Definition and Examples of the Fallacy of Equivocation

Equivocation is a fallacy by which a specific  word or phrase in an argument is used with more than one meaning. Its also known as semantic equivocation. Compare this with the related term of  amphiboly, in which the ambiguity is in the grammatical construction  of the sentence rather than just a single word or phrase. Semantic equivocation can also be compared to polysemy, in which a single word has associations with more than one thing and  lexical ambiguity, which is when a word is ambiguous due to having more than one meaning. An Example of Equivocation Equivocation is a common fallacy because it often is quite hard to notice that a shift in meaning has taken place, note Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric authors Howard Kahane and Nancy Cavender. The sugar industry, for instance, once advertised its product with the claim that Sugar is an essential component of the body...a key material in all sorts of metabolic processes, neglecting the fact that it is glucose (blood sugar) not ordinary table sugar (sucrose) that is the vital nourishment. Recognizing Fallacy In a broader sense,  equivocation  refers to the  use of vague or unclear  language, especially when the intention is to mislead or deceive an  audience. To dismantle a fallacy of equivocation, you must first discover the context behind the questionable terminology as it compares to the assertions an argument is attempting to prove. Have particular words or phrases been chosen because they might be relied on to lead to the wrong conclusion? Other areas to scrutinize when you suspect a statement might be fallacious are the vagueness of the claims being made or terms that have been left purposely undefined. For example, when President Bill Clinton claimed not to have had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, he was referring to the act of sexual intercourse, however, the way in which he presented his claim inferred denial of all types of sexual contact. The  fallacy of equivocation  occurs particularly in  arguments  involving words that have a multiplicity of meanings, such as  capitalism, government, regulation, inflation, depression, expansion,  and  progress...To expose the fallacy of equivocation you give accurate and specific  definitions  of  terms and  show  carefully that in one place the definition of the terms was different from the definition in another.(From Influencing Through Argument by  Robert Huber and Alfred Snider) Combatting Equivocation Consider the following example of a ridiculous  syllogism taken from  Informal Fallacies: Towards a Theory of Argument Criticisms by  Douglas N. Walton: An elephant is an animal. A gray elephant is a gray animal.Therefore, a small elephant is a small animal.Here we have a relative term, small, that shifts meaning according to the context. A small house may not be taken, in some contexts, as anywhere near the size of a small insect. Small is a highly relative term, unlike gray, that shifts according to subject. A small elephant is still a relatively large animal. Ferreting out equivocation in some arguments wont likely be as simple a leap of logic as with the example cited above, however, whenever possible, fallacies should be exposed for what they are, especially when social policy is at stake, such as during political campaigns and debates. Unfortunately, the image-makers who employ the art of the spin as a powerful weapon in political campaigns often rely heavily on equivocation to get their not-always-truthful messages across. Facts and data can be manipulated, either via statements taken out of their original context or by leaving out critical information that modifies a statement. Using such tactics can twist a positive into a negative or vice-versa—or at the very least cast doubt on an opponents character. For instance, say Candidate A claims to have voted for every consumer tax break since hed been elected to office. That would be viewed by many as a positive thing, right? However, what if there were simply no tax breaks voted on during his term? The candidates statement wouldnt exactly be false, however, it would say something entirely different about his voting record. Not only that, by spinning the information as he did, voters would likely get the impression that hed actually done something he had not (voted for tax breaks), and that he would likely do the same in the future. Whether or not he would is anyones guess.

The Fabrication Of Louis Xiv - 1614 Words

In the introduction to The Fabrication of Louis XIV, Peter Burke expresses his ambition to write a study of Louis XIV s public image as a whole and the changes it underwent throughout Louis s reign. This book examines the relation between art and power and the official structures responsible for making – fabricating – the image, or more appropriately, the images of Louis XIV, as well as their contemporary reception. As the title suggests and as Burke himself reminds the reader, the book as a whole focuses on the ideas of royal myth and royal narrative, and the manipulation of information. Chapters two to eight follow each other chronologically, and examine how the image of Louis XIV changed during his reign. Chapter two pays particular attention to the different media used by the king and his image-makers . This chapter is a good introduction to the different styles and genres used to create royal images, for example by comparing classicism and baroque and explaining recurrent allegories, metaphors and commonplaces used in the representations of Louis XIV. Chapters two to four give us the necessary background to understand the study of the relation between art and power in the time of Louis XIV. Whilst in chapter three, Peter Burke concentrates on how royal representations respond to contemporary events, he then is primarily concerned in chapter four with the construction of the structures of glorification of the king. The reader is introduced to two key figures inShow MoreRelatedSearch Of Lost Time By Marcel Proust1708 Words   |  7 Pagesnovel and by the seconda ry characters he meets during his life. 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Eliezer Wiesel Free Essays

