Save Lives or Save the Rhetoric?

Comparing the Logic of Evidence with the Power of Rhetoric

David H. Goldenberg (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

262 Seiten

2020
Hamilton Books (Verlag)
978-0-7618-7205-4 (ISBN)

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This book is about logic and evidence and its antithesis, fallacies, and powerful rhetoric. This book provides a tool box of knowledge about decision-making and evaluating public policy that citizens need to know in order to make informed decisions about policy proposals.

This timely book discusses the numerous forms of flawed reasoning that currently plague the realm of public discourse both in the United States and abroad. This book provides and develops a working knowledge of the skills needed to distinguish between rhetorical claims and evidence based claims. The author presents and shows how to debug numerous currently relevant real world examples. Innovative discussion questions provide the reader an opportunity to practice and be actively involved. The objective throughout is pedagogy, not partisanship: to help the reader better understand current events, better evaluate public policy, identify its rhetoric and that of partisan debates.

David H. Goldenberg is independent researcher and author of Derivatives Markets.

List of Illustrations

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction: An Evidence-Based versus a Rhetoric-Based Approach to Understanding Public Policy

Part 1: Logic and Evidence versus Fallacies and Rhetoric

OneWhat Is an Evidence-Based Approach? Can Non-Existence be Proven?

TwoWhat Is an Evidence-Based Approach? Is Non-Proportionality Discrimination?

ThreeBasic Logic and Fallacies: Necessary versus Sufficient Conditions

FourEvidence, Economic Data, and How to Find It

FiveMore Fallacies

SixEvidence: What it Is, What it Is Not

SevenFallacies Based on Personal Attack

Part 2: Basic Knowledge for Decision-Making and Evaluating Policy

EightMaking Good Decisions and Good Policy: Relative versus Absolute, Opportunity Costs, and Marginalism

NineCertainty versus Uncertainty: Multiple Factors, Multiple Uncertain Outcomes, Polls and Their Interpretation

TenIndividual Preferences and Opportunities, and the State’s Role: Capitalism, Communism, (Democratic) Socialism, and the Welfare State

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Erscheinungsdatum	10.05.2021
Verlagsort	Lanham, MD
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 229 mm
Gewicht	390 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Staat / Verwaltung
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Makrosoziologie
ISBN-10	0-7618-7205-1 / 0761872051
ISBN-13	978-0-7618-7205-4 / 9780761872054
Zustand	Neuware