FallaciesandSyntaxIssuesinWritingWhatarefallacies•Fallaciesaredefectsthatweakenarguments.1Hastygeneralization•Example:Myroommatesaidherphilosophyclasswashard,andtheoneI'minishard,too.Allphilosophyclassesmustbehard!Twopeople'sexperiencesare,inthiscase,notenoughonwhichtobaseaconclusion.2Missingthepoint•Example:Theseriousnessofapunishmentshouldmatchtheseriousnessofthecrime.Rightnow,thepunishmentfordrunkdrivingmaysimplybeafine.Butdrunkdrivingisaveryseriouscrimethatcankillinnocentpeople.Sothedeathpenaltyshouldbethepunishmentfordrunkdriving.Theargumentactuallysupportsseveralconclusions—Thepunishmentfordrunkdrivingshouldbeveryserious,inparticular—butitdoesn'tsupporttheclaimthatthedeathpenalty,specifically,iswarranted.3Posthoc(alsocalledfalsecause)•Examples:PresidentJonesraisedtaxes,andthentherateofviolentcrimewentup.Jonesisresponsiblefortheriseincrime.Theincreaseintaxesmightormightnotbeonefactorintherisingcrimerates,buttheargumenthasn'tshownusthatonecausedtheother.4Slipperyslope•Example:Animalexperimentationreducesourrespectforlife.Ifwedon'trespectlife,wearelikelytobemoreandmoretolerantofviolentactslikewarandmurder.Soonoursocietywillbecomeabattlefieldinwhicheveryoneconstantlyfearsfortheirlives.Itwillbetheendofcivilization.Topreventthisterribleconsequence,weshouldmakeanimalexperimentationillegalrightnow.•Sinceanimalexperimentationhasbeenlegalforsometimeandcivilizationhasnotyetended,itseemsparticularlyclearthatthischainofeventswon'tnecessarilytakeplace.Evenifwebelievethatexperimentingonanimalsreducesrespectforlife,andlossofrespectforlifemakesusmoretolerantofviolence,thatmaybethespotonthehillsideatwhichthingsstop—wemaynotslideallthewaydowntotheendofcivilization.Andsowehavenotyetbeengivensufficientreasontoacceptthearguer'sconclusionthatwemustmakeanimalexperimentationillegalrightnow.5Weakanalogy•Example:Gunsarelikehammers—they'rebothtoolswithmetalpartsthatcouldbeusedtokillsomeone.Andyetitwouldberidiculoustorestrictthepurchaseofhammers—sorestrictionsonpurchasinggunsareequallyridiculous.Whilegunsandhammersdosharecertainfeatures,thesefeatures(havingmetalparts,beingtools,andbeingpotentiallyusefulforviolence)arenottheonesatstakeindecidingwhethertorestrictguns.Rather,werestrictgunsbecausetheycaneasilybeusedtokilllargenumbersofpeopleatadistance.Thisisafeaturehammersdonotshare—it'dbehardtokillacrowdwithahammer.Thus,theanalogyisweak,andsoistheargumentbasedonit.6Appealtoauthority•Example:Weshouldabolishthedeathpenalty.Manyrespectedpeople,suchasactorGuyHandsome,havepubliclystatedtheiroppositiontoit.WhileGuyHandsomemaybeanauthorityonmattershavingtodowithacting,there'snoparticularreasonwhyanyoneshouldbemovedbyhispoliticalopinions—heisprobablynomoreofanauthorityonthedeathpenaltythanthepersonwritingthepaper.7Adpopulum•Example:Gaymarriagesarejustimmoral.70%ofAmericansthinkso!WhiletheopinionofmostAmericansmightberelevantindeterminingwhatlawsweshouldhave,itcertainlydoesn'tdeterminewhatismoralorimmoral:TherewasatimewhereasubstantialnumberofAmericanswereinfavorofsegregation,buttheiropinionwasnotevidencethatsegregationwasmoral.TheargueristryingtogetustoagreewiththeconclusionbyappealingtoourdesiretofitinwithotherAmericans.8Adhominemandtuquoque•Examples:AndreaDworkinhaswrittenseveralbooksarguingthatpornographyharmswomen.ButDworkinisanugly,bitterperson,soyoushouldn'tlistentoher.Dworkin'sappearanceandcharacter,whichthearguerhascharacterizedsoungenerously,havenothingtodowiththestrengthofherargument,sousingthemasevidenceisfallacious.•句法学(Syntax)1.Whatissyntax?•Abranchoflinguisticsthatstudieshowwordsarecombinedtoformsentencesandtherulesthatgoverntheformationofsentences.2.Categories(范畴)Categoryreferstoagroupoflinguisticitemswhichfulfillthesameorsimilarfunctionsinaparticularlanguagesuchasasentence,anounphraseoraverb.2.1Lexicalcategories•Englishmajorlexicalcategories实义语类•Noun(Nstudent,lecture,John•Verb(V):like,read,go•Adjective(Adj):tall,lovely,red•Adverb(adv):loudly,constantly,hard•Englishminorlexicalcategories功能语类•(Det):the,a,this,his•Auxiliary(Aux):can,will,do,do,be,have•Prepositio(pron):he,she,us,mine•Conjunction(Conj):and,or,but,while]•Interjection(Int):Oh,ah,eh2.2grammaticalcategories:number,gender,tense,mood,case,person,concord(一致),government(支配关系),etc.•Averbistoagreewiththesubjectinpersonandinnumber.InEnglish,thisruleonlyaffectstheverbaccordingtothenumberofthesubject.(e.g.Theboygoestoschool.Theboysgotoschool.)2.2.1Concord(一致关系)•Theideaofgovernmentisthewayinwhichcertainprepositionsandverbsdeterminethecaseofnouns.•InEnglish,prepositionsandverbsrequireorrestrictparticularformsoftheparadigms(聚合体,词形变化)ofpronounsaccordingtothesyntacticrelationbetweenthem.(e.g.Imustlearnfromthem.Theypleasedmetheotherday.)2.2.2Government(支配关系)2.3Functionalcategories•subject,•predicate,•object,•complement,•adverbial.2.4Phrasalcategoriesandtheirstuctures•NP名词短语:atallman,thestudent•VP动词短语:readabook,walkinthepark•PP介词短语:inthepark,afterdark•AP形容词短语:quiterude,veryanxiousPhrasestuctureruleTheXPruleTheXstandsfortheheadofN,A,VandP.TheXbartheory(X杠理论)Thecoordinaterule3.Senten