Identifying Fallacies and Rhetoric

The sample essay presents arguments for marijuana, with a brief acknowledgment of those against marijuana. Most of the arguments in the essay are for marijuana, leading to the conclusion that arguments against marijuana are erroneous and should not be contemplated. Several reasons are given for marijuana, including its harmless nature from the author’s experience, equating it to alcohol, its support from important societal figures, including athletes, the lack of evidence of its harmful effects, including health issues, and its use by older people as a means to target youngsters: Identifying Fallacies and Rhetoric.

Several fallacies are used in the essay. Appeal to Ignorance is used in the sentence, “There’s no evidence that marijuana can kill you or make you sick, so it must be okay.” The author uses the lack of evidence as support for their claim (Bassham et al., 2023). The equivocation fallacy is used in the comparison between the fight to outlaw marijuana and those for alcohol to present an argument that appears valid.

The inappropriate Appeal to Authority is used in the example of important figures who support the claim, including artists. Hasty generalization is also used when the author supports their claim using themselves as an example of the lack of harmful effects of marijuana. Strawman fallacy is used when the author misrepresents the argument against marijuana as the targeting of the young by the old.

Essay Rewrite

Arguments against marijuana often lack scientific and legal backing.

Assessing the harmful effects of marijuana requires scientific research and should not stem from personal experience as it may vary.

Outlawing marijuana ought to result from scientific and legal backing. Comparison to other drugs like alcohol overlooks drug-specific traits.

Important societal figures supporting marijuana, such as athletes, need to be considered with caution because of the need for scientific and legal backing. This backing will provide the necessary data on effects, including mortality, to consumers for their decision making.

The opposing argument is as valid as the argument for support because everyone is entitled to their opinion despite their age group. These opposing views are across different topics in society.

In conclusion, there are different opinions on marijuana, and determining which side is right requires more than just personal experience or an artist who shares the same ideology. It requires both scientific and legal support to ensure the derived conclusion is valid and just.

Reference

Bassham, G., Irwin, W., Nardone, H., & Wallace, J. M. (2023). Critical thinking: A student’s introduction (7th ed.). McGraw Hill LLC.

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Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:

• Textbook: Chapters 4, 5, 6
• Lesson

Instructions
Sample Essay
The arguments against marijuana are just wrong and shouldn’t even be discussed.

I use it, and I’m just fine, so I don’t see how it could be harmful.

I don’t see those people who are fighting to outlaw marijuana also out there fighting to outlaw alcohol.

Many important writers, artists, and athletes agree with my opinion. There’s no evidence that marijuana can kill you or make you sick, so it must be okay.

This is just old people making war on young people. If they’d just stop, we’d have a peaceful country instead of all this left/right division. But they’ll keep at it. Anything they think is “addictive” will be fair game. Pretty soon, they’ll be outlawing video games and social media.

How are young people supposed to relax and have fun? Pretty soon, we’ll all be staying home doing jigsaw puzzles.

Identifying Fallacies and Rhetoric

Well, I don’t think we’re going to put up with it much longer. If they think the riots a couple of years ago were bad, they haven’t seen anything. Their arguments against marijuana are worthless.

This assignment will assess your ability to recognize fallacies and rhetoric in the argument presented in the sample essay above. It will also assess your ability to avoid fallacies and negative rhetoric in expressing ideas.

• Analyze the argument in the sample essay. State the conclusion and summarize the reasons.
• There are at least 10 fallacies in the essay on marijuana. Identify at least five of these by the terms introduced in either the text or the lesson.
• Rewrite the essay, using similar ideas but avoiding the fallacies and negative rhetoric. For example, the first paragraph might be rewritten as “Arguments opposing marijuana lack legal and scientific support.” (150-200 words)

Writing Requirements

• 1-inch margins
• Double spaced
• 12-point Times New Roman font
• Title page

Textbook  

• Critical Thinking: A Student’s Introduction by Bassham et al., 7th Edition.