Asian American Market
"Everything you know about the Littleton killings is wrong. But the truth may be scarier than the myths" (Cullen 1999, p. 1). This is the title of an article that claims that "what was reported last spring about the motives and methods of killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold was untrue" (Cullen 1999, p. 1). The question that arises from this claim, is how can that be so? How can the "most notorious events from the shooting spree - reported over and over in news reports, on TV chat shows and now in a bestselling book..." (Cullen 1999, p. 1) be false and in fact, to simply have never occurred? Using critical reasoning principles from English philosopher, Anthony Flew, one may begin to understand why everything we learnt through the media about the Littleton killings may well be incorrect. This paper will concentrate on one "myth" - the killers were part of the Trench Coat Mafia. It will use two critical reasoning principles from Flew; namely Denying the Consequent/Affirming the Antecedent, and Affirming the Conseqent/Denying the Antecedent, to understand "the truth" behind "the myth". The two boys responsible for the killings were said to be part of the Trench Coat Mafia. Apparently, eighteen students from Chatfield
Fourthly and finally, the invalid move of "Denying the Antecedent" (Flew 1998, p. you can validly deduce some consequence. They wore coats for logistical and practical reasons; in fact to cover the "daunting arsenal of weapons" and "military web gear" they harnessed. In other words, "Denying the Consequent" (Flew 1998, p. Thirdly, the valid move of "Affirming the Antecedent" (Flew 1998, p. The killers were part of the Trench Coat Mafia because they were "kind of friends of fringe members", Klebold was known to wear a coat occasionally, and they wore coats on the day of the killings. However, there are two other forms that must be distinguished from this valid form. Flew proposes four possible moves to make with such conditional propositions: two valid and two invalid. Secondly, the invalid move of "Affirming the Consequent" (Flew 1998, p. Relating this to the association of the killers to the Trench Coat Mafia, then one will argue: Since the killers were "kind of friends of fringe members" and Klebold was known to wear a coat occasionally, and since they wore coats on the day of the killings, then it follows necessarily that the killers were part of the Trench Coat Mafia.
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Acceptance Essays
