Classwork 1
Thursday, Feb 28
25 points
Themes for Discourse Practice
 The Use of Medical Marijuana
 Single-Payer Health Care
 Physician-assisted Suicide
 Competitive Sports for Children
Example: Is Warrantless
Wiretapping Justified?
Yes:
1. historical precedent (Lincoln and the principle
of judicial precedent
2. Unprecedented security threats
(manipulation of an open system)
Yes – Argument types
 “Historic precedent” argument is likely to
be inductive.
 “Security threats” argument is inductive.
Example: Is Warrantless
Wiretapping Justified?
No:
1. Constitutional protections (against
unwarranted search and seizure)
2. Balance of freedoms v. current threat
(standing statutes enable sufficient surveillance)
No – Arguments Types
 “Constitutional precedent” is likely to be
deductive
 “Balance of freedom/security” argument
could go either way:


Matching surveillance practices to a list of
surveillance principles: deductive
Discussion of what counts as “sufficient”:
inductive
Things to Remember
 Deductive is not better than inductive
 Premises must be relevant to
conclusions

Thus, we avoid emotional reasoning
 This is just practice!