Poisoning the Well, or Pointing Out that the Well is Poisoned?

So I've been thinking (yes, I know, a very dangerous exercise) about certain fallacies we all learned in our Logic classes, particularly the ad hominem/ poisoning-the-well fallacy. And of course, we have been taught that one ought never to use this argument because it is fallacious and invalid.

Here is an example of an ad hominem argument:

"We have all witnessed Steve's proclivity to misrepresent people and their views, and have heard him make wildly false claims about everything under the sun. Therefore, we should not believe anything he says about Chinese food" (See post below).

Obviously, this example shows why we shouldn't commit this fallacy. But on the other hand, isn't the story about The Boy Who Cried Wolf there to teach us that there is validity in the ad hominem? In other words, the moral of the story is: liars are not to be trusted, so don't be a liar. Or maybe it's just the other way around: You should probably trust a liar, because sometimes he is telling the truth (the boy was telling the truth the last time). Now, I'm not excusing all ad hominem arguments by any means; I'm just asking if they do indeed carry some weight sometimes. Could it be that sometimes we are not poisoning the well, rather we are simply pointing out that the well is already poisoned? For example:

"I was reading a book by Vijay, and in it, he made claims regarding the New Testament which I know to be false (since I am an expert on the New Testament). Therefore, I don't know if I should trust the things he said about the Old Testament either (since I'm not an expert on the Old Testament). If I know he is wrong about the subjects with which I am familiar, why in the world should I trust him regarding the subjects with which I am not familiar?"

Anyway, I'm not trying to come to any conclusions in this post; I just want to start some fun discussion. So, discuss!

Read more

Same Name--Different Face

Ok, so I am attempting to maintain my own blog one more time (here)...Be patient with me, my site is still under construction. I hope you enjoy the template!

Don't miss Paul's last post on the B&B...just scroll down a bit!

Read more

Jack

Hello, recently I read a book called "Of Other Worlds," a collection of essays and stories by our old friend, Professor Lewis. There was a particular part that I thought post-worthy - forgive me if you've heard this one. It is the last bit of an informal conversation transcribed from an audio recording of C.S. Lewis, Kingsly Amis, and Brian Aldiss. It was committed to tape in Lewis' rooms at Magdalene College shortly before he retired:

Amis: More Scotch?
Lewis: Not for me, thank you, help yourself. (Liquid noises.)
Amis: I think all this ought to stay in, you know - all these remarks about drink.
Lewis: There's no reason why we shouldn't have a drink. Look,
you want to borrow Abbott's "Flatland" don't you? I must go to dinner I am afraid. (Hands over Flatland.) The original manuscript of the "Illiad" could not be more precious. It's only the ungodly who borroweth and payeth not again.
Amis (reading): By A. Square.
Lewis: But of course the word square hadn't the same sense then.
Aldiss: It's like the poem by Francis Thompson that ends "She gave me tokens three, a look, a word of her winsome mouth, and a sweet wild raspberry"; there again the meaning has changed. It really was a wild raspberry in Thompson's day. (Laughter.)
Lewis: Or the lovely one about the Bishop of Exeter, who was giving the prizes at a girls' school. They did a performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and the poor man stood up afterwards and made a speech and said (piping voice): "I was very interested in your delightful performance, and among other things I was very interested in seeing for the first time in my life a female Bottom." (Guffaws.)
((the end.))

Hopefully you've at least laughed half as hard as Erica and I do each time we read that out loud to each other.

I also have a topic for discussion: I've noticed after reading Lewis' book "The Discarded Image," a strong current of medieval cosmology throughout his "Space Trilogy." Does anyone have anything to say about that?

Read more

Ancient Chinese Secret

Okay, now for something completely different. I was sitting down the other day Jones-ing for some good Chinese food and lamenting the fact that I haven’t found acceptable fare in my current locale. I began asking myself what I would consider the best Chinese food I have ever had. My answer: That depends on what course you are talking about. What follows is my list. Take it for what its worth.

1. Soup – Hot and Sour Soup from Sun Flower in Castro Valley, CA
2. Fried Rice, Steamed Rice, or Chow Mein – Chicken Chow Mein from Empress of China in Chinatown, San Francisco, CA.
3. Entrée – Sesame Chicken from Hunan Express in San Leandro, CA
4. Eggroll or Crabmeat Rangoom – Eggroll from Full House in San Antonio, TX

If you can get to any of these places, please go. And while you are there, enjoy one for me.

Read more