Sunday, September 14, 2008

On the RH Bandwagon and honest public servants

Philosophy 103: Introduction to Logic

Argumentum Ad Populum

Abstract: The argument based upon what most or all people think or believe is characterized and shown to be sometimes persuasive but normally fallacious.

Argumentum ad Populum (popular appeal or appeal to the majority): The fallacy of attempting to win popular assent to a conclusion by arousing the feeling and enthusiasms of the multitude. There are several variations of this fallacy, one of which is:

"Bandwagon": the fallacy of attempting to prove a conclusion on the grounds that all or most people think or believe it is true.

Shall we hitch on to the Reproductive Health bandwagon?

On Friday, Lagman made a bold statement ahead of the plenary debates on the proposed Reproductive Health bill, also called House Bill 5043.

He said the Catholic Church would be rendering itself “irrelevant” to its flock by continuously opposing the measure and that an overwhelming number of Filipinos “strongly approve the government's allocation of funds for modern contraceptives.”

“If the Catholic Church wants to continue to become significant in the lives of the faithful, (it) must listen to (its) flock or risk becoming irrelevant,” the Albay lawmaker said.
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Mr. Lagman should know that an overwhelming majority of people also strongly approves of good governance marked by:

- no massive corruption
- more allocation of funds for livelihood projects
- more allocation of funds for education
- more respect for the poor
- more honest public servants

That last one, most of all.

Argumentum ad Populum?

Try another one, Mr. Lagman.

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