Pseudo-Argument

When I was in 8th grade, my friend and I had the opportunity to go to Malaga, Spain for two weeks and live with a host family. My whole 8th grade class was going, and she was the only one who couldn’t go. She provided several reasons why she should be able to go, but she was still not allowed to go. After two weeks, she gave up, realizing that it was clearly a pseudo-argument. Her mother wasn’t going to listen to reason, and her mind wasn’t going to be changed.
She doesn’t know how many reasons she provided, but her mother simply wouldn’t listen. Some of her reasons were: it would improve her Spanish, she’s plenty responsible, it would be a good experience, and she would get to call her mom every night. Her mother couldn’t supply any reasons for not letting her go except, “I’m your mother, and I’m not letting you go.” It was a hopeless pseudo-argument.
There are two requirements for an argument- reasonable participants who operate within the conventions of reasonable behavior, and potentially sharable assumptions that can serve as a starting place or foundation for the argument. In this particular pseudo argument, her mother wasn’t a reasonable participant who operated within the conventions of reasonable behavior. Her mother went into the argument being determined not to let her mind be changed. Her mother’s overprotective mindset wouldn’t let her be reasoned with explanations as to why my friend should go. When one person goes into an argument thinking like this, it destroys the whole argument. It is no longer an argument.