Notes on Introduction to Logic -- Phil A101

Chapter 2 Fallacies 

Looking up “fallacies” with Google I found 317,000 hits.

What is a Fallacy?

Two ways arguments can fail: false premises or invalid argument form

Arguments can still be psychologically persuasive even though they are invalid.

Jokes? Suggest that jokes are invalid arguments as an example.

Mention the book CLASS : A GUIDE THROUGH THE AMERICAN STATUS SYSTEM by Paul Fussell. This book was not a serious attempt to define social classes in the US but was taken seriously by many. (See his book Doing Battle : The Making of a Skeptic by Paul Fussell where he describes this.)

Fallacies of Relevance

R1 The Argument from Ignorance: Ad Ignorantiam Examples: Non-existence of God (Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought by Pascal Boyer, doctor that thinks a patience's illness is purely psychosomatic because nothing shows up in any of the tests, Galileo's argument

R2 Appeal to Inappropriate Authority: Argument Ad Verecundiam Movie starts advertising products as though they were specialists with product knowledge, Bare Naked Ladies selling products for men, President Nixon ("I am not a crook.") Another example: person who argues that they have been smoking marijuana for years and it has not affected them -- they would be the last person to notice if it had!

R3 Argument against the Person: Argument Ad Hominem

A Abusive Saying your opponent in a political campaign is lying. Focus in politics seems to be on the character of the candidate not the issues.

B. Circumstantial, affiliation? tu quoque (you too) argument a person might use to feel it is OK to steal from employer that they feel does not pay enough for their work. No one really pays all their taxes so why should I?

R4 Appeal to Emotion: Argument Ad Populum Emotional support instead of reasoned support, 6 out of 7 doctors recommend our ingredients This is the best movie since it has made the most money of any movie.

R5 Appeal to Pity: Argument Ad Misericordiam Student has failed the course, argues, "But I really wanted an A." (Belief that a student should get an A just because that is the grade they want.

R6 Appeal to Force: Argument Ad Baculum Force. Either we do things my way or I will beat your head in.

Taking an excursion to “The Inn.” What came first: the short version or the long? It seems most people think immediately that the long version came first and our collective memory has left us with the short version only. Why is that the case?

 

Deductive and Inductive Arguments