DavidKehr December13,2013 PHIL1000028 SignatureArgument GreenTwinkies NickAndersonseditorialcartoon,SavetheTwinkie,wasanalyzedandjudgedasagood pieceofthinking.Thepremisesofhisargumentwereinductivelystrongandproducedthisconclusion: mankindcaresmoreaboutpreservingTwinkiesthanpreservingtheearth,andtherefore,theearthis doomed.Theargumentspremiseswereinterpretedfromthecartoonistsimplicitideasandgiven structure. Theinitialargumentsimplicitpremisesareinterpretedandschematizedbelow: 1.Preservingtheearthwilldelaymankindspossibleendsubstantially. 2.Preservingtheearthwilltakehumaninvolvement. 3.PreservingTwinkieswontpreservetheearth. 4.MankindcaremoreaboutpreservingTwinkiesthanpreservingtheearth.

________________________________________________ /Forallof(4)wehaveevidencetobelievethattheearthisdoomed. Althoughthisargumentisagoodpieceofthinking,meaningAndersonsenumerativeinduction providesastrongconclusion,astrongargumentcanbedevelopedfromtheoppositepointofview. Thecontrastingargumentisdevelopedandschematizedbelow: 1.Peoplepursuetheirownselfinterest. 2.Thoseinterestsoftenreflectthevaluesoflargeinstitutionsorgroups.

3.Earthfriendlybehaviorisincreasinglypromotedandencouraged. _____________________________________________________ 4./Itisincreasinglyinpeoplesselfinteresttopreservetheearth. 5./Aslongas(3)continuesuntilhumanbehaviorthatallowsearthtosustainindefinitelyis achieved,wehavereasontobelievethattheearthisnotdoomed. Inordertounderstandthisargument,eachpremiseshouldbelookedatindividually.In economics,thestudyofhowpeoplemakechoices,thereisatermcalledtherationalityassumption.This assumptionstatesthatpeopledonotintentionallymakedecisionsthatwouldleavethemworseoff. When(1)isstatedithasitsrootsintherationalityassumption.Asearthfriendlyinterestsarebroughtto peoplesattentionbylargeinstitutionsorgroups(2),suchasenvironmentalistmovementswithinthe government,media,andtheirlocalcommunities,atanincreasingrate(3),itbecomesmoreapparentto individualsthatitisintheirselfinteresttopursuepreservingtheearth(4). BothargumentsaresimilartotheEvidentiaryProblemofEvil,themoreevidenceofthe premises,thestrongertheargumentsbecome. NickAndersonsargument,aswellastheargumentoftheopposingviewaregoodpiecesof thinking.Theybothprovidestrongsourcesofevidencefortheirconclusions,similartotheEvidentiary ProblemofEvil,whenmoreevidenceofthepremisesexist,thestrongertheargumentbecomes. Inductively,bothargumentsreachtheirconclusionswithsolidpremisestoreinforcetheirconclusions.