Week 16 – Post 1: What have you learned in this class over the course of the semester?

Over the course of the semester, I have learned a great deal about arguments and reasoning in the class. For instance, I was not aware that valid and strong arguments existed based on the definitions provided in Critical Thinking. I simply thought that there were good or bad arguments. I did not know that strong arguments were based on the slim probability that the premises of an argument could be true, and the conclusion false at the same time. I just thought that an argument was strong if it made sense and had evidence to support it. I was aware that many advertisements and politicians used emotion to gain support for their arguments, but I did not know that there were so many forms of Appeal to Emotion. After learning about Appeals to Pity, Appeals to Fear, and Appeals to Spite, it is much easier to see which angle these people are using emotion to try and gain my support. In addition to Appeals to Emotion, I learned about various fallacies such as Slippery Slope, False Dilemmas, Bad Appeals to Authority, Bad Appeals to Common Belief, and more. Learning about these fallacies has helped me to construct stronger arguments as well as distinguish between effective and poor arguments in my everyday life.