In the Dallas Morning News editorial piece Reform, Support, and Sign the anonymous author uses two logical fallacies in support of his argument that additional reform is still needed with the CPS and APS agencies. The first logical fallacy is an appeal to pity. The second logical fallacy is a statistical syllogism error of converse accident with his appeal to the extreme (Reform, 2005).

For the first logical fallacy of an appeal to pity the author begins the article with: "Hundreds of young and old died and suffered before Texas lawmakers rallied to their cause. For vulnerable others, some help appears on the way" (Reform, 2005). The author is in support of additional reforms, and contends that they are still needed within the CPS system to help abused children. This phrase, especially its placement at the beginning of the article, has a very powerful impact on the reader; and sets the stage for further argument on the issue.

For the second logical fallacy of converse accident the author repeated appeals to extreme cases which are not representative of the issue being discussed. The author states: "He told senators that APS investigated one infirm woman in the care of her mentally ill daughter and responded by ordering up a housecleaning crew." (Reform, 2005). This does serve as a powerful rhetorical device on the reader to sympathize with the author's position. Other than its rhetorical value it did not add anything to the logical aspect of the argument.

References

Reform, support, sign. Bill to help care agencies moves to the House. (2005, March 6). The Dallas Morning News, p. P2