This is a first.
On a simple quiz I gave to students to test their understanding of valid argument structures, I included the following argument (among several others):
Premise 1: If the Bible is accurate, then God exists.
Premise 2: God does not exist.
Conclusion: Therefore, the Bible is not accurate.
They were simply asked to identify whether the argument is valid (which it is, it’s a very simple and straightforward Modus Tollens), and whether it commits any of the short list of fallacies that we discussed (it doesn’t).
In response, one of my students wrote “Choose not to answer this question because my own personal beliefs”.
Um, ok?
Nobody was being asked to accept any of the arguments. They were just being asked to assess their structures and whether they commit the fallacies we discussed. What do you think - are religious beliefs (which I can only assume is what the student was referring to) legitimate grounds to refuse to answer this question?
Posted on Wednesday, 26 October 2011
