Free Republic

Amphiboly The fallacy of amphiboly occurs when one is arguing from premisses whose formulations are ambiguous because of their grammatical construction. The word "amphiboly" is derived from the Greek, its meaning in essence being "two in a lump," or the "doubleness" of a lump. A statement is amphibolous when its meaning, is indeterminate because of the loose or awkward way in which its words are combined. An amphibolous statement may be true in one interpretation and false in another. When it is stated as premiss with the interpretation that makes it true, and a conclusion is drawn from it on...

FALLACIES OF AMBIGUITY The meaning of words or phrases may shift as a result of inattention, or may be deliberately manipulated within the course of an argument. A term may have one sense in a premiss, quite a different sense in the conclusion. When the inference drawn depends upon such changes it is, of course, fallacious. Mistakes of this kind are called "fallacies of ambiguity" or sometimes "sophisms." The deliberate use of such devices is usually crude and readily detected — but at times the ambiguity may be obscure, the error accidental, the fallacy subtle. Five varieties are distinguished in...

Accident and Converse Accident The fallacies of accident and converse accident arise as a result of the careless, or deliberately deceptive, use of generalizations. In most important affairs, and especially inpolitical or moral argument, we rely on statements of how things generally are, how people generally behave, and the like. But even where general claims are entirely plausible, we must be careful not to apply them to particular cases mechanically or rigidly. Circumstances alter cases; a generalization that is true by and large may not apply in a given case, for good reasons having to do with the special (or...

False Cause It is obvious that any reasoning that relies on treating as the cause of some thing or event what is not really its cause must be seriously mistaken. But often we are tempted to suppose, or led to suppose, that we understand some specific cause-and-effect relation when in fact we do not. The nature of the connection between cause and effect, and how we determine whether such a connection is present or absent, are central problems of inductive logic and scientific method. These problems are discussed in detail in Part Four of this book. Presuming the reality of...

FALLACIES OF PRESUMPTION Some mistakes in everyday reasoning are the consequence of an unjustified assumption, often suggested by the formulation of the argument. The reader, or listener, or even the author of the passage may be caused — through oversight or by deliberate design — to assume the truth of some unproved and unwarranted proposition. When such dubious assumptions buried in the argument are crucial for the support of the conclusion, the argument is bad and can be very misleading. Unwarranted leaps of this kind are called fallacies of presumption. In fallacious arguments of this kind the premisses are, again,...

Irrelevant Conclusion: Ignoratio Elenchi The fallacy of ignoratio elenchi (literally, false refutation) is committed when an argument purporting to establish a particular conclusion is instead directed to proving a different conclusion. The premisses "miss the point"; the reasoning may seem plausible in itself, and yet the argument misfires as a defense of the conclusion in dispute. Arguments in the sphere of social legislation frequently commit this fallacy; a program of a particular kind, designed to achieve some larger objective that is widely shared, is supported by premisses that do provide reasons to share the larger end, but that tell us...

The Appeal to Emotion: Argument Ad Populum This common fallacy and the two that follow it are so evidently fallacious that they require little explanation. In each case, the premisses plainly are not relevant to the conclusion and are deliberately chosen as instruments with which to manipulate the beliefs of the listener or reader. The argument ad populum, the appeal to emotion (literally "to the people," and by implication to the mob's easily aroused emotions) is the device of every propagandist and demagogue. It is fallacious because it replaces the laborious task of presenting evidence and rational argument with expressive...

Argument Ad Hominem The phrase ad hominem translates into "against the person." It names a fallacious attack in which the thrust is directed, not at a conclusion, but at the person who asserts or defends it. This fallacy has two major forms, because there are two major ways in which the attack can be personalized. Argument Ad Hominem, Abusive Participants in strenuous argument sometimes disparage the character of their opponents, deny their intelligence or reasonableness, question their integrity, and so on. But the character of an individual is logically irrelevant to the truth or falsehood of what that person says,...

The Appeal to Inappropriate Authority: Argument Ad Verecundiam In attempting to make up one's mind about some difficult or complicated question, it is entirely reasonable to be guided by the judgment of an acknowledged expert who has studied the matter thoroughly. When we argue that a given conclusion is correct on the ground that an expert authority has come to that judgment, we commit no fallacy. Indeed, such recourse to authority is necessary for most of us on very many matters. Of course, an expert's judgment constitutes no conclusive proof; experts disagree, and even in agreement they may err; but...

FALLACIES . . . arguments, like men, are often pretenders. — Plato It would, be a very good thing if every trick could receive some short and obviously appropriate name, so that when anyone used this or that particular trick, he could at once be reproved for it. — Arthur Schopenhauer WHAT IS A FALLACY? An argument, whatever its subject or sphere, is generally constructed in such a way as to prove that its conclusion is true. But any argument can fail to fulfill this purpose in either of two ways. One way it can fail is by assuming a...

Falsifiability fallacy fallacy Lately we have seen the notion of falsifiability represented as a fallacy. This is itself, a fallacy. The concept of falsifiability is a greatly misunderstood but legitimate part of the scientific method (a rigorous application of reason to evidence). Consider this statement made as an objection to falsifiability, "Falsifiability can be a valuable intellectual tool: it can help you to disprove ideas which are incorrect. But it does not enable you to prove ideas which are correct." In fact, that is exactly what "falsifiability" does do, and without it, no scientific hypothesis can be proven. In...

Vol. 18, No. 11 June 3, 2002 Ten Anti-Death Penalty Fallacies by Thomas R. Eddlem The case against capital punishment relies on myth, misinformation, and misplaced emotionalism. Renewed attacks on the death penalty are likely as the trial of accused Twin Tower bombing accomplice Zacharias Moussaoui proceeds. Federal officials have charged Moussaoui with six crimes, four of which carry a potential death sentence. Amnesty International has already issued an "urgent action alert" to call on the world to condemn this "outdated punishment" in the United States. Therefore, there is no time like the present to review some of the misinformation...