Note of Chapter 4: Logical fallacy from exam perspective (thorough note).
Chapter 4: Logical fallacy
Fallacy is derived from the Latin word 'fallacia' in the late 15th century.
Fallacy is an error in reasoning or an illogical step or a false assumption in the formulation of an argument.
Fallacy is a reasoning error that weakens or invalidates the argument. It technically means a flaw in an argument that makes it deceptive or misleading.
Fallacy is bad argument that follows commonly used pattern (as many people think that they have used good argument). Fallacy is based on incorrect information or reasoning.
Collins English Dictionary define it as “an idea which many people believe to be true, but which is, in fact, false because it is based on incorrect information or reasoning.
Some researchers have defined a fallacy ‘as an argument that is deductively invalid or that has very little inductive strength.’
The term non sequitur (it does not follow) is another name of fallacy. Each fallacy is a type of incorrect argument. It can be defined as the type of argument that seems to be correct but contains a mistake in reasoning.
The first systematic study of logic was done by Aristotle in his book De Sophistics Elenchis.
Many logicians argue that study of fallacy began in later twentieth century. Prof. Yubaraj Sangroula argues that notion of fallacy was flourished after the Dark Ages mainly in the Europe, due to which maximum fallacies have Latin names.
Reasons
- People intentionally use fallacy because to persuade other people, to win the argument, to win the debate, to win the mock, to win the discussion etc. rather than to find the truth.
- People without intention use fallacy because they are not aware of the fallacy, or they just don't have the knowledge of fallacy even they might have false knowledge or pretending something as knowledge.
Types of fallacies
1. Formal Fallacies
It is committed when the argument has faulty structure or form. There is a notion that if a standard valid form categorical syllogism violates any one of rules of syllogism, then, a specific formal fallacy is committed, and the argument is fallacious. (Discussed in Syllogism)
2. Informal Fallacies
They are committed by common man in his/her daily life. They can be detected only by examining the content of the argument. Informal fallacies are numerous in number and can therefore be best understood if they are grouped into categories, each with clearly identifiable features.
Basically, there are two types of Fallacies:
- The fallacy of Relevance.
- The fallacy of Ambiguity.
1. The fallacy of Relevance:
Fallacies of Relevance are that types fallacious statements in which the conclusion is drawn because of the wrong premises.
- False Dilemma
Definition: A limited number of options (usually two) is given, while in reality there are more options. A false dilemma is an illegitimate use of the "or" operator.
Examples:
- Either you're for me or against me.
- America: love it or leave it.
- You either support Bidhya Devi Bhandari for president or you don’t believe in women’s rights.
The debate about the lockdown in the world has been absurdly over-simplified to the following false dilemma; “Open the economy now” v.” Stay on lockdown until a vaccine comes out.”
- Complex Question
Definition: Two otherwise unrelated points are conjoined and treated as a single proposition. A complex question is an illegitimate use of the "and" operator.
Examples:
- Do you support freedom and the right to bear arms?
- Have you stopped using illegal sales practices? (This asks two questions: did you use illegal practices, and did you stop?)
Have you stopped cheating on tests?
- Appeal to Pity
Definition: The reader is told to agree to the proposition because of the pitiful state of the author.
Examples
- I have hurt my leg. Can you drive, please?”
- “Just look at these pictures of the children. Can you donate something to help them?”
- “I haven't completed my work as my uncle just died.”
In court, the strong example of appeal to pity is; “Your Honor, look at this miserable man, in a wheelchair, unable to use his legs could such man really be guilty of embezzlement?”
- Appeal to Popularity
Definition: A proposition is held to be true because it is widely held to be true or is held to be true by some (usually upper crust) sector of the population. This fallacy is sometimes also called the "Appeal to Emotion" because emotional appeals often sway the population as a whole.
Examples: Polls suggest that the Communists will form a majority government, so you may as well vote for them.
