1)  It is foolish to fear death, because in order to be hurt or harmed you must exist. But since after

death you don't exist any more, and since you can't be hurt when you don't exist, you may be sure

that being afraid of death is pretty ridiculous.
 
 
 

2)  The government should not undertake any more large-scale exploration of space, because

space exploration is useless for bringing any benefits to us, and because it is wasteful of resources

that should be spent in other ways. The billions of dollars it has taken to put space shuttles in orbit

for a few hours a year could have gone a long way toward eliminating slums or conquering

diseases, which demonstrates how wasteful it is. And why is it useless? Well, for one thing, there

is no scientific advantage to having people instead of mere scientific instruments in space, since

instruments by themselves can gather scientific information as well as people can.
 
 

3)  In some totalitarian countries the secret police often make sure that better than 95% of the

citizens vote. This alone is reason enough why we should reject the proposal to increase the

terribly low voter turnouts in the U.S. by fining those who fail to vote. But there are other

reasons too.  One is that it would turn what is now a privilege into a painful duty.  Another

is that forced voting would only increase the level of cynicism in our nation, because it would

undermine people's confidence in our leadership. And finally, under this proposal, even worse

candidates would be elected than those we have now, since voting merely to avoid a fine would

lead to increased ignorance and carelessness on the part of the voters. And these are only a

few of the reasons why the forced-voting proposal is a lousy idea!
 
 

4)  A new technology can have unforeseen health and environmental consequences.  This is

obvious due to the fact that we have had many serious and unexpected problems with chemical

wastes and acid rain. Another thing about new technologies is that they can appear safe even

though they are actually quite dangerous. The U.S. space shuttle disaster and the Soviet nuclear

disaster at Chernobyl are examples that support this point. And finally, new technologies can

fundamentally change the way we view ourselves. This is shown by the way computer concepts

are influencing current research about our minds and brains.  Thus, it is important that all new

technologies should be examined very carefully before we allow them to be widely used.
 
 
 

5)  It is often said that it is dangerous to publish information about the CIA.  Nevertheless,

newspapers should not be legally prevented from publishing such information. There are two

reasons for this. First, the fundamental right of freedom of speech is absolute. Second, to censor

newspapers in any way is far more dangerous to our society than is the revealing of information

about the CIA, for a free press is our most important weapon against tyrrany.
 
 
 

6)   It is wrong for us to have laws against prostitution. Of course, if prostitution harmed the

people who are involved in it then such laws would be justified. But prostitution does not harm

the people involved, for the only people involved in an act of prostitution are the seller and the

buyer of such services. The seller is not harmed, since she (or he) gains financially, and

the buyer is not harmed since he (or she) usually gets what he (or she) pays for.
 
 
 

7)   If contact sports encourage violent tendencies in children, then such sports should be

made illegal or a way should be found to prevent children from participating in them. But

we know that contact sports encourage violence in children, for several government and

independent studies have reached that conclusion. Thus we must either outlaw contact sports

or keep children from being involved in them as participants. However, as long as there are

contact sports children will be able to watch them, for we live in an open society. And

if they watch them they'll try to play them. Thus there is no way at present to prevent children

from playing contact sports. So, we must pass laws against all contact sports.
 
 

8)   Terrorist acts are performed by people who prey on the weakness of others.  But since

they would interpret a failure to respond with military force after each terrorist act as a sign

of weakness, we Americans must admit this: If our president starts using military force

against terrorism, we must then respond to all terrorist acts in the same way. And the President

has started using military force against terrorism. So, we must face the inescapable conclusion

that the President has committed is to using military force in reponse to all terrorists acts.
 
 
 

9)   In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the areas of South and Central America dominated

by the Inca, Maya, and Aztec Indians were especially attractive to the Spanish invaders. This

was primarily due to the fact that these Indians had accumulated treasures which the

Spaniards valued highly. But in addition, these Indian peoples were willing after a brief struggle

to accept Christianity, and also they were willing to go to work for new masters. Most of the

Indians were accustomed to working for their rulers, and the Spanish conquest seemed to be

little more than a change of rulers.
 
 
 

10)  That the human soul is immortal is easily shown. Consider the following points. Anything

that dies will eventually decay into dust, and anything that decays into dust has to be a physical

object. But the human soul is not a physical object. Hence the human soul cannot die.
 
 
 
 

11)   Since the weather was very cold, anyone in the mountain climbing party would have

built a fire if they had survived the avalanche. But no fire was built, because none was seen

by the seachers in the helicopter. Thus no one in the party survived the avalanche.
 
 
 

12)   The Russians don't need to import millions of tons of grain if they are willing to eat

potatoes and cabbage instead of meat. And if the U.S. is to end its dependency on millions

of barrels of foreign oil, American families will have to give up their second and third cars.

But we all know that the Russians are unwilling to be vegetarians, and Americans are forever

attached to their extra cars. So we can't avoid importing a lot of oil, and they can't stop

importing a lot of grain.
 
 

13)  I've already stirred my coffee if my spoon is wet, so I've already put the sugar in if

my spoon is wet, because I've stirred the coffee if I've put the sugar in.
 
 
 

14)  Immigrants came to the U.S. in large numbers during the second half of the nineteenth

century, and they kept on coming here at a high rate for over fifty years. This was very

beneficial for the immigrants, and it's not hard to see why. They wouldn't have come here

if they had not expected to do better here than in the "old country". Thus, obviously, they did

expect to do better. And they wouldn't have kept coming if their expectations hadn't been

fulfilled; so their expectations must have been fulfilled. In other words, they anticipated

they would do better here, and they were right. That's why coming here was so beneficial

for them.
 
 
 

15)  What are my chances of getting the promotion? Well, here's how I see it. If Snodgrass

resigns, the job I want will be open. And I know that when that job is open I'll get it. So I'll

get the job provided that Snodgrass resigns.  Moreover, Snodgrass will resign if production

figures continue to decline, because the president has that he will hold Snodgrass responsible for

production. And production figures have been going down steadily, so it is clear that they will

continue to decline. Hence Snodgrass will have to resign, and that's why I'm sure that I'll soon

get promoted.