Comparison of Editorials

Assignment 2: Discussion—Comparison of Editorials In this assignment, you will identify and explore your intuitive critical thinking strategies. It is the starting point for developing the skills to analyze information critically. Research methods of identifying strong and weak arguments using your textbook and the Argosy University online library resources. Be sure to cover the following:

• Identify the premises and conclusions

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• Discuss whether or not an inference is warranted
• Discuss matters of truth and consistency

For this assignment, your facilitator will assign you one of the following debates

Debate 1:

• Should the “Ashley X” treatments have been permitted?

Debate 2:

• Is Osama Bin Laden’s death a decisive blow to Al Qaeda or an unmitigated victory against terrorism? Each debate has two sets of articles for review. Your facilitator will assign you one of these sets. Each set has two articles with two varyings, but important, perspectives on the same subject.

Be sure to read both articles in the set. Debate 1: These pairs of articles focus on the subject of “Ashley X,” a child with static encephalopathy who underwent radical surgical procedures to facilitate her care and, thereby, ostensibly improve her quality of life. After reading all the articles, I believe that Ashley X treatments should have been permitted. All parents want what is in the best interest of their child, even though sometimes they can make mistakes like all people. I am a parent and I could not imagine going through what Ashley’s parents go through every single day. If my child was like that I guess that I would probably do the same thing because having a child have a full-grown body but the mind of a 3-month-old baby cannot be a good thing.

As parents, you have to protect your children the best way that your know-how. “The parents say that what they have done to Ashley is not for their convenience but for the girl's comfort. They say the medical procedures are not cruel; rather, "what is grotesque is having a fully grown fertile woman endowed with the mind of a baby (Andre, 2007). " There are many different types of fallacies and they are the straw man, attacks on character, post hoc, begging the question, appeal to popular belief, hasty generalization, irrelevant appeal to authority, oversimplification, appeal to tradition, and false dichotomy. When reading through these articles, I see hasty generalization. I know that everyone has their own opinions but there are also facts to this case. “Once you start tinkering with nature, where do you decide to draw the line - if at all? As Ashley's father points out, "All medicine is about interfering with nature. Why not let cancer spread and nature take its course? Why give antibiotics for infections? " Science has kept Ashley alive; why shouldn't it be used to make her more comfortable (Lewis, 2007)? ” “Modern medicine may save us from immediate tragedy, but only at the cost of our ethical peace of mind.

We react violently to stories such as Ashley's because we are afraid of the miracles we have wrought. Where once there was just God and fate, now we face an endless panorama of impossible life-and-death decisions (Lewis, 2007). ” With this statement, “What matters in Ashley's life is that she should not suffer and that she should be able to enjoy whatever she is capable of enjoying. Beyond that, she is precious not so much for what she is, but because her parents and siblings love her and care about her. Lofty talk about human dignity should not stand in the way of children like her getting the treatment that is best both for them and their families (Singer, 2007). ”, I completely agree with what was said here. For any person in this world, we should all be able to enjoy whatever we can no matter what the situation is. In Ashley’s case, being that she has the mindset of a 3-month-old; it would be hard to enjoy the life of an adult.

References:

1. Lewis, J. (2007, Jan 06).

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