Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm for today's meeting.
A brief summary for those who couldn't make it today:
1) Elements of an argument should include:
Argument
Reason
Evidence
2) Logical fallacies that we covered this month:
Ad Hominem - Attacking the opponent rather than the argument
Circular Reasoning - Presenting an arguable point as supporting evidence
Ad Populum (Bandwagon Appeal) - Appealing to the broad popularity of a particular position "Everybody's doing it"
Appeal to Tradition - The argument that because things have always been a particular way, they should remain that way.
Slippery Slope - The argument that one particular action create an inevitable chain of additional negative actions.
I thought it might be fun for the children to make note when they notice these fallacies popping up over the next month (on television, in books and magazines, in general conversation etc.), and perhaps they could share some examples of their observations with the group next month.
Next month's meeting:
1:00 pm Monday, September 13, 2010
