ENTRY 4_ĐÀO THỊ HỒNG NHUNG

Item 1

“Either you’re with us, either you love freedom, and with nations which embrace freedom, or you’re with the enemy.” There’s no in-between, and that doctrine still stands.

– False dilemma

– This is a sentence in George Bush’s speech in which he just gives a choice between one or another (“either-or”) even though there are other choices which could be made such as neutral.

Item 2:
Source: http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-tradition.html

Gunthar is the father of Connan. They live on a small island and in their culture women are treated as property to be exchanged at will by men.

Connan: “You know father, when I was going to school in the United States I saw that American women are not treated as property. In fact, I read a book by this person named Mill in which he argued for women’s rights.”
Gunthar: “So, what is your point son?”
Connan: “Well, I think that it might be wrong to trade my sisters for cattle. They are human beings and should have a right to be masters of their own fate.”
Gunthar: “What a strange and new-fangled notion you picked up in America. That country must be even more barbaric then I imagined. Now think about this son. We have been trading women for cattle for as long as our people have lived on this island. It is a tradition that goes back into the mists of time. ”
Connan: “But I still think there is something wrong with it.”
Gunthar: “Nonsense my boy. A tradition this old must be endorsed by the gods and must be right.”

– Fallacy: Appeal to tradition

– In this conversation, it is easy for us to realize that the father is a person who always follows the tradition. He assumed that the things his son said were wrong and the tradition is right because “A tradition this old must be endorsed by the gods and must be right.”

Item 3:
Source: http://intercontinentalcry.org/an-examination-of-logical-fallacies/
If we pass laws against fully-automatic weapons, then it won’t be long before we pass laws on all weapons, and then we will begin to restrict other rights, and finally we will end up living in a communist state. Thus, we should not ban fully-automatic weapons.

– Slippery slope

– According to this, we have: pass laws against fully-automatic weapons => pass on all weapons => restrict other rights => end up living in a communist state.
Actually, when laws against fully-automatic weapons are passed, it does not mean that all weapons will be banned and it also will be not related to other rights.