1、Lesson Five Love is a Fallacy,Max Shulman,. Background Information,1. About the author (1919-1988) Max Shulman, a novelist, playwright and humorist who created the Dobie Gillis character and steered him through four seasons on prime-time television, died of bone cancer at his home in Los Angeles. He

2、 was 69 years old.,Max Shulman and his family,The many loves of dobie gillis,Love is a Fallacy,Love is a Fallacy,2. John Ruskin (1819-1900), British writer, art critic and social theorist. He considered a great painting to be one that conveys great ideas to the viewer. During the mid-19th century Bu

3、skin was the virtual dictator of artistic opinion in England, but he has been treated harshly by 20th century critics. His works include Modern Painters (1843-1860), The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849), Sesame and Lilies (1865), The Crown of Wild Olive (1866), Time and Tide (1867), and Fors Clovi

4、gera (8 vols, 1871-1884).,John Ruskin in his study,3.邏輯謬誤: 邏輯論證，即提出支持某些論題或結(jié)論的論據(jù)。論據(jù)由兩部分組成：論點(diǎn)所支持的結(jié)論與引證結(jié)論的某些前提。而結(jié)論是經(jīng)由前提所推導(dǎo)出來的。當(dāng)前提為結(jié)論提供確鑿論據(jù)時，論據(jù)的演繹推理便有效；反之則會成為謬誤。成為謬誤的方式有三種：內(nèi)容，即事實(shí)陳述錯誤；措詞，即術(shù)語使用錯誤；結(jié)構(gòu)（或形式），即推導(dǎo)過程錯誤。那么，邏輯錯誤可分為三類，即內(nèi)容（material)謬誤，措詞（verbal）謬誤以及形式(formal)謬誤。 本文所論及的謬誤屬于第一類，即內(nèi)容謬誤，具體包括：絕對判斷（dicto s

5、impliciter），即將普遍規(guī)則運(yùn)用于有特殊情況發(fā)生的個別情形之中；草率結(jié)論(hasty generalization)，即由個別情形來推導(dǎo),普遍規(guī)則； 無關(guān)結(jié)論(false analogy)，即結(jié)論與前提并無關(guān)聯(lián)，具體包括：a個人攻擊(poisoning the well 或ad hominem)，b尋求同情 (ad misericordiam)；循環(huán)論證(the fallacy of circular argument or “begging the question”)，即假設(shè)前提，但并不推導(dǎo)結(jié)論；錯誤因果(post hoc ergo propter hoc)，即導(dǎo)致某一現(xiàn)象的原因僅

6、僅停留在表面上；問題過多(the fallacy of many questions consists in demanding a single answer)，即給單一回答有多種答案的問題；不合邏輯的推論（the fallacy of non sequitur “it does not follow”），即前提和結(jié)論缺少關(guān)聯(lián)，推理無效。,. A brief overview of the text,General introduction to the text This text is a piece of narrative writing, a story. The narrator

7、 of the story, Dobie Gillis, a self-conceited freshman in a law school, is the hero or protagonist. He struggles against two antagonists: Petey Burch, his roommate whose girl friend he plans to steal, and Polly Espy, the girl he intends to marry after suitable re-education. Petey, a faddist, is eage

8、r for a raccoon coat, and he decides to exchange his girl friend Petey forit with Dobie. Dobie has affection for Polly for long out of practical consideration. Dumb as Polly is,She has the makings to become a suitable wife of a lawyer. In order to smarten her up, Dobie decides to give her a course i

9、n logic. He teaches her how to recognize the common fallacies of logic. He succeeds too well because the whole thing backfires on him when Polly refutes all his arguments as logical fallacies before finally rejecting him. In desperation Dobie argues that “the things you learn in school dont have any

10、thing to do in life”. The appeal does not move Polly because Dobie does not own a raccoon coat as Petey Burch does. The climax of the story is reached in paras 147-150 when Polly refuses to go steady with the narrator because she had promised to go steady with Petey Burch. The coda follows rapidly e

11、nds on a very ironic note.,. Detailed study of the text,Implication of the title Love is a Fallacy:,Paras.1-3: Authors note Para.1: Charles lambs personality and writing style, and this essays style Charles Lamb is a very merry and enterprising person. Youll meet such a person only after a long time

12、. He wrote the essays, Old China and Dreams Children, which set free the informal essay. But, the informal essay that follows here is freer than the one Charles Lamb wrote. Metaphor: He with his essays Old China and Dreams Children, unfettered the informal way. Metaphor: Lambs frontier comparing the

13、 limitations set by Lamb to a frontier.,Para.2: the features of the essay Its category is vague. It develops it cites it reaches Inversion: Vague though its category, Rhetorical questions: Could Carlyle do more? Para.3: What does this essay do? It undertakes to far from being metaphor You are guilty

14、 of Post Hoc; Next comes Post Hoc; Lets try Contradictory Premises. Antithesis: Can he make a stone so heavy that He wont be able to lift it? If there is an irresistible force, there can be no immovable object. If there an immovable Metaphor: Maybe somewhere in the extinct crater of her mind, a few