My birth name is Eliezer Wiesel, and I was born on September 30, 1928, In Sighet, Romania. Throughout my life I have lived in a multitude of places, including: France, Romania – my birth place and the United States (New York). At a very young age, I found an elaborate and enticing interest In the beauty and sophisticated nature of Judaism. We will write a custom essay sample on Eliezer Wiesel or any similar topic only for you Order Now I started to attend a nearby yeshivah, in which I perused to extend my knowledge of spiritual beliefs. I was also heavily influenced by my grandfather and father, who both took a traditional and liberal perspective in their approach to Judaism. Holocaust 1943, I was fifteen; my family and I were persecuted from happiness and drained from forgiveness, all during the Holocaust. We were sent to Auschwitz and were brutally separated by the merciless German soldiers. I was afraid, alone, petrified and paranoid; being banished from your family, and being sent to a sub-camp of Auschwitz, named Buna Werke, mentally abolished me. I knew no one, nor did I want to. I was freed from Buchenwald in 1945. But the damage was already done. Never shall I forget that night, the first night in the haunting camp, which has turned my life into one long excruciating night, seven times I was cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that putrid smelling smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw heartlessly turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forgot those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to an infinite cycle of dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live long as God himself. Never. How to cite Eliezer Wiesel, Papers

Managing Project Teams Social Influence

Question: Disucus about theManaging Project Teamsfor Social Influence. Answer: Robert Cialdinis Six Principles of Influence for Influencing others Behaviors are: Commitment and Consistency Human beings have deep need for consistency and commitment towards something is what they follow to maintain that consistency. This principle can be supported with the example of the sales profession, where the marketer gets the customers to commit to something small that would ultimately propel them towards bigger commitments (Cialdini and Cliffe 2012). Authority Humans tend to obey authoritative figures, and feel a sense of obligation and duty towards them in all situations. An example that supports this principle are the Milgram experiments, where subjects torture other people with electric shocks just because they are instructed to do so by any authoritative figure. Liking Cialdini declares that humans are more prone to influence by people they like, and that might come in the form of familiarity, trust or similarity (Guadagno et al. 2013). Tupperware parties are good examples of the principle that the public would probably buy if they like the individual selling to them. Social Proof Cialdini has defined this as being based on the idea of safety, as people are persuaded to do what they observe other people doing, especially in moments of uncertainty. For instance, if coworkers work late, then we would too to comply. Scarcity Scarcity persuades consumers to perceive something as attractive and act quickly, as they feel they would miss it. This principle can be mostly found in advertisements with taglines as limited period offer. Reciprocity Humans generally want to return favors and repay. In sales world, this can be seen in the form of an added free gift. All these principles successfully assist in measuring influence and persuasion. References and Bibliography Cialdini, R. and Cliffe, S., 2012. The uses (and abuses) of influence.Harvard business review,91(7-8), pp.76-81. Cialdini, R.B., 1987.Influence(Vol. 3). A. Michel. Guadagno, R.E., Muscanell, N.L., Rice, L.M. and Roberts, N., 2013. Social influence online: The impact of social validation and likability on compliance.Psychology of Popular Media Culture,2(1), p.51.

JAPANESE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT TO AUSTRALIA A Essays

