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Twinkies: TheargumentpresentedbyNickAndersonseditorialcartoon,SavetheTwinkie,isapieceof goodthinking.Thepremisesprovidetheargumentsinductiveconclusionasolidfoundationtobe strong.ThecartoonistusesacrowdofTwinkieenthusiasts,nearlymarkedbythecharacteristicsofan angrymob,blowingbyacoupleoflonely,SavetheEarthactiviststoshowthejuxtapositionbetween thosethatpresentlydesiretosavetheearth,andthosethatwouldjustratherkeeptheirTwinkies. Theargumentillustratedattemptstoinductivelyreachtheconclusionthat,Weredoomed,the phraseplainlystatedonthecartoonitself.Asacartoon,nearlyeverything,minustheconclusion,or punchline,isleftasimplicit.Intranslatingimplicitideasintoexplicitideas,premisescanbedeveloped: Theargumentsimplicitpremisesareinterpretedandschematizedbelow: 1.Preservingtheearthwilldelaymankindspossibleendsubstantially. 2.Preservingtheearthwilltakehumaninvolvement. 3.PreservingTwinkieswontpreservetheearth. 4.MankindcaremoreaboutpreservingTwinkiesthanpreservingtheearth. ________________________________________________ /Forallof(4)wehaveevidencetobelievethattheearthisdoomed. Inordertounderstandpremise(4)andwhyitworkstoprovideevidenceforthearguments
conclusion,thepriorthreepremisesmustbeexplicitlystated.Thecartoonistprovidestheargumentwith theconclusion,andthefourthpremiseinanearexplicitmanner.Hismostsimple,rootargumentisthat becausemankindcaresmoreaboutpreservingTwinkiesthanpreservingtheearth,weredoomed.The firstthroughthirdpremisesarenecessaryimplicationstoprovidetheargumenttheopportunityto providetheconclusionprobable,evidentiarysupporttosaytheargumentiseitherweakorstrong. ThisargumentworksinasimilarmannertotheEvidentiaryProblemofEvil.Themoreevidence ofthepremises,thestrongertheargumentbecomes. Theauthormayhavechosentoturnhisheadtotheenvironmentalistgroupsthatrivalhis portrayaloftheTwinkiecrusaders.However,itmaybepossibletoaltertheschematizedargumentto includeallgroupsinterestedinreceivinginstantsatisfaction,suchasadeepfried,creamfilledtreat,as evidencefortheWeredoomed.conclusion.Thejudgementofgoodwasplacedonthisargument becauseofthesubstantialamountofevidenceavailabletoshowtheconclusionsstrength. NickAndersonseditorialcartoonisagoodpieceofthinkingbecauseoftheamountof evidenceexistingtoinductivelysupporttheconclusionstruth.Hisartisticexpressioncreatesan argumentinwhichtheimplicationsareinterpretabletoanextent,andtheconclusionisbottomline.Its implicitreasoningprovidedthepremises,whilethecartoonexplicitlyoutlinedtheconclusion,or punchline.
http://0.tqn.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/5/w/4/savethetwinkie.jpg
Anderson,Nick.SavetheTwinkie.Illustration.TheHoustonChronicleNovember20,2012. blog.chron.com/nickanderson