Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4688

Stop me if you heard this one.

quote:

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So...there's this guy in a bar, and he says to this woman, "Hey, would you fuck me for a million dollars?"
And she says "Well...yes, I guess I would."
So he says "Would you do it for $20?"
And she says "What do you think I am, a whore?!"
And he says "I thought we just established that...now we're just haggling over the price."

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Registered: Jun 2001
Location: finding the new flesh after killing the old one
Posts: 1981

I posted this .. in the politics forum a bit ago ... it's kinda relevant

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Registered: Oct 2001
Location:
Posts: 18136

quote:

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Originally posted by squee
Stop me if you heard this one.



Seems to me as if any argument which takes place in this or any other forum must properly be about principle and not degree; in other words, it seems as if any argument really can be reduced to a yes/no question, or a series of yes/no questions...

Sometimes when I argue with people and they make a point, in order to see if I think they are correct or not I will apply their logic to some extreme case, because if the principle which they have proposed is correct then it ought to apply regardless of how extreme the case is.

In some instances there is a trapdoor this leads me to where I unintentionally set up a straw man--but this is through my own logical error or misinterpretation of what the other person is saying, I think, and not a flaw in technique.

So any of you hardcore philosophers and/or rhetoriticians on the board, let me know if you think this is correct or not.

It's just one of those thoughts you somtimes get in the 5 minutes before you go to sleep at night. Or something.

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Registered: Jun 2001
Location: finding the new flesh after killing the old one
Posts: 1981

quote:

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Originally posted by squee
Sometimes when I argue with people and they make a point, in order to see if I think they are correct or not I will apply their logic to some extreme case, because if the principle which they have proposed is correct then it ought to apply regardless of how extreme the case is.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 15130

The word for today is "Moderation."

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[Ignore Sig]

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Registered: Dec 2002
Location:
Posts: 2573

Fuck moderation. The cool application of logic is the doom gavel for any poorly built argument.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35656

Squee's story is a variation of one that is told about George Bernard Shaw and (I think) Isadora Duncan. Or, at least, that is where I heard it first.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35656

And I do think that principle must guide practice, in which context I personally think that looking at the extreme cases is a very important part of considering the worth of one's opinions.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4688

Mug, I have no idea what you're talking about, but you have succeeded in giving me the creeps today, for what it's worth.

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