Truth and Opinion Lesson Notes PDF

Truth and Opinion At the end of the lesson, you are expected to: Distinguish opinion from truth. Analyze situations that show the difference between opinion and truth ABSTRACTION: IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO LEARN HOW TO DISTINGUISH TRUTH FROM OPINION. - AN OPINION IS A STATEME...

Truth and Opinion At the end of the lesson, you are expected to: Distinguish opinion from truth. Analyze situations that show the difference between opinion and truth ABSTRACTION: IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO LEARN HOW TO DISTINGUISH TRUTH FROM OPINION. - AN OPINION IS A STATEMENT OF JUDGEMENT OF A PERSON ABOUT SOMETHING IN THE WORLD. SOME OPINION ARE SO WEAKLY MADE SOME OPINIONS ARE VERY STRONGLY PUT THAT THE PEOPLE UNQUESTIONINGLY TAKE THEM AS TRUE. ex. Extrajudicial killing  -OPINIONS ARE STATEMENT OF JUDGMENT THAT ARE IN NEED OF FURTHER JUSTIFICATION. Opinions will have to be defended with better reasons to strengthen the opinion being claimed. How to critically examine opinions: IN ORDER FOR AN OPINION TO GAIN THE STATUS OF TRUTH, IT MUST BE ABLE TO PASS THE TEST OF JUSTIFICATION. WHOEVER MAKES THE OPINION MUST BE ABLE TO ARGUE FOR IT IN THE MOST REASONABLE WAY. An argument is a group of statements that serve to support a conclusion Example: -”There is no hope in the Philippine government” This is not yet an argument. It is an expression of an opinion -”There is no hope in the Philippine government because many officials are corrupt, and Filipino voters continue to elect them.” Claim (the conclusion of an argument) Premises (the reasons used to support the conclusion)  It is therefore, that not all arguments are good arguments. -Logic (studies and elaborates on good argumentation) We call fake arguments ‘Fallacies’. -a group of statements that appear to be arguments, but fail to support the conclusion. “There is no hope for the Philippine government, because the Philippines is a tropical country. Among the many fallacies enumerated in Logic, here are the most common ones. Argumentum ad Hominem (Argument against the Person) Argumentum ad Baculum (Appeal to Force) Argumentum ad Misericordiam (Appeal to Pity) Argumentum ad Populum (Bandwagon Fallacy) Argumentum ad Hominem (Argument against the Person) This is a fallacy used when people convince others that someone’s argument should be rejected because of a person’s personal background – his history, nationality,race, socio-economic status, family, associations, religion, and other circumstances. This argument is fallacious because the rightness or wrongness of a claim should not be affected by the background of the person claiming it. Ex. Rape or sexual harassment. Violation of her basic right to respect and dignity. If this happened the first question would be… what were you wearing when the incident happened , anyway? Why is it Fallacious? It is a false argument because it seeks to blur the wrongness of an act of sexual harassment by focusing on the personality, gender, and other circumstances of the victim. Argumentum ad Baculum (Appeal to Force) This is an argument used by people who want to win a conflict by issuing threats to their opponents. Ex. Teacher Why is this argument fallacious? It is problematic because instead of convincing the other person/students that you are right by giving good reasons, you force them to accept whatever you say. The listeners are made to say “Yes” to your claim even if in their right minds they know that your argument is foolish. Argumentum ad Misericordiam (Appeal to Pity) This Fallacy is also called an appeal to emotion. It is an argument used by people who want to win people over by manipulating their emotions. Ex. Politicians Argumentum ad Populum (Bandwagon fallacy) This fallacious argument is a favorite marketing strategy by advertising agencies. It is used by appealing to the popular sentiment of the public. Ex. Actor It is important to remember that popularity does not equate with validity, or that because many people believe something to be true, the argument or opinion is indeed true. Summary: Opinions are statements of judgment of a person about something in the world. We should not take them immediately as true. We should always critically examine the opinion and its supporting arguments. We should also be wary of strongly put arguments but deep introspection is actually fallacious. To be able to hold credence, opinions should pass further justification.