JAPANESE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT TO AUSTRALIA: AN ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT PERFORMANCE, CAUSES, AND PROSPECTS Khondaker M. Rahman Professor in Business Administration Graduate School of Business Administration Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan and Visiting Professor School of Commerce and Marketing FABIE, CQ University Australia Bldg. 19, Level 2, Bruce Highway North Rockhampton, QLD 4702, Australia Phone: +61 7 4923 2695 e-mail: [emailprotected] Sheikh F. Rahman Professor of Accounting School of Commerce and Marketing FABIE, CQ University Australia 108 Lonsdale Street, Level 7 Melbourne, VIC 3000 Australia Phone: +61 3 8662 0810 e-mail: [emailprotected] Mohamed O. Elsayed Lecturer in Accounting School of Commerce and Marketing FABIE, CQ University Australia Bldg. 34, Level 1, Bruce Highway North Rockhampton, QLD 4702, Australia Phone: +61 7 4930 9893 e-mail: [emailprotected] JAPANESE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT TO AUSTRALIA: AN ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT PERFORMANCE, CAUSES, AND PROSPECTS ABSTRACT This paper examines Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Australia in its historical continuity and change and postulates on the underlying factors. For research methods, it resorts to archival sources and qualitative induction and deduction logic. Findings suggests that there are four driving forces, namely, severe scarcity of manufacturing inputs, high cost of labour, accumulation of surplus funds for investment abroad, and firm-specific and internally created management resources in Japan have propelled its FDI to Australia. In addition to these imperatives in Japan, Australia's three sets of national advantages, namely, the advantage or resource endowments, created and nurtured advantage of an affluent domestic market, and the advantage from its historical role in promoting globalization, have attracted Japanese FDI. Especially, these national favourable conditions have enticed the market and resource-seeking Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) to select Australia for direct investment and other business operations. Japan's trade frictions with the USA and other developed countries, instability in its resource procurement sources, and imperfections in its domestic labour and capital markets further drove its MNCs to invest in Australia. Australia, on the other hand, embraced Japanese FDI and MNCs since these were stable in nature and promising for a continued business and economic engagement. Australia also finds Japan as a partner for promoting and harvesting additional benefits from business and economic globalisation in the Asia-Pacific region, where Japan plays a significant role. Both countries' strengths, weaknesses, and national interest work centripetally and centrifugally to benefit from their mutual engagement and advantage. Keywords: ASEAN, Asia-Pacific, Australia, Australia-Japan FDI, comparative advantage, driving forces, global competitiveness, Japan, Japanese outward FDI, MNCs, Oceania, regional trade and investment blocs. 1. INTRODUCTION Japan's aggregate annual outward FDI flow to Australia has increased from barely US$1 million in 1965 to US$468 million in 1985, to US$1.854 billion in 2004 (JETRO 2008). Its FDI stock in Australia has also increased constantly from US$6.881 billion in 2001 to US$19.107 billion in 2008. Australia alone receives about 6.0 per cent of Japan's outward FDI, and is increasingly consolidating its position as a major receiver of Japanese FDI and MNCs, which has heightened interest among researchers (Anderson 1998, Bayari 2004, CEDA 1997, De Silva 2006, Ishii 2000, Kumarashinge Hoshino 2009, Tanno 2005, Tsumori 2001). This paper examines Japanese FDI to Australia in its historical continuity and change, and postulates the factors that have caused such movement of FDI to this country. The paper resorts to archival data sources and qualitative induction and logical deduction to conduct the research. As a prelude to investigate various factors that induce FDI, it examines various FDI theories, and develops a logical basis of analysis and explanation. The paper proceeds as follows: First, it makes an investigation into the flow of FDI from Japan to Australia from bilateral as well as global perspectives. Then, with a brief overview of the major theoretical arguments of FDI by MNCs and nations, it examines the competitive advantages available in these two countries that initiated, proliferated, and sustained their FDI businesses. Finally, summarising the research findings, it concludes that Japanese FDI to Australia will further flourish due to both nations' historical reliance on mutual advantages and/or endowments. 2. WORLD'S OUTWARD FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND JAPAN World Investment Report (UNCTAD, 2009) shows that world's aggregate outward FDI has increased and reached a record high level of US$1.997 trillion (at current prices and current exchange rates) in 2007 (see Table 1). It was in the range of US$632-US$735 billion during the first four years of the current millennium (Khondaker, 2006), but rebounded and amounted to US$881 billion in 2005 and US$ 1.323 trillion in 2006 (UNCTAD, 2008). Major suppliers of FDI included the USA, UK, Canada, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,

