Law professor Ann Althouse doesn’t “like argument/reasoning from anecdotes, and one’s own personal experience is a subcategory of this.” She adds, “I don’t think the argument for gay rights should hinge on whether you’re gay or you know someone who is gay. If something is actually bad or morally wrong, you don’t try to promote it by talking about the person in your family who does it…In fact, I think it cheapens the argument to blend that in.”

What’s fascinating about the vast majority of the comments to this post is that the commenters jump into the gay marriage debate rather than address Althouse’s point about reasoning and what makes a good argument. Dropping the “I know somebody” anecdotal story is an emotional knee-jerk appeal. A little lip-quivering might help also, but it has a way of ending conversation, not shedding light on the subject at hand.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 James Ament