3 ms·

I started from a conclusion (that one year parental leave is a good thing) and then argued it leads to a number of outcomes which I deem unsatisfactory. Thus, I

I started from a conclusion (that one year parental leave is a good thing) and then argued it leads to a number of outcomes which I deem unsatisfactory. Thus, I reject the initial conclusion. This is a form of argument by contradiction, or reductio ad absurdum. Part of it, is actually assuming the conclusion and then showing that it contradicts itself or leads to other unsavoriness. One criticism of reductio ad absurdum is if the arguer sets up a straw man, but I'm not sure you've successfully pointed out any straw man in my argument.

perfmode 8y ago
Using Latin terms doesn’t change the fact that your argument is intellectually dishonest. Name a single, unqualified societal benefit to a one year leave.
- tathougies 8y ago
  > Using Latin terms Reductio ad absurdum is an English phrase. Derived from Latin certainly, but it does not require understanding Latin (a language which I do not speak) to comprehend. > Name a single, unqualified societal benefit to a one year leave. You are demanding I argue against my argument as evidence for my own argument? That seems to me the height of intellectual dishonesty. A single unqualified social benefit is that people like me would be able to take many years off work, which I think would just be grand, because I'm rather lazy and other people paying for tathougies to play with babies sounds great! Is that a social benefit?
  - perfmode 8y ago
    > Intellectual honesty is an applied method of problem solving, characterized by an unbiased, honest attitude, which can be demonstrated in a number of different ways: > One's personal faith does not interfere with the pursuit of truth; > Relevant facts and information are not purposefully omitted even when such things may contradict one's hypothesis; > Facts are presented in an unbiased manner, and not twisted to give misleading impressions or to support one view over another; > References, or earlier work, are acknowledged where possible, and plagiarism is avoided.

perfmode 8y ago

Using Latin terms doesn’t change the fact that your argument is intellectually dishonest. Name a single, unqualified societal benefit to a one year leave.

tathougies 8y ago
> Using Latin terms Reductio ad absurdum is an English phrase. Derived from Latin certainly, but it does not require understanding Latin (a language which I do not speak) to comprehend. > Name a single, unqualified societal benefit to a one year leave. You are demanding I argue against my argument as evidence for my own argument? That seems to me the height of intellectual dishonesty. A single unqualified social benefit is that people like me would be able to take many years off work, which I think would just be grand, because I'm rather lazy and other people paying for tathougies to play with babies sounds great! Is that a social benefit?
- perfmode 8y ago
  > Intellectual honesty is an applied method of problem solving, characterized by an unbiased, honest attitude, which can be demonstrated in a number of different ways: > One's personal faith does not interfere with the pursuit of truth; > Relevant facts and information are not purposefully omitted even when such things may contradict one's hypothesis; > Facts are presented in an unbiased manner, and not twisted to give misleading impressions or to support one view over another; > References, or earlier work, are acknowledged where possible, and plagiarism is avoided.