Unit 1

Unit 1: Philosophic Foundations
http://www.thinktwice.com/
Summary
In brief the aforementioned website is an anti-vaccine oriented website
and resource. It contains factual information about the adverse effects of
immunization of children, links to support groups for parents rejecting
vaccination of children and links to books and studies which are alleged to
validate their claims while disproving those of their opposition. The website
also examines case studies and lists local and national laws on un-vaccinated
children and legal issues pertaining to anything anti-vaccine.
Explanation
Before even beginning to understand and debate philosophy one must
understand the reasoning behind philosophy. Literally translated philosophy
means love of wisdom, therefore one must ensure their statements are
wise and free from logical fallacies in order to be even considered valid. The
anti-vaccine movement is one movement in contemporary life which claims
many followers and is proclaimed to be the best option for children by some.
In order to be considered valid however we must first examine these claims
which have a profound impact on the lives of many. Riding a tide of new-age
healing, many opponents to vaccination boldly proclaim their method of life
to be the best option for children and many in fact claim that vaccination
amounts to child abuse. With such powerful claims one would think that the
entire movement is worthy of scrutiny to see if their message is in fact valid.
Despite thousands subscribing to the cause, when exposed to the slightest
scrutiny the entire crusade literally collapses under its own weight. It suffers
from an absurd amount of logical fallacies (never mind the mistaken facts).
Fallacies such as false cause (autism and other diseases caused by
vaccines), appeal to emotion (do you want your children to suffer),
anecdotal evidence (one death caused by vaccines foreshadows many
more) and appeals to authority (some medical professionals claiming
vaccines are unhealthy and so their word is infallible) are just a few of the
appalling lapses in logic committed by the anti-vaccine lobby. To make
matters worse, the process of philosophic inquiry seems to have been
completely ignored by the group. When gathering information, vaccine
deniers completely ignore the mountain of scientific literature opposing their
argument and cherry pick data (yet another fallacy) which leads to lapses in
reasoning and a flawed conclusion.
Addressing the issue in class
In the classroom we explicitly went over logical fallacies and how to

avoid them and how to properly pursue the process of philosophic inquiry.
We examined articles attempting to spot fallacies and how to combat them.
Most importantly we learned how these fallacies invalidate an entire
argument if committed whether the data itself is correct or not.
Relation to course expectation
By combining what we learned in class with the rhetoric used by
vaccine naysayers we can determine that the whole premise is flawed.
Personally I find it disgusting that lives of children both vaccinated and unvaccinated are being threatened because of parental ignorance. It is said
that fear sells, which is why a supposed correlation between autism and
vaccines understandably frightened a few parents. What is bordering on
criminal however is the fact that the majority of parents who became
terrified of their child suffering neglected further research on the topic. This
type of behavior can be compared to that of lemmings, with personal
curiosity completely being replaced by fear driven herd mentality. Even when
evidence that supports their claims has been refuted (in fact Andrew
Wakefield, the doctor who first published the report rejecting vaccines has
been struck from the register of British Physicians and has since retracted his
statements) proponents of the movement blindly cling to this downright
dangerous philosophy. Questions I would like to pursue would include simply
asking what empirical proof do proponents of the movement possess and
what it would take to change their mind on the matter.

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Unit 1: Philosophic Foundations

In the classroom we explicitly went over logical fallacies and how to

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