PHL145H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Jargon
Document Summary
Swoyer, chapter 5: peoples claims testimony, includes things we hear directly from others, read in newspapers, books, tv, internet and so on. 3 critical questions to ask about any argument we encounter: do its premises support its conclusion, are its premises plausible, has any relevant info been omitted. We have to decide for ourselves: expert or authority - someone who knows a lot about a particular. Doctor that can recognize disease but not describe it. Experts needn"t be infailable there wouldn"t be any experts if this was requirement. Expert still better info source than someone who isn"t. Expertise comes in degrees 20 year dentists knows more than 3 day new dentist, but any dentist better than no dentist. An expert can be relied on in areas that fall within her field of. Appeals to experts can be arguments in form: Premise: an expert on the subject says that x is true. Premise 1: e is an expert on subject s.
