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Common Ground

Common Ground

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In these articles, it is abundantly clear that the core theme is the onslaught against

humanities and arts departments in modern universities, and in particular at SUNY Albany. In all

the texts, it is clear that SUNY Albany is currently struggling to meet its financial obligations to

every department of the university due to the reduction in the funds it is allocated from

government. Because of this, the President of SUNY Albany, George Philip, posits that the only

way to ensure the university remains financially afloat is to cut off departments and programs that

cannot source funding on their own and only maintain those that contribute financially by

attracting grants and research contracts and funding.

In the first article, the author presents the reasons for the expected budget cuts and axing

of certain programs. The author supports the credibility of his argument with a letter from the

University President. The President exemplifies the false dilemma fallacy which asserts that there

can only be two mutually exclusive outcomes. In this case, he presents a scenario wherein if the

University does not do away with the humanities program, then it cannot sustain itself. In a sense

his letter to the staff is to show that the decisions made are for the good of the whole University

and that is why one outcome is chosen as opposed to the other and yet in essence there exists a

spectrum of possibilities and stances upon which the issue can be deliberated upon. The President

however establishes common ground when he acknowledges the importance of the programs set

for axing. He also talks of how the budget cuts are spread across other universities.

In the second article, the author criticizes the President’s skills in leadership and even in

teaching. He is in fact dissatisfied with the manner in which the President handles the whole

situation which to him has very little show of leadership. In his argument, he also presents the

importance of humanities and argues for them and how they could have been saved from axing.

The author exemplifies the slothful induction fallacy which occurs when there is sufficient logical

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evidence indicating that a particular conclusion is true, but someone fails to acknowledge it. In this

case, the financial support is the reason for the axing of the humanities programs. However, the

author believes that the use of financial exigency is just a ploy by the President to make a political

statement and dismiss individual professors. This is the author’s way of reaffirming his claims to

make them more solid in his argument against the University’s President Decision. The author

established common ground when he agrees that if the criteria are productivity, efficiency, and

consumer satisfaction, then it makes sense to withdraw funds and material support from the

humanities. He says that this is because the programs have no satisfactory contribution to economic

prosperity and no taxpayer can be convinced otherwise.

The author in the third text poses an argument that the President at SUNY Albany would

have made better decisions than the ones taken. He believes that there was no reason to axe the

programs despite the low intake and lack of constant instant stream from them in form of contracts.

There is the false authority fallacy introduced when the writer says that if it were him, he would

have taken a different step. This is a statement without basis and credibility as it cannot be indeed

proven that he would have made different decisions. The author in his open letter establishes

common ground through acknowledgement. He expressly agrees that however much his university

took a different course of action to the budget cuts, the same cannot be exclusively applied to

SUNY Albany due to the difference in situation.

The establishment of common ground in the second article by Stanley Fish is an effective

rhetorical tool in his argument. When the writer gives solid reasons agreeing with the axing of the

programs, it leaves the reader in a dilemma as to whether he is arguing for or against the axing.

This invokes an element of surprise and makes his argument more compelling. The reader

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In these articles, it is abundantly clear that the core theme is the onslaught against humanities and arts departments in modern universities, and in particular at SUNY Albany. In all the texts, it is clear that SUNY Albany is currently struggling to meet its financial obligations to every department of the university due to the reduction in the funds it is allocated from government. Because of this, the President of SUNY Albany, George Philip, posits that the only way to ensure the university remains financially afloat is to cut off departments and programs that cannot source funding on their own and only maintain those that contribute financially by attracting grants and research contracts and funding. In the first article, the author presents the reasons for the expected budget cuts and axing of certain programs. The author supports the credibility of his argument with a letter from t ...
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