My philosophy project

Hey every one (meaning all three of you). I'm back from my hiatus because I was sick, and I have a new post! This post is a project that I did for my philosophy class on informal fallacies. What is an informal fallacy you might ask? Well, let me tell you!

Here is a description found on the internet using google:

'An informal fallacy is one that is not formal, that is, it is a type of fallacy in which the content of the argument is relevant to its fallaciousness, or which is fallacious for epistemological, dialectical, or pragmatic reasons. Typically, informal fallacies occur in non-deductive reasoning, which relies on content as well as form for cogency. Also, because content is important in informal fallacies, there are arguments with the form of the fallacy which are cogent. For this reason, when forms for informal fallacies are given, this is for identification purposes only, that is, one cannot tell from the form alone that an instance is fallacious. Rather, the forms will help to differentiate between distinct types of informal fallacy.'

Alright, now that's a bit high end, so I'll give you my version of it:
An informal fallacy occurs when an argument isn't based on reason, but it instead tries to cleverly persuade by other means.

Much easier I think. Now, there are three categories of informal fallacies, which I'll mention, but won't go into great detail, because like myself, you'd all fall asleep.

The three categories are:
-Fallacies of Relevancy
-Fallacies of Presumption
-Fallacies of Ambiguity

I'm sure you could piece together what each category covers, for you are all intelligent.

Anyhow, our assignment was this: Create an argument using informal fallacies. 7 at the least, 9 at the most.

So, I did the project. Here it is:

This is a situation where Jason, is about to ask his boss for a raise. The boss wants Jason to explain why he thinks he deserves a raise. Here is his argument.


Jason: Hey Terry, can I talk to you about something?
Terry: Hey Jason, yeah sure, what’s on your mind?
Jason: Well, to be honest Terry, I want a raise.
Terry: A raise? Do you want to explain to me why you think you deserve a raise?
Jason: Well, I’ve been here for over a year now, at the same pay. And I work really hard, and hard workers deserve a reward.
Terry: I see. And how many other employees are hard workers?
Jason: Well, at the store I work at, 1 or 2, maybe.
Terry: Then what makes you think you deserve a raise more than they do? If you’re talking about who I think you’re talking about, they’ve both been here longer than you.
Jason: Well yeah, they have been here longer than me, but I’m the one here asking you for a raise. If they don’t’ have the courage to ask you for one, they don’t deserve one.[1]
Terry: Well that’s not a valid reason Jason. You are a hard worker, but so are many others. Just because you found the guts to ask me for a raise, doesn’t mean other people don’t deserve one. Do you see what I mean?
Jason: I do Terry, but that’s not the point. The point is that I work hard, I stay late, I do all my work, every time I’m working, and I do it well. No one puts as much work into this job as I do. Well, a few, but this isn’t about them, it’s about me.
Terry: Jason, that’s not fair. You don’t see the others stores, and the other employees. How do you know you’re the hardest worker?
Jason: Because, I’m dedicated to this job, and I work so hard to be good at my job.
Terry: Jason, you’re not giving me a good reason to give you a raise. You’re just bringing down others.
Jason: Well, the thing is, I love working here, you’re a great boss, you keep your employees happy, and keep things running smoothly. And, I want to keep working for you, but I think with the amount of time and work I put into this job, I deserve to be rewarded for doing my job, and meeting your expectations. You yourself told me I show great leadership, work well with others, always do my job, and others seem to respond to me, and work better when around me.[2]
Terry: You’re right Jason, I did say those things. And I like to think I keep my employees happy.
Jason: And the truth is, I’m trying to save some money for college, and that isn’t cheap. And at the wage I’m at right now, it will be extremely hard to get by, because my parents don’t have money to help me, and I really want to go out there and find out what I want to do with my life. And I need to go to college to expand my education to find out what I DO want to do.[3]
Terry: That’s all well and good Jason. But there are ways to get through school without lots of money.
Jason: I know there is, but it’s so hard to get scholarships when you work as hard at a job like I do. There isn’t any time for scholarships when you’re at work dealing with maniac customers ready to chop your head off because their food doesn’t look like the picture![4]
Terry: What are you talking about?
Jason: Forget about that, I work hard, right? Don’t I?. I’ll keep working hard no matter what.[5]
Terry: If you get the raise, I expect you to work hard, if not harder.
Jason: Well yeah, of course I would.
Terry: Well, I’ll think about it, alright Jason?
Jason: Terry, you’re not listening to me! You never listen. You’re always talking about how fair you are, but how can you be fair if you won’t even listen to my reasoning? I’ve given you more than ample reasoning, but you haven’t even considered giving me the raise. You’re too cheap for your own good![6]
Terry: Jason, now you’re out of line. I promise you I will think about giving you the raise, but it remains to be seen if you deserve one.
Jason: I am out of line, and you don’t see a reason to give me a raise. Just because you don’t see one, doesn’t mean there isn’t. Therefore I deserve a raise.[7]

Footnotes:
[1] Attack on a person: He is attacking the courage of the other employees to look better.
[2] Appeal to Authority: He is repeating things said to him by Terry to try and persuade him to give him the raise.
[3] Appeal to Pity: He’s trying to guilt Terry into giving him the raise so he can go to college.
[4] Accident: Jason made up a random situation that could occur, but has nothing to do with him getting a raise.
[5] Complex Question: The premise of the question is that Jason works really hard, and the conclusion is that he works really hard.
[6] Appeal to Force: Jason is trying to bring Terry down and anger him into doing something he’ll regret, which he can then use against Terry, to get a raise.
[7] Appeal to Ignorance: Jason says that because it’s not proven that he shouldn’t get a raise, he should get a raise.

Anyhow, I got this back the other day, and got an A+ on it. Hurray me!