End Post

It seems like time has flown by this semester. And the look through everything we have gone over is mid boggling. I am glad we were not trying to use the full book rather than the scaled down version we have been using. It seems like that would be a graduate course. But I think this only because logic seems difficult for me. I like it, but I also like guitar and that is not a walk unless you have the "toolbox" of skills needed to flawlessly play anything.

p - Some guitar strings are strings made of nylon
p - some electric guitar strings are strings made of metal
c - some electric guitar strings are strings made of nylon (Does it follow? Boole? Arist?)

Guns on Campus

I have thought about the guns on campus question a lot. And have even looked up online some of the pros and cons of having guns on campus. One person who gives some great insight into this is Wayne Lo, the student who killed a student and a teacher on Simon Rock's campus in Great Barrington. Having grown up in south county I was able to experience the aftermath of that event in a local sense. But I recently found an interview where Lo states that guns are too easy for regular people to acquire, and that if anyone had a need for a gun they can simply call on the police who have guns. Which leads me to my point. If campus police do not have even 1 officer who is equipped with a gun, then in the event of a school shooting, we would be helpless until the NAPD arrived with a gun.

P - all persons without guns are helpless to school shootings
P - all campus police are persons without guns
C - all campus police are helpless to school shootings

All of the premises and the conclusion are "A" types. I can't seem to figure
out how to use 5.1 tools on this and figure out if its a Figure 1,2,3 or 4

Rules of inference

I wish some of you guys came to that morning study session. There were some new things added to the toolkit that we have not been using yet. Maybe they are in the book somewhere but we have not used them in quizzes or tests. But enough about that.
How about that quiz. That took almost everyone the whole class to complete it. I rechecked mine for errors because it had such a small area to write in, and I had no place to work problems out. Did anyone think they did bad on it or had trouble with any part? I thought it was fun actually, and thought I did well, which is a great sign that I did horrible (seems like the trend for me in this class)
But I hope I did well.

The Spiritual World is void of Logic & Reasoning

I found this story online. There was a guy who died and came back to life but remembered things which occurred while he was dead. But he explains that when you are dead you are in a place which is "based on eternity", while the world we live in is "based on time". The most interesting thing he said was that "Logic and reasoning doesn't happen here". I tried to find more about this belief he has, but this seems to be the only instance of him mentioning it. A very weird story and person.
http://www.mickeyrobinson.com/video.php (Christian religious website)

p-Mickey Robinson died and came back to life with memories during his death
p-Mickey states that there is a spiritual world outside of our world
p-Mickey states that logic & reasoning does not exist in the spiritual world
c-Logic and reasoning does not exist in the spiritual world

Inductive, weak, not cogent

Bad for addicts, and for Pittsfield

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/letters/ci_19376147
Sunday November 20, 2011
BETH CAPITANIO - Pittsfield

p-This would be a horrible injustice to our city.
p-Methadone is not a cure but a long-term replacement.
c-I urge the citizens of Pittsfield not to let a methadone clinic conduct business in any of our neighborhoods.

It is funny that she contradicts herself by stating that her son was an addict and got clean with the help of a methadone clinic in Springfield. So I guess her true conclusion is to urge people to prevent a clinic from coming to Pittsfield because they can always travel to Springfield if they need to.

The Straw Men Blues

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/letters/ci_19325584

Exposing writer's straw-men case
Sunday November 13, 2011
JOHN KITTREDGE - Windsor

P - Arguments which use a Straw-Men method are not arguments at all
P - Mr. Kittle used a Straw-Men method for his argument
C - Mr. Kittle does not have an argument at all

Let me know if I set this argument up like the author has portrayed it. It seems logical that a straw man argument would have a non valid part to it, which could be seen as something that would void the whole thing entirely. But let's see what other people think in this huge blogging class.

What MCLA Needs

http://www.theonlinebeacon.com/2011/11/03/bring-disc-golf-to-mcla/

P - Disc Golf is a wonderful sport
P - Other Colleges have courses for Disc Golf
P - MCLA should jump on board
C - MCLA should have a Disc Golf course on campus

I thought his line about jumping on board is like a bandwagon approach, and is supported by his claim that other colleges have courses. His reference to it being so wonderful I think is just him expressing his thoughts but there could be a fallacy there.