Diotima's Beauty

We read Plato's Dymposium in art and philosophy. Diotima (Socrates' 'teacher in the art of love') gives a sort of poetic argument about the nature of beauty:

1)Humans love
2)To love is wanting to posses the good forever
3)Humans are mortal
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Humans cannot achieve the object of love

1)Beauty is a good which last forever (or a long while)
2)Humans cannot achieve the object of love but strive after it
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In attempting to achieve immortality and union with the good humans create beauty

I feel there's a way to strengthen the inference in the second arguement, any thoughts?

Many Independent Premises

Going through section 1.6 it seems that conclusions are always improved by multiple cogent premises. Would this increase the cogency and strength of an inductive argument? Or would each cogent premise stand on its own as its own argument?

If they are all considered parts of one argument, it looks like a cheap and easy way to increase the cogency of an argument, by decreasing the chances that all the premises will be found untrue.

1 ----> 2

3 ----> 4}--> 7

5 ----> 6

Don't Step on the Grass

Walking to and from Hoosac you have to take the path towards Murdock to get anywhere because of the construction. If your heading towards the campus center, the quickest route is get off the path and walk across the grass. Of course, most grasses cant stand high foot traffic, and I noticed that the grass was being trampled in some areas. This argument followed:

1) I like the appearance of living/well maintained grass in that spot
2) By walking on the grass in that spot I contribute to its killing and disheveling[un-well maintaining?]
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Therefore I will should not walk on the grass

Does the inference even work for this one?

Home Economics Letter to the Editor

"During the 20 years I taught home economics in both junior and senior high school, I made it a priority to teach healthy eating habits. My students always prepared dishes that were nutritious and easy for them to cook.

Fresh fruits and vegetables were included in these lessons whenever possible, and we frequently discussed the hazards of including too much salt, sugar and fat in the diet.

These students often returned during their college years to thank me for teaching them these skills.

I was disheartened when home economics was eliminated from the curriculum in many New York school systems.

Most children are no longer taught how to cook at home and therefore do not have the tools to help them make good food choices.

Bringing home economics back to the classroom would be a huge step toward educating our population about the hazards of obesity while teaching them to eat responsibly.

AUDREY MANNERS
Nantucket, Mass., Sept. 6, 2011

(Manners, Audrey. "Bringing Home Ec Back to the Classroom." Letter. 6 Sept. 2011. New York Times. New York: New York Times Company, 2011. Print.)

Argument:
1) Home Economics classes teach students to prepare dishes that are nutritious and easy to cook
2) Home Economics classes teach students about nutritious foods and unhealthy foods
3) With out these classes most students do not know how to cook or make healthy decisions
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Therefore home economics classes should be instituted to teach children these skills

Introduction

Hello world!

My name is Brian Fitzpatrick. This is my blog for my Philosophy 200 class, Logic and Critical reasoning. So expect to see related posts in the future.

I chose the name 'Down to the Piraeus' because I felt appropriately philosophical referencing Plato's Republic, and maybe implying that this blog is about getting down to business, down to the point.