Tradition in the American Society - Essay Example

Fallacy illustrates a disconnect between the premises and the conclusions. Informal fallacies forms include; inappropriate arguments or generalizations, due to ignorance.

Informal fallacies are usually more common and interesting than formal fallacies (Engle 141). In this paper, I’ll discuss the second logical fallacy illustrated in the assignment instruction. The fallacy is: Tradition is not always right. On Saturday, 23rd August 2014, I discussed with a class friend on the roles of tradition in society. My friend continuously illustrated that tradition is not always right; to influence my opinion on only the negative aspects of tradition. This fallacy illustrates the informal fallacy, which is based on argument due to ignorance. My friend did not understand the importance of tradition in our society, but I effectively did my part by explaining the positive and negative issues of tradition.

Tradition in the American Society
Tradition has greater significance in any society than previously believed. Tradition represents existing knowledge, and it is a collection of related ideas and concepts lasting for a long time durations (Shils 42). These ideas are continuously improved in the society through addition of new knowledge. This is referred to as dynamic tradition. On the other hand, static tradition does not change easily over time. The prevalent tradition type in America is the mixed tradition that combines the two traditional approaches.
Dynamic tradition is very significant because it illustrates the best knowledge in America. The tradition discovers the best ideas, and then continuously discards knowledge proved to be mistaken. Dynamic tradition is best due to the great levels of criticism, though, and error correction allowed. If there is a wrong aspect in tradition; then emphasis should be on improving it, and not abandoning the aspect. Tradition should be flexible enough to accommodate new knowledge and retain existing knowledge (Shils 45).

Static tradition is very different because it utilizes aspects like control and manipulation of individuals in society. This limits the creativity ability of individuals in society. Inadequate traditional creativity ensures minimal alternative ideas (Shils 47). The main doctrines or ideas of static tradition are kept at constant levels. The more individuals strive to keep the tradition the same to enhance continuity, the more they adopt strategies for transmitting traditions to future generations. Because static tradition does not accept changes or correct errors, it has minimal usefulness in society. This is because people are brainwashed and indoctrinated, and hence they feel guilty and sinful if they do not adhere to the tradition.

The fallacy worked by influencing my opinion (Paul 36). This is because tradition is made up of both positive and negative aspects. Traditions are very necessary because they ensure retention and improvement in the best knowledge over the years. However, they can have harmful effects. This is because static traditions create blind spots and negatively influence everything, apart from the transmission to children. It is the responsibility of individuals and communities to decide on the most appropriate traditional approach to use. Read More