S. Morris Engel (1931–2018)

An illuminating exposition of the argument that language is not "solely the instrument of thought" but rather "what makes thought possible in the first place", especially in regards to arguments and persuasion. With reference to fields such as sociolinguistics, logic, and psychology, Engel has convinced me to become much more aware of society's verbal minefield, and the ways in which those mine are planted daily by myself and others, unwittingly or not.

Everyone should read this in order to develop defenses against propaganda and misuses of logic. Especially consumers and voters should study it.

I'm sure there are other similar books, but this one is easy to understand, with lots of good examples. Humorous and memorable.

And important, because, as the author says, Language is the instrument which makes thought possible in the first place.""

This was textbook for an Oakland Community College course I took in the early 1990s. I love the taxonomy of fallacies amphiboly, argumentum ad baculum, etc. The examples are clear and the exercised illustrative. Many fallacy forms are, literally, illustrated with cartoons, mostly Far Side.

Oh my, I hope textbooks like this are still studied in schools today....

12/3/21