Riddles of the Sphynx

--- By JLS

Being a Gricean Analysis of Marilyn
vos Savant's "Art of Reasoning"

in three easy reverse steps -- and back.



From

http://www.marilynvossavant.com/articles/logic.html
(accessed today, as I write this).


"Capital punishment is the
source of many an argument, both
good and bad."

Oddly, I wrote to CHORA-L recently PLE-AA-ZEE asking this onliner to drop using 'argument' for BAD things! It generalises a mis-use so! Grice is clear: "Bad argument" is NO argument!

"Following are some bad ones."

"Abortion is also the source of many bad arguments.
The following contain irrelevant conclusions, too.
This form uses an appeal to pity
(argumentum ad misericordium)."

Pity Cicero!

It's of course with an 'a', since it's accusative of feminine noun.

----

"This form maintains that because a
premise is not known to be untrue, it
may indeed be true (argumentum ad
ignorantium): “No one has ever
disproved the existence of
the Tooth Fairy.""

--- but many have disproved
the cacophony of the 'u'.

Again, it's accusative of a feminine noun. I suppose the Missouri, Washington-philosophy major (failed?) accent wouldn't care? :) (Love you, Marilyn!)


JL
Not a pedant
but fastidious enough NOT to be
bother when Blackburn calls _Grice_
'fastidious' in his review of
Grice's WoW for _Mind_.