One requirement to graduate from San Jose State University was that students had to take a “critical thinking” class. Students were supposed to learn how to reason, how to think logically, how not to be stupid.
The Political Science Department course that satisfied the requirement was entitled “Controversial Legal Issues.” I taught it a number of times, and we discussed such topics as abortion, gun control, the death penalty, and affirmative action.
Students learned how to recognize and avoid fallacies in argument and how to examine emotional issues dispassionately.
I thought about that course on Friday, when I read the following letter in the Morning Call. I will quote the entire letter, but I won’t include the author’s name--why embarrass him further?
The Islamic State burns a Jordanian pilot alive to death in a cage.
But President Obama says waterboarding is cruel and unusual punishment!
I can’t wait until 2017.
A non sequitur is an argument in which the conclusion does not follow from its premises. That letter, my friends, is a perfect example.
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