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Lecture 6- fallacies of arguments 

by Marianne Talbot, university of Oxford 

Lecture 5- Evaluatiing arguments

by Marianne Talbot, university of Oxford 

Lecture 4-what is an argument ? Validity or Truth 

by Marianne Talbot, university of Oxford 

Lecture 3- setting out logical book style 

by Marianne Talbot, university of Oxford 

Lecture 1- the nature of arguments and how to recognize an argument

by Marianne Talbot, university of Oxford 

Lecture 2- different types of arguments 

by Marianne Talbot, university of Oxford 

Like most other coastal towns in Norway, the town of Stavanger was quiet and peaceful until the early 1960's, when it became Norway's center for offshore oil exploration. Between then and now, violent crime and vandalism in Stavanger have greatly increased. Stavanager's social problems probably resulted from the oil boom, since violent crime and vandalism have remained low in coastal towns in Norway that have had no oil boom.

Excavations at a Mayan site have uncovered jewelry workshops located some distance from the center of the site on roads radiating outward from the center. Since the nobility lived only in the area of the center, archaeologists conclude that these workshops made jewelry, not for the nobility, but for a middle class that must have been prosperous enough to afford it.

On turning 65 years old, everyone living in the town of Malton becomes eligible to receive a card that guarantees discounts on most goods and services sold in the town. Census records for 1990 show that 2, 450 inhabitants of Malton turned 64 in that year. Yet, in 1991 over 3,000 people applied for and properly received discount cards. So clearly some of Malton's population growth between 1990 and 1992 must be attributable to migration into the city by people in their mid -60's

Despite improvements in treatment for asthma, the death rate from this disease has doubled during the past decade from its previous rate. Two possible explanations for this increase have been offered. First, the recording of deaths due to asthma has become more widespread and accurate in the past decade than it had been previously. Second,there has been an increase in urban pollution. However, since the rate of deaths due to asthma has increased dramatically even in cities with long-standing, comprehensive medical records and with little or no urban pollution, one must instead conclude that the cause of increased deaths is the use of bronchial inhalers by asthma sufferers to relieve their symptoms.

In the past the country of Malvernia has relied heavily on imported oil. Malvernia recently implemented a program to convert heating systems from oil to natural gas. Malvernia currently produces more natural gas each year than it uses, and oil production in Malvernian oil fields is increasing at a steady pace. If these trends in fuel production and usage continue, therefore, Malvernian reliance on foreign sources for fuel is likely to decline soon.

As government agencies, faced with budget difficulties, reduce their funding for scientific research, a greater amount of such research is being funded by private foundations. This shift means that research projects likely to produce controversial results will almost certainly comprise a smaller proportion of all funded research projects, since private foundations, concerned about their public image, tend to avoid controversy.

The public is well aware that high blood cholesterol levels raise the risk of stroke caused by blood clots, but a recent report concludes that people with low blood cholesterol levels are at increased risk of the other lethal type of stroke---cerebral hemorrhage, caused when a brain artery busts. The report suggests that because blood cholesterol plays a vita role in maintaining cell membranes, low blood cholesterol weakens artery walls, making them prone to rupture. The conclusion thus supports a long-standing contention by Japanese researchers that Western diets better protect against cerebral hemorrhage than do non-Western diets.

A survey was recently conducted among ferry passengers on the North Sea. Among the results was this: more of those who had taken anti-seasickness medication before their trip reported symptoms of seasickness than those who had not taken such medication. It is clear, then, that despite claims by drug companies that clinical tests show the contrary, people would be better off not taking anti-seasickness medications. 

The Environmental Protection Agency must respond to the hazard to children's health posed by exposure to asbestos fibers released in the air in school classrooms. Since it is impossible to close school buildings, the best plan would be to initiate programs that mandate the immediate removal of asbestos from all the school buildings that are found to contain asbestos, regardless of whether or not the buildings are in use.

Housing construction materials give off distinctive sounds when exposed to high temperatures. Acoustic sensors accurately detect such sounds and fire alarms incorporating acoustic sensors can provide an early warning of house fires, allowing inhabitants to escape before being overcome by smoke. Since smoke inhalation is the most common cause of fatalities in house fires, mandating acoustic-sensor-based alarms instead of smoke detectors will eliminate house fire as a major cause of death.

To protect beachfront buildings from ocean storms, ocean resorts have built massive seawalls between beaches and the buildings. Not only do the seawalls block off some buildings' ocean view, but the beaches themselves become ever narrower, because sand can no longer creep inland as storms erode it at the water's edge.

Certain extremely harmful bacteria found only in sewage are difficult to detect directly. Testing for E. coli, an easily detected and less harmful type of bacteria, in ocean water would be a reliable way of determining whether or not these more harmful bac-teria are present, since ocean water contains E. Coli only if the water is contaminated with sewage that contains the harmful bacteria.

Conservationists have believed that by concentrating their preservation efforts on habitats rich in an easily surveyed group of species, such as birds, they would thereby be preserving areas rich in overall species diversity. This belief rests on a view that a geographical area rich in one group of species will also be rich in the other groups characteristic of the entire regional climate zone.

A new and more aggressive form of the fungus that caused the Irish potato famine of the nineteenth century has recently arisen. However, since this new form of the fungus can be killed by increased application of currently used fungicides, it is unlikely that the fungus will cause widespread food shortages in countries that currently rely on potatoes for sustenance.