Anna Blair Etheridge essays

Anna Blair Etheridge essays Anna Blair Etheridge was an honored civil war nurse. She was well known to the people who fought in the war. Information about her childhood is scarce. She joined the army as a cook, and ended up being a nurse. She devoted her life to the army from the first battle at Blackburns Ford, in 1861, until the last battle at Petersburg, in 1865. Anna was born and raised in Detroit. There she lived in a small house with her dad, and her housekeeper named Belle. Later on when Anna turned twelve, she and her dad moved to Wisconsin, leaving behind a great friend named Sophie, and Belle. They were living in a one-room apartment. During that time she meet a new friend named Clara Jenkins. They loved to cook together. Clara always complemented her on how well she cooked. Soon after, Annas dad became very ill. She nursed him until he died. Not knowing what to do, she took Claras advice and moved back to Detroit with her friend Sophie and her family. Sophie was glad to see Anna back. The first few days together, they visited all the places they used to enjoy before Anna moved. Later on at dinnertime, Will, Sophies brother, said he was going to join the Union Army of Potomac to fight in the war. Union Army, were words Anna couldnt get out of her head. She wanted to join so badly. Anna didnt know how to break the news to Sophie. She finally did at dinnertime. Sophies parents were stunned too. They tried to talk her out of it but Anna followed what her soul told her to do. The next day Will and Anna went to sign up. The general at the sign up booth was only accepting eight girls to wash and clean. She waited in line for hours. When the general read the names off, she was amazed to hear her name was called. She was so overjoyed she couldnt sleep that ...

The Appeal to (Irrelevant) Authority (Logical Fallacy)

The Appeal to (Irrelevant) Authority (Logical Fallacy) The appeal to (false or irrelevant) authority  is a  fallacy in which a rhetor  (public speaker or writer) seeks to persuade an audience not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for the famous. Also known as ipse dixit and ad verecundiam, which means he himself said it and argument to modesty or respect respectively, appeals to authority rely entirely upon the trust the audience has as a speakers integrity and expertise on the matter at hand. As W.L. Reese puts it in Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, though, not every  appeal to authority  commits this fallacy, but every appeal to an authority with respect to matters outside his special province commits the fallacy. Essentially, what he means here is that although not all appeals to authority are fallacies, most are - especially by rhetors with no authority on the topic of discussion. The Art of Deception Manipulation of the general public has been a tool of politicians, religious leaders and marketing experts alike for centuries, utilizing appeal to authority often to support their causes with little to no evidence for doing so. Instead, these figureheads use the art of deception to leverage their fame and recognition as a means to validate their claims.   Have you ever wondered why actors like Luke Wilson endorse ATT as Americas largest wireless phone coverage provider or why Jennifer Aniston appears in Aveeno skincare commercials to say its the best product on the shelves? Marketing firms often hire the most famous A-list celebrities to promote their products for the sole purpose of using their appeal to authority to convince their fans that the product they endorse is worth buying. As Seth Stevenson posits in his 2009 Slate article Indie Sweethearts Pitching Products, Luke Wilsons role in these ATT ads is straight-up spokesman - the [ads] are horribly misleading. The Political Con Game As a result, it is important for audiences and consumers, especially in the political spectrum, to be doubly aware of the logical fallacy of merely trusting someone on their appeal to authority. In order to discern truth in these situations, the first step, then, would be to determine what level of expertise the rhetor has in the field of conversation.   For instance, the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, often cites no evidence in his tweets condemning everyone from political opponents and celebrities to supposed illegal voters in the general election. On November 27, 2016, he famously tweeted In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally. However, no evidence exists that verify this claim, which only sought to alter public opinion of his opponent Hillary Clintons 3,000,000-vote lead over him in the popular vote count of the 2016 U.S. election, calling her victory illegitimate.   Questioning Expertise This is certainly not unique to Trump - in fact, a large majority of politicians, especially while in public forums and on-the-spot television interviews, use an appeal to authority when facts and evidence are not readily available. Even criminals on trial will use this tactic to attempt to appeal to the empathetic human nature of the jury in order to sway their opinion despite contradictory evidence.   As Joel Rudinow and Vincent E. Barry put it in the 6th edition of Invitation to Critical Thinking, no one is an expert on everything, and therefore no one can be trusted on their appeal to authority every time. The pair comment that whenever an appeal to authority is introduced, it is wise to be aware of the area of expertise of any given authority - and to be mindful of the relevance of that particular area of expertise to the issue under discussion. Essentially, in every case of appeals to authority, be mindful of those tricky appeals to irrelevant authority - just because the speaker is famous, doesnt mean he or she knows anything real about what theyre saying.