15、embers still smoldered. Maybe somehow I could fan them into flame. Ellipsis and inversion:,Paras. 99-125: The third date with Polly What more fallacies did he teach her? Ad Misericordiam, False Analogy, Hypothesis Contrary to Fact, Poisoning the Well Did Polly understand the logical fallacies at las

16、t? What did he feel about it? He felt heartened that Polly was not all together a cretin and it was worth the effort he had made. So, he began to love her. Notice the long loose sentence in para.101. Metonymy: discuss False Analogy, have X-rays to guide, well try Hypothesis Contrary to Fact Ellipsis

17、 I was Frankenstein, and my monster has me by the throat. Simile: bellowing like a bull.,Ellipsis Hes a liar. Hs a cheat. Hes a rat. Metaphor: The rat! Antithesis: Look at me a brilliant student, a tremendous intellectual, a man with an assured future. Look at Petey a knot-head, a jitterbug, a guy w

18、holl never know where his next meal is coming from. idiomatic phrase: That did it!,. General analysis of the text,1. The organizational pattern of the text 2. The implication of the title 3. The theme/ purpose of the text 4. The devices the author depends on to realize the theme 5. The function of t

19、he raccoon coat 6. The writing style of the essay,1. The organizational pattern of the text Abstract (1-3): the authors note: what an essay it is. Orientation (4-5): introducing the narrator and his friend Petey Burch Complication (6-150): After a deal was reached between the narrator and Petey, wit

20、h a raccoon for Polly, the narrator began dating her by teaching her logic. As a result, he taught her so well that the whole thing backfired on him. He was rejected when asking for love of Polly. Evaluation (16 on an raccoon coat; 25-27 on P Polly Espy; 123-125 on his findings about Pollys intellig

21、ence Climax(150): He was finally rejected by Polly. Coda (151-154): The reason for Polly to go steady with Petey Burch was that he had had a raccoon coat.,2. The implication of the title The title of the story is humorous and well chosen. It has two meanings. When “fallacy” is taken in its ordinary

22、sense, the title means: “there is a deceptive or delusive quality about love.” When taken as a specific term in logic the title means: “l(fā)ove cannot be deduced from a set of given premises” . The main theme of the story, however, is stated by the writer in the title of the story: “Love is a fallacy”.

23、,3. The theme/purpose of the text By demonstrating how the narrator exchanged with Petey Burch the raccoon coat for Polly, taught her logic, and was refuted by the latter pointing out his logic fallacies, Perhaps the author wants the reader, after reading the story, to conclude that “l(fā)ove” is an err

24、or, a deception and an emotion that does not follow the principles of logic. But the writer, through this story has succeeded perhaps unwittingly in revealing what love may sometimes mean in the affluent society. Girls do not want brilliant, gifted or educated husbands, but want husbands who are ric

25、h and wealthy enough to provide all the things necessary for keeping up with the Joneshome, clothes, cars, etc. There may be sth. more in it.,The whole story is a piece of light, humorous satire. The writer, Max Shulman, is satirizing or making fun of a smug, self-conceited freshman in a law school.

26、 The freshman is made the narrator of the story who goes on smugly boasting and singing praises of himself at every conceivable opportunity. From the very beginning, in para 4, he begins to heap on himself all the beautiful words of praise he can think ofcool, logical, keen, calculating, perspicacio

27、us, acute astute, powerful, precise and penetrating. This exaggerated self-praise and the profuse use of similes and metaphors help to make the satire humorous.,At the same time, the narrator takes every opportunity to down-grade Petey Burch. For example, he calls him: dumb, nothing upstairs, unable

28、, impressionable, and a faddist. And as for Polly Espy, she is “a beautiful dumb girl”, who would smarten up under his guidance. In order to smarten her up, the narrator decides to give her a course in logic. He teaches her how to recognize the common fallacies of logic. He succeeds too well because

29、 the whole thing backfires on him when Poly refutes all his arguments as logical fallacies before finally rejecting him. In desperation the narrator argues that “the things you learn in school dont have anything to do in life.”,The appeal does not move Polly because she does not reject him on logica

30、l ground. She rejects him because he does not own a raccoon coat as Petey Burch does. At the end of the story, the reader feels the narrator has got what he deserved. He has been too clever for his own good.,4. The devices the author depends on to realize the theme The author chooses a smug, self-co

31、nceited freshman in a law school as the story-narrator, who is smugly boasting and singing praises of himself at every possible opportunity. This exaggerated self-praise helps to make the satire humorous. He takes every opportunity to play down Petey Burch, as dumb, nothing upstairs, unstable, impre

32、ssionable and a faddist, to show he is more reasonable. The profuse use of figures of speech makes the satire more vivid, arousing the readers mock at him,By using the raccoon coat as an instrument of the narrators failure, P.B.s success and Pollys attraction, the author makes the young mans shrewd

33、plan rediculous. Through teaching Polly logic so successfully that the narrator fails deplorably in the end because of being rejected by Polly who recognizes his logical fallacies one by one, with a dramatic conclusion. Trying to show how stupid Polly is brings about readers hatred to him, proving h

34、im to be a failure just because he is too clever. He has got what he deserves.,5. The function of the raccoon coat The raccoon coat which he gave to Petey Burch for the privilege of dating his girl, which the narrator disliked and abhorred, was the instrument of narrators undoing. Polly Espy promised to go steady with Pete