practicalargument3e

Chapter 5: Understanding Logic and Recognizing Logical Fallacies

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See the additional resources for content and reading quizzes for this chapter.

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AT ISSUE

How Free Should Free Speech Be?

Ask almost anyone what makes a society free and one of the answers will be free speech. The free expression of ideas is integral to freedom itself, and protecting that freedom is part of a democratic government’s job: in a sense, this means that most people see free speech as one of the cornerstones of equality. Everyone’s opinion can, and indeed must, be heard.

But what happens when those opinions are offensive, or even dangerous? If free speech has limits, is it still free? When we consider the question abstractly, it’s very easy to say no. How can it be free if there are limits to how free it is, and who gets to decide those limits? It’s dangerous to give anyone that kind of authority. After all, there is no shortage of historical evidence linking censorship with tyranny. When we think of limiting free speech, we think of totalitarian regimes, like Nazi Germany.

But what happens when the people arguing for the right to be heard are Nazis themselves? In places like Israel and France, where the legacy of Nazi Germany is still all too real, there are some things you simply cannot say. Anti-Semitic language is considered “hate speech,” and those who perpetuate it face stiff fines, if not imprisonment. It might seem outrageous to those of us who live in the United States. If you live in Israel, however, chances are that the legacy of the Holocaust is not that far away. And there are people in France who can still remember the day Nazi troops marched into Paris. Should they have to listen to what neo-Nazis have to say?

On American college campuses, free speech is often considered fundamental to a liberal education, and in many ways, encountering ideas that make you feel uncomfortable is a necessary part of a college education. But the question of free speech is easy to answer when it’s theoretical: when the issue is made tangible by racist language or by a discussion of a traumatic experience, it becomes much more difficult to navigate. For example, should African-American students have to listen to “the n-word” in a discussion of Huckleberry Finn? Should a nineteen-year-old rape survivor have to sit through a discussion of rape in American literature? Advocates of unlimited free speech respond to these objections by pointing out that censorship is a slippery slope: once you can penalize a person for saying something hateful, there will be no end to the subjects that will be off-limits.

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Later in this chapter, you will be asked to think more about this issue. You will be given several sources to consider and asked to write a logical argument that takes a position on how free free speech should be.

The word logic comes from the Greek word logos, roughly translated as “word,” “thought,” “principle,” or “reason.” Logic is concerned with the principles of correct reasoning. By studying logic, you learn the rules that determine the validity of arguments. In other words, logic enables you to tell whether a conclusion correctly follows from a set of statements or assumptions.

Why should you study logic? One answer is that logic enables you to make valid points and draw sound conclusions. An understanding of logic also enables you to evaluate the arguments of others. When you understand the basic principles of logic, you know how to tell the difference between a strong argument and a weak argument—between one that is well reasoned and one that is not. This ability can help you cut through the tangle of jumbled thought that characterizes many of the arguments you encounter daily—on television, radio, and the Internet; in the press; and from friends. Finally, logic enables you to communicate clearly and forcefully. Understanding the characteristics of good arguments helps you to present your own ideas in a coherent and even compelling way.

Kobe Bryant, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers, arguing with a referee

Mark Ralston/Getty

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Specific rules determine the criteria you use to develop (and to evaluate) arguments logically. For this reason, you should become familiar with the basic principles of deductive and inductive reasoning—two important ways information is organized in argumentative essays. (Keep in mind that a single argumentative essay might contain both deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning. For the sake of clarity, however, we will discuss them separately.)