It's such a simple way to end an argument: "Well, I'm entitled to my opinion."
Not according to logic. As author Jamie Whyte points out, one person's entitlement creates another's obligations. Think about it: if you are entitled to cross the street safely, I am obligated to not run you over in my car. But what if you're wrong in your thinking? What if we're in London, about to cross the street, and you look the wrong way and think the coast is clear? Am I obligated to watch you step off the curb and get crushed? Comprehension questions will accompany the vocabulary quiz Friday, August 17.
The Right to Your Opinion -
I think this is a really good way to let people know the difference between having the right to your opinion, This way no one gets fooled by such a strong comeback. Im glad this showed me something new .
ReplyDeleteSo is this kind of saying that the government lets us think we have the right of speech,which entitles us to our opinion. Yet, there is many false ones that make us not entitled to our opinion??
ReplyDeleteWell, I learned something new today. I can't see anybody being able to come up with a counter argument for this article.
ReplyDeleteI think this is something that should be known in the public about what the meaning of "the right to your opinion" means. Now that I read this article I realize that people use this term wrong all the time.
ReplyDeletewow. This is neat... basically we don't have our own opinion's in certain area's..
ReplyDeleteI believe we were supposed to comment our objections to this? well. its true, this really makes me think. "I have the right to my own opinion" everyone has said it. or atleast heard someone else say it. I believe this english class is going to change the way alot of students think and approach things in life. Matt Reynolds P1
ReplyDeleteI believe he is right in alot of areas where he says we don't necessarily " have the right to our opinion. But I feel in alot of instances he takes it to literally to where it wouldn't apply to alot o us 16 year olds. For instance, the part about the men cutting off their own genitals. I don't see any of us kids doing that anytime soon. Thats the only thing I see wrong with his logic, otherwise I really enjoyed this piece.
ReplyDeleteIt wasnt about if we would do that or not. but i think it was more of rights people thought they had. Because he say'a after that they went to jail or whatever for "self bodily harm" but yes i agree. a 16 year old probably wont do that.. hah
DeleteI responded to this in the beginning of my post
DeleteI believe that every person has the right to there own opinion. Its freedom of speech. I do also believe that opinions can't be wrong and if someone was gonna cross the street and get hit by a car, I would use my own logical opinion and say something.
ReplyDeleteYou're contradicting yourself here.. If no opinion is wrong and you're entitled to your opinion then why can you tell someone they're wrong there's a car coming they shouldn't cross the street? Opinions can be wrong
DeleteI agree with Patricia here. If you are saying that no opinion is wrong, when that person steps out onto the street after checking the wrong way for traffic you are saying that they are correct in their opinion? As the article pointed out with that example if you say one thing and the other person says another, one opinion must be wrong because they both can't be right and that would be contradicting as Patricia pointed out.
Deleteand as an aside, Dr. Preston pointed out in class that freedom of speech really is'nt freedom of speech because you can't say anything that would become a danger to the public, such as yelling fire in a theatre.
DeleteI just wrote out a long post and published it but it's not showing up? But frank, I'm not sure he wrote this specifically for 16year olds? I'm 15and I can still appreciate this article. It's not about your age but maturity has a factor. I'm surprised that's all you took away from this. I thought it was interesting that he included the point about those men. It went to show what rights we really have, or lack there of. You would suspect you have the rights to your own body. It contributed alot to his point about rights. I liked what dr Preston said that most people would become insulted if you were to deny them when they state they have a right to their opinion. We have become comfortable with it. And I agree with Cameron we have been stating this without knowing what it means and taking it for advantage. This article was more bout government that I expected but I felt I took a lot away from it. I will deffinately remember this article the next time i'm tempted to just say I have the right to my opinion in an argument.
ReplyDeletei agree 100% with what you said patricia, its just crazy to think that we dont have the right to our own opinion. (:
DeleteReminds you to open up your mind though! And thanks Matt :)
DeleteNo problem Patricia(:
DeleteWell that certainly got me thinking. Thinking back there were plenty of times I've used my opinion as a defensive strategy. Often times I've seen the phrase "Im entitled to my own opinion" used in religious conversations. In most cases its someone stating their feelings about a certain religion, whether they're all for it or against it, they tend to lean towards "forcing" their opinion instead of stating it. It was a little bit of a read but it was a great way to get me thinking. Ill be sure to remember this next time I'm stating something in a conversation(:
ReplyDeleteI liked the article, and enjoyed the perspective given by the author. It did a great job informing the reader of the main idea, that the statement used by one or more parties in an argument "I'm entitled to my/our opinion" is a fallacy, and ultimately changes the subject and offers no new information and doesn't help either party get further down their conversation. I could't help but get a hint of one-sidedness as I read, it almost felt like a student work to me.
ReplyDeleteWe do but we don't have our own opinion?
ReplyDeleteonce again my comment got erased magically! i don't really know why. But long story short everyone has their own opinion and you can't take that from them. Respect is all they need just because you don't like what they are saying or what they believe in doesn't mean you have to it just means that you are listening and aware of what they feel and think in THEIR mind not your own. Respect will get you places in life trust me I'm only 17 years old but hasn't it gotten me far.!
ReplyDeletei never really thought about how im entitled to my opinion this gave me a hole new prespective on my entitlement. i get you are not really entitled to your opinion unless you are backed up by strong reasoning towards your opinion. now i will think first before i state my opinion on something.
ReplyDeletei dont know about anyone else here, but for me this article was kind of hard to read. thank you for challenging me though, and making me see beyond my comfort zone. that being said, this article is an excellent way of opening a whole new persective on the "right to my own opinion" topic.
ReplyDeleteI agree, article itself was a challenge but the statement he was trying to make made sense if you took the time to think about it.
Deletethe article was pretty hard to read it took me a couple times to corrispond it
Deletethis was a hard article to read but it did realy get me thinking. im starting to understand that even though we are entitled to our own opinions were not at the same time because if you have nothing to back up what your saying then you cant really push your opinion to stand out. it has really made me think about how i try to push my opinions on people when i cant back them up so this is definately an eye opener and also a new start as to how i look on things its going to give me a new perspective. so in all this was a good article to read i would recommend it to others
ReplyDeleteI agree with jarrett. If we have an opinion then i dont think someone has the right to take it away from us because isnt that what an opinion is?...our thinking of something on a subject. But someone can say that our opinion is wrong but again isnt that there opinion...i cant take that away from them so then why should they be able to say my opinion is wrong?
ReplyDeleteBut then again, you can't force your opinion onto another person. By saying that you are entitled to your own opinion, you are not providing any relevant information to the argument. Also, two people might not agree, but one person could be completely out of line and doesn't know a thing about what they're arguing about. In that case, one could say that the other's opinion is false.
ReplyDeleteC.Abright, p2