sorry for the venting.
ReplyDeleteI liked your example of a fallacy in the news. I think in addition to being an example of red herring, it could also be the one where they're trying to make you feel guilty if you don't agree with them. Like when it says, "College football fans ought to be ashamed. They should be screaming the loudest. They should be demanding an honest playoff system. Is honesty and integrity not important?" This makes it sound like if college football fans aren't complaining against the BCS they are denouncing honesty and integrity and should be ashamed. I don't remember exactly what this fallacy would be called though.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way as pescin. Although you could argue that there is a fallacy in the statement, I agree with everything that was said. The BCS really isn't fair and is all about the money, which is probably why the writer was questioning the integrity of college football.
ReplyDeleteI really like this example because I think that this is a very stupid system for determining the college football champion. However, I don't think that this argument really did anything, because there needed to be examples of what is wrong with it and confront the problem head on.
ReplyDeleteI like your example of a fallacy. Although I agree with the argument that he is trying to make about the BCS as well, it is true that he isn't really addressing the issue at hand and is bringing up other generalized topics.
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