Eastern Cougars, Maybe :: Animals Cougars Cougar Papers

Eastern Cougars, Maybe (1) Most Field and Stream enthusiasts know that cougars are a fast and agile animal that can live for many years with no real predator other than humans. Another name for the cougar is the well used mountain lion which many Eastern states have named stores, schools, and even sports teams after. The distinction that the Mississippi river stops cougars from traveling into Eastern states can’t be proven because there are many animals in the West that are in the East. In Craig Springer’s "A Rumor of Cougar" article posted in the Field and Stream magazine depicts falsehood due to three interesting fallacies, a fallacy of distraction and two causal fallacies. [SS-1] (2) One of Professor Downes’ fallacies of distraction is linked to Craig Springer’s article in several aspects. The fallacy, argument from ignorance states that, "Arguments of this form assume that since something has not been proven true, it is therefore false." An example of this type of fallacy is seen in the first sentence of the article, "Cougars in the East are the equivalent of UFO,s,"says Mark Dowling. This statement is suggesting that there are no cougars in the East because they haven’t been identified. There may be actual cougars roaming the East even though there is no specific proof. Then again, there is no specific proof that there are not cougars in the East. Therefore, this statement is just an argument of ignorance from Mark Dowling’s point of view. (3) The article also contains two causal fallacies, a fallacy of complex cause and a fallacy of genuine but insignificant cause. According to Downes the fallacy of complex cause states that, "The effect is caused by a number of objects or events of which the cause identified is only a part." The article suggests this in the sentence, "People say they’ve seen cougars in the East, but there is no concrete evidence" - "meaning no DNA, no skeletal remains." Concrete evidence can be more than DNA or skeletal remains. For one reason, it would be hard to find any DNA or Skeletal remains because there is no real Eastern predator to kill a cougar. Plus, cougars have many animals to feed on in the Eastern states so it would take awhile for a cougar to die. Cougars live in secluded areas, if one would happen to die it would most likely be eaten by scavengers before any human could identify it and get a sample of DNA.