Free Essays on Humanties Primary Source

Analysis of Art â€Å"The Maids of Honor† by Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velasquez is a canvas painting created in 1656-57. This piece of art is rather dark, Velasquez is controlling what it is that you see. He uses natural light such as from a window and shows how some parts of a room may be seen and other parts not. We see three maids of honor dressed in elaborate clothing preparing for a painted portrait. Servants are also in the room assisting with the activity. The artist has painted himself in the picture along with the King sneaking a peak at the preparations. Everyone seems to be looking in your direction to infer that you are in the picture or they are looking in to a mirror. As an observer of this painting I feel that a very important activity is taking place. The use of straight lines have made the figures of importance very clear. These lines are somewhat defined leaving a crisp picture. I feel this picture is very direct in imaging but confusing of what is happening. The use of color is very calm, cool and kind of vivid, only being able to see that natural light allows. The shapes in the picture seems to be people and objects that are easily recognized, yet the picture also creates an illusion and hides what is really going on (ie, what are they looking at). This picture has depth with a since of a crowd but also an impression that there is a lot of room. This painting shows how the artist used the brush to imply actual creases in the fabric to give it a real appeareance. This painting leaves a question for the viewer, a question that is complex and confusing. I feel this painting is trying to break through the bounders restricted by the canvas and try to involve the viewers. The artist restricts what we see; color creates us to look at different places in the picture. The over design makes you feel that there is more to see than meets the eye. I would value understanding the picture, being able to s... Free Essays on Humanties Primary Source Free Essays on Humanties Primary Source Analysis of Art â€Å"The Maids of Honor† by Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velasquez is a canvas painting created in 1656-57. This piece of art is rather dark, Velasquez is controlling what it is that you see. He uses natural light such as from a window and shows how some parts of a room may be seen and other parts not. We see three maids of honor dressed in elaborate clothing preparing for a painted portrait. Servants are also in the room assisting with the activity. The artist has painted himself in the picture along with the King sneaking a peak at the preparations. Everyone seems to be looking in your direction to infer that you are in the picture or they are looking in to a mirror. As an observer of this painting I feel that a very important activity is taking place. The use of straight lines have made the figures of importance very clear. These lines are somewhat defined leaving a crisp picture. I feel this picture is very direct in imaging but confusing of what is happening. The use of color is very calm, cool and kind of vivid, only being able to see that natural light allows. The shapes in the picture seems to be people and objects that are easily recognized, yet the picture also creates an illusion and hides what is really going on (ie, what are they looking at). This picture has depth with a since of a crowd but also an impression that there is a lot of room. This painting shows how the artist used the brush to imply actual creases in the fabric to give it a real appeareance. This painting leaves a question for the viewer, a question that is complex and confusing. I feel this painting is trying to break through the bounders restricted by the canvas and try to involve the viewers. The artist restricts what we see; color creates us to look at different places in the picture. The over design makes you feel that there is more to see than meets the eye. I would value understanding the picture, being able to s...

Analysis of the steel production company POSCO

Analysis of the steel production company POSCO 1. Introduction The project that started with a few people at the city of Pohang at the East coast of Korea has today grown to the company that most of us knows as POSCO. Today POSCO is not only among the top steelmakers in the world in terms production, but also in terms of technology has the company captured one of the leading positions. More specifically the company is today the third biggest steelmaker in terms of production, and has earlier figured as number before different mergers and acquisitions changed this status. POSCO has succeeded by constantly investing in new production facilities and new technologies. This is underlined by their slogan: â€Å"Resources are limited; Creativity is unlimited†. POSCO was founded in cooperation with the Korean government, which wished to create a local supply of steel. Thus, POSCO has always been highly dependant on the Korean market and the Korean government. Even today this dependence is preserved, emphasized by POSCO having 72% of their sales in Korea (Business and Company Resource Center, 2010). However POSCO is also starting to position themselves at the global market, where the patterns of competition is completely different than the ones at their home market. This paper will examine the position of POSCO at the Korean market as well as the global market, and what kind of possibilities and challenges they are facing in order to prosper. The role of technology development plays a crucial role in this matter. Despite being an old and established industry, steel production is highly dependant on the development of technology, especially in terms of new processes of production. The paper should therefore also take into consideration how POSCO will succeed in further improving their technological competencies in order to stay competitive. The structure of the paper will be as follows: After the introduction some theoretical considerations in relation to the paper will be provided. Second, a presentation of POSCO, including its historical development as well as a short presentation of steelmaking will be provided. Third, the competitive market of the steel industry that POSCO are acting in will be analysed through the model, Porter’s five forces. After this, the technological development within POSCO will be described and analysed. At last, the future challenges in terms of technology strategy and the possibilities improving their position in the market will be analysed. These will be complemented by some specific recommendations on how to prosper. 2. Theoretical Considerations This study will consist of a business strategic part as well as a technology strategic part. The aim of the paper is to explain how the technology strategy of POSCO can be utilized in order to carry out the business strategy of the company, ultimately leading to a sustainable competitive advantage. At the business strategy level this paper seeks to combine the market-based view (Porter, 1980) and the reso urce-based view (Barney, 1991; Prahalad & Hamel, 1990). The paper adopts an outward-in perspective, starting out by analysing the current market situation of POSCO. For this purpose a Porter’s five forces model is used. By making this analysis it becomes visible what kind of position POSCO holds in their current competitive environment, and how they can eventually use their internal resources, more specifically technologies, to obtain a more favourable position relative to their nearest competitors. The resource-based view is not applied in the same systematic way, but rather as a mean to understanding the importance of technology development for the overall resources of the company.