Argument Analysis
Arguments are an integral part of human society, and structuring these arguments properly is important to emphasize a point. In the documentary I Can Change Your Mind About Climate, many legitimate and illegitimate arguments are put forward to the viewer. Some of these arguments are structurally wrong, and in some of them the premises are not relevant to the conclusion.
The purpose of the documentary was for the two main protagonists, Anna Rose and Nick Minchin to try and change each others minds about climate change. The documentary follows Anna and Nick around as they bring each other to people that they think will change the other persons mind, or help to.
The first argument I will be analyzing will be an argument from Marc Morano, a notorious climate denier and blogger who runs the website climatedepot.com. His argument, as put into standard form, is as follows:
P1: The sea level is dropping,
P2: The population of polar bears is rising,
P3: Global temperatures are decreasing,
C: Therefor climate change is not happening.
While at first glance this argument looks like a solid deductive argument, the premises are lacking. The lack of actual numbers, along with the debatable follow on to the conclusion, make this argument worth looking further into.
The structure of this argument is a deductive empirical argument. The structure is sound and valid, being a deductive argument, where the premises entail the conclusion. As a deductive argument, the premises must not only support the conclusion, they must directly lead on to the conclusion. Mr. Morano has appeared to have done this, however we must first look further into the premises and the structure to determine weather the argument is conclusive or not.
Premise one states ‘The sea level is dropping’. Mr. Morano has given no evidence to support this premise, losing conclusivity. This is much the same for the other premises, no supporting evidence is shown, and so the truth of the premises is always
The purpose of the documentary was for the two main protagonists, Anna Rose and Nick Minchin to try and change each others minds about climate change. The documentary follows Anna and Nick around as they bring each other to people that they think will change the other persons mind, or help to.
The first argument I will be analyzing will be an argument from Marc Morano, a notorious climate denier and blogger who runs the website climatedepot.com. His argument, as put into standard form, is as follows:
P1: The sea level is dropping,
P2: The population of polar bears is rising,
P3: Global temperatures are decreasing,
C: Therefor climate change is not happening.
While at first glance this argument looks like a solid deductive argument, the premises are lacking. The lack of actual numbers, along with the debatable follow on to the conclusion, make this argument worth looking further into.
The structure of this argument is a deductive empirical argument. The structure is sound and valid, being a deductive argument, where the premises entail the conclusion. As a deductive argument, the premises must not only support the conclusion, they must directly lead on to the conclusion. Mr. Morano has appeared to have done this, however we must first look further into the premises and the structure to determine weather the argument is conclusive or not.
Premise one states ‘The sea level is dropping’. Mr. Morano has given no evidence to support this premise, losing conclusivity. This is much the same for the other premises, no supporting evidence is shown, and so the truth of the premises is always