PP201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Begging, False Dilemma
Document Summary
If there"s something wrong with the premises, then there"s no reason to accept the conclusion. Some arguments contain subarguments, which support one of the premises of the main argument. In principle, any premise can be supported by a subargument. If an argument"s premise appeals to common knowledge, testimony, or authority, then the subargument supporting the premise must be evaluated by employing unique criteria. Your premise provides a good reason for accepting your conclusion only if your friend knows who rahim is, and has some reason to believe that his claims about courses are reliable. The source and reliability of the testimony are considerations in evaluating the argument containing the testimony. Usually arguments that appeal to testimony, authority, or common knowledge can be replaced by arguments that do not appeal to one of these distinctive reasons. Your willingness to accept any premise should in any case depend on how much rides on it .