- Hasty Generalization Fallacy
Definition: The size of the sample is too small to support the conclusion.
Examples
- Fred, the Australian, stole my wallet. Thus, all Australians are thieves. (Of course, we shouldn't judge all Australians on the basis of one example.)
- Some Islamic are considered as the institution of the terrorist. All the Muslims of the world are terrorist.
- Unrepresentative Sample
Definition: The sample used in an inductive inference is relevantly different from the population as a whole.
Examples
The apples on the top of the box look good. The entire box of apples must be good. (Of course, the rotten apples are hidden beneath the surface.)
Recently, Srilanka was attacked by the terrorists who were Muslims. So, all Muslims are terrorists.
- Ad Hominem Fallacy
Definition: Ad hominem fallacy is also known as “Fallacy against the person”. This fallacy is committed when argument is examined not on the basis of relevance of premises to the conclusion, but on the basis of who is saying it or in what circumstances one is making an argument.
Example:
- US President Donald Trump used to attack on China holding it responsible for COVID-19 deaths in the United States. He often tweeted Corona virus as a ‘Chinese Virus ‘.
The argument of Mr. President sounds fallacious because his personal attack on China and its people doesn’t have any nexus with the correctness. Chinese have nothing to do with corona virus.
- Fallacy of Accident
Definition: The fallacy of accident is committed when a general rule is applied to a specific case which was not intended to cover. An accident fallacy is an error in reasoning caused by wide generalizations. This fallacy can also be known as “fallacy of sweeping generalization.”
Examples
- As per law, it is illegal to cut people with knives, however, surgeons use scalpels to cut people open every day. That’s both legal and moral. (It would be fallacious to argue that the surgery done by cutting people form knives is wrong or should be illegal based on the statement that it’s wrong to cut people with knives. Surgery is an obvious exception.
Another example can be an ambulance. We should always drive in our lane, which is the left side of the road. But an ambulance is an exception, they are allowed to use any lane in the time of need. Therefore, we cannot argue with the statement ‘every vehicle should be driven on the left side of the road’ with an ambulance because it’s an exception.
- Appeal to Ignorance
Definition: This logical fallacy occurs when someone claims that a conclusion must be true if it hasn’t been proven false, or false if it hasn’t been proven true.
Example
You can’t prove that you are innocent, therefore you are guilty to me.
Conformation Bias
Confirmation bias is the tendency of people to favor information that confirms their beliefs or hypotheses.
2) Fallacies of Ambiguity
The fallacies in this section are all cases where a word or phrase is used unclearly.
Equivocation
Definition: The same word is used with two different meanings.
Examples:
- Criminal actions are illegal, and all murder trials are criminal actions, thus all murder trials are illegal. (Here the term "criminal actions" is used with two different meanings.)
The sign said, "fine for parking here", and since it was fine, I parked there.
- Amphiboly
Definition: Amphiboly is a fallacy of relevance that relies on an ambiguous word or grammatical structure to confuse or mislead an audience.
Examples: Good boys and girls.
Are the girls good? It’s not clear whether the adjective ‘good’ applies to the second noun ‘girls’ or not.
- Accent
Definition: Emphasis is used to suggest a meaning different from the actual content of the proposition.
Examples:
I didn't take the test yesterday. (I took it some other day.)
i) Appeal to Inappropriate authority
Definition: In particular, an appeal to inappropriate authority is the fallacy if the person not qualified to have an expert opinion on the subject insist on giving unsound opinions.
Example
- During a video conference with chief ministers of seven provinces, PM KP Sharma Oli advised misleading ‘preventive measures’ against the coronavirus. His claims were: -
The suggestions of PM are fallacious because he is not an appropriate authority to give heath suggestions. If these suggestions were provided by physicians or public health specialist, then it didn’t become fallacious.
Difference between False dilemma and Complex question: visit premium version.
How to avoid fallacies in reasoning? visit premium version.
