Ray Perkins Jr. '64
Logic and Mr. Limbaugh
Open Court Publishing Co.
Ray Perkins Jr. '64 has a bit of fun but also a serious undertone in his book Logic and Mr. Limbaugh, an examination of fallacious reasoning and how to identify it.
Perkins systematically deconstructs the arguments of conservative radio and talk show host Rush Limbaugh to discuss the elements of logic and logical techniques. Although Limbaugh has pronounced himself an authority on a wide range of subjects, his reasoning is seriously flawed, according to Perkins. He points out the leaps of logic that Limbaugh employs to build persuasive arguments that don't hold up under thoughtful scrutiny. For example, Limbaugh often attacks the position of environmentalists, feminists and other "liberals" by attacking their character or personalities, neither of which are relevant to their beliefs, Perkins says.
Limbaugh often crosses a line from fact to fallacy in his attempts to entertain, Perkins says. When Limbaugh criticizes the environmental policies advocated by Vice President Al Gore he does so by pointing out that this "nature lover" once got lost while hiking in a park with Secret Service agents. Although the second point has no relevance to the first, Limbaugh implies that Gore's ideas about the environment can be dismissed because he is an inept hiker, Perkins says.
Perkins notes in the book's introduction that he is not impugning the political opinions of Limbaugh, just the methods he uses to express those opinions. ". . . his opinions and beliefs are often poorly argued for [and] are often supported by reasons that are either weak or irrelevant to the truth of those opinions and beliefs about which he's trying to persuade us.
"We are, all of us, in our discourse with our fellows, obliged to avoid--or at least try to avoid--fallacious reasoning," Perkins writes. "Fallacious reasoning is a kind of counterfeit, and like bad money, it should be identified and rejected whenever encountered."