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Logic Notes - Topic 4

Notes from Copi's Introduction to Logic

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Cornelius Jacobus CJ Corne Visser
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10 views

Logic Notes - Topic 4

Notes from Copi's Introduction to Logic

Uploaded by

Cornelius Jacobus CJ Corne Visser
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1

TOPIC 4
Fallacies

- Fallacy: a persuasive argument that is invalid


- 4 main types: relevance, defective induction, presumption, ambiguity

1. Fallacies of relevance (premise irrelevant to conclusion).


i. Appeal to the populace (Argumentum ad Populum): Argument appealing to popular belief.
ii. Appeal to emotion and appeal to pity (Ad Misericordiam): Argument based on emotions
elicited, with specific emphasis on sympathy.
iii. The red herring: Distraction.
iv. The straw man: Misrepresentation of opponent’s position.
v. Argument against the person (Ad Hominem): Argument against the person instead of the
proposition.
vi. Appeal to force (Ad Baculum): To convince through intimidation.
vii. Irrelevant conclusion (Ignoratio elenchi): The conclusion misses the point of the premises.
2. Fallacies of defective induction (ineffective premises)
i. Argument from ignorance (Ad Ignorantiam): argument for the truth of a statement based
on the lack of conflicting evidence.
ii. Appeal to inappropriate authority (Ad Verecundiam): Appeal to experts/well known
persons not relevance (note: experts are often relevant).
iii. False cause (non Causa pro Causa): Falsely asserts causality.
iv. Hasty generalization (converse accident): Overgeneralization based on one case or very
few cases.
3. Fallacies of presumption (deceives the reader through ‘smuggling in’ unjustifiable implicit
premises)
i. Accident (generalization mistakenly applied to a particular case).
ii. Complex question (Plurium Interrogationum): the implicit insertion of an unjustifiable
conclusion in a question.
iii. Begging the question (Petitio Principii): Assumes the truth of the conclusion in the
premises.
4. Fallacies of ambiguity
i. Equivocation: confusion regarding different meanings of the same word.
ii. Amphiboly: confusion as a result of grammar.
iii. Accent: confusion as a result of the change of emphasis in a proposition.
iv. Composition: confusing parts with wholes.
v. Division: confusing wholes with parts.

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