The Fallacy of Nonsense
Lewis Carroll was a professor of logic, writing among his well known works of fiction, treatises on the subject of logic and even a textbook, Symbolic Logic. “It is the function of logic to classify and formulate fallacious forms of argument as well as valid ones.” (Burks 367) So is it some of the functions of Carroll’s tales of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Presenting different puzzles, riddles, or what appears to be on the surface nonsense, Carroll in these books present many questions of logic and indirectly their solutions, challenging the ability of the reader to believe what has been presented. All his nonsensical puzzles can be either proved or disproved using some form of logic. “Not only is it not nonsense… it also contains, by implication, a great deal of excellent sense.” (Heath 51)
At one point in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a pigeon claims Alice to be a serpent, because serpents eat eggs, and Alice eats eggs. (Carroll A/T 47) The propositions would be then what is quantified in symbolic logic as universal, with the functional word “all”. Using the notation AE to represent the proposition “Alice eats eggs”, SE to represent “Serpents eat eggs”, concluding AS, “Alice is a serpent”, and “” to mean “therefore”, the argument is represented in simple terms as:
AE
} AS
SE
In Symbolic Logic, Carroll represents this same argument as:
xm0
}(m being assumed to exist) x’y’1
ym0
(Carroll SL 261) where x would represent Alice, y would represent ser...
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...es of Wonderland.” Nineteenth
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Burks, Arthur W. “The Logic of Causal Propositions.” Mind 60.239 (July 1951), 363-382.
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Carroll, Lewis. Symbolic Logic. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1977.
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Dewey, John and Bentley, Arthur F. “Definition”. Journal of Philosophy 44.11 (May 22, 1947), 281-306
Gardner, Martin. The Annotated Alice. New York: Book Craftsmen Associates, Inc. 1960.
Heath, Peter. The Philosopher’s Alice. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1974
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The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor was a book that took a different angle at the classic story of Alice in Wonderland. The book was not just a lighthearted, wacky story about an English girl that stumbles down a rabbit hole and ends up in a world with talking caterpillars known as Wonderland. She is Wonderland’s heir to the throne and her mother, Genevieve, is the queen. Genevieve’s sister, Redd, is bent on revenge after being kicked out of the castle. She storms the castle and forcefully takes the throne, and Alyss is sent into another world and tries to find her way back to Wonderland to take back the throne. In order to do this, she has to gain a lot of responsibility starting from her childhood in Wonderland, teenage years in England,
The U.S. District Court held that Morse was justified in her suspension of Frederick for his actions and that it was not protected by the First Amendment (Facts and Case Summary: Morse v. Frederick). However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Court reversed the decision stating that the schools suspension was unconstitutional and violated his first amendment rights because he was punished for the content of his speech and any disturbance it could have caused (Facts and Case Summary: Morse v. Frederick). The U.S. Supreme court granted certiorari in the end (Facts and Case Summary: Morse v. Frederick)
To pay or not to pay college athletes, that is the question. It seems like it would be a simple yes or no answer, but there are many underlying factors as to why paying athletes would be a negative. All universities vary in size and popularity, so how would it be possible to pay all athletes the same amount? Student is the leading word in the term “student-athlete”. They are not considered employees, which is what paying athletes would make them. While universities are making some profit off of the abilities of their athletes, college athletes make the personal choice to play a sport. Due to the differing popularity and size of universities and their athletic programs, there would be no fair way to pay all athletes. In addition, many athletes already receive compensation in the form of publicity, scholarships, and access to a high education, and therefore the NCAA and universities should not pay athletes.
As I mentioned earlier, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll, beside being an English author was a mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer . Carrol created the character of Alice to entertain a daughter of his good friend Dean of Christ Church, little girl named Alice Liddell. The story was first published in 1865.
This argument has been trying to settle people’s minds with coming to a conclusion of whether or not the athletes should be paid. Many people love college athletics because it is just that: college athletics. The bidding on March Madness made more money than bids that were placed on the Super Bowl this past year. People love to watch young stars develop into the greater athletes that they are capable of being. The amateurism of college sports is why so many people are drawn to it. If the athletes were to be paid, it would forever change the organization and how it’s run. College athletes are amateurs, not professionals; therefore they should not be paid.
Torture is one of the most common interrogation methods in many war torn countries. These countries include many middle eastern countries that are in turmoil. Torture however is used in many developed nations as
Before continuing, the act of torture for the sake of punishment or for entertainment or for any other non-humanitarian can never be morally permissible. The only type of torture argued in this paper is the one with the goal of intelligence gathering in order to save an innocent life. All other forms of torture are not morally permissible.
Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland . 3rd. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print.
Lewis, Carroll. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. New York: Oxford, 2009. Print.
Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. New York: The modern Library, 2002. Print
Lewis Carroll's use of puns and riddles in Alice in Wonderland help set the theme and tone. He uses word play in the book to show a world of warped reality and massive confusion. He uses such play on words to reveal the underlying theme of growing up', but with such an unusual setting and ridiculous characters, there is need for some deep analyzing to show this theme. The book contains many examples of assonance and alliteration to add humor. Carroll also adds strange diction and extraordinary syntax to support the theme.
The characters in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are more than whimsical ideas brought to life by Lewis Carroll. These characters, ranging from silly to rude, portray the adults in Alice Liddell’s life. The parental figures in Alice’s reality portrayed in Alice in Wonderland are viewed as unintellectual figures through their behaviors and their interactions with one another.
The works of Lewis Carroll are well known. Two of his most famous works are Through the Looking Glass and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is often heard called the "Crack Book." The use of opium, fascination of odd-reversals, lack of self-confidence, and inventions are tied to Lewis Carroll's life and works directly. His life and the Victorian Era were a direct influence on these two literature works of his.
Richard Morton, (December, 1960). "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass". Elementary English. 37 (8), pp.509-513