FALLACIES

 Fallacies
– are errors in
reasoning, often unnoticed
due to their very nature to
deceive , unless a trained
mind exposes them to the
untrained.
 Kinds:
 A. Recognizing Irrelevance
 1. Argument from ignorance-asserts that
a conclusion be accepted or rejected
based solely on the absence of proof that
can contradict it.
 Ex.: There is no proof that faith healers can perform
woundless surgery. Therefore, faith healers can not
perform woundless surgery.
 2. Argument towards Reverence-asserts
that a conclusion be accepted or rejected
because a well-liked expert says so; but it
is not clear if the said expert does or does
not speak within his expertise.
 Ex.: Scientists submitted a report on global warming in the
Congress; then it was revised by a congressperson who is
not a scientist. The Congress believed in the edited
version.
 3. Argument against the Person-when one
hits the arguer rather than the argument.
 Ex.: Nicole claims that she was raped by the US marines. A
woman from the US Embassy says: But Nicole is a
prostitute. Therefore, Nicole was not raped.
 4. Argument Resulting to Irrelevant
Conclusion – one misses the point of the
argument, which further results to an
irrelevant conclusion.
 Ex.: The terrorists attacked US on September 11, 2001.
The US cannot and will never allow anything like that to
happen again. It attacked Afghanistan on the premise that
Bin Laden is hiding there. It attacked Iraq believing that it
kept weapons of mass destruction. It did not find any
weapon of mass destruction.
 5. Argument to the people – proposes to
accept the argument on the basis that
many people accept it.
 Ex.: Because many people like to change the Constitution,
then we must change it.
 6. Argument to pity or appeal to pity –
aims to get the sympathy of others to
come to his or her side.
 Ex.: A student pleads to be given a passing grade by his
professor otherwise he will be scolded or be asked to stop
schooling by his parents.
 7. Argument to force or appeal to force –
one uses force or threat to let others
accept his argument.
 Ex.: One would give big amount of money to one and
forced him to say things he is asked to only which is
seemingly the truth.
 Falacies of Presumption:
 1. Complex Question-when one answers
the question and he admits one or both
claims, putting him into trouble.
 2. False Cause-when one concludes from
an unverified or untrue premise.

 We can find this kind of reasoning in

superstitions: The black crossing your
way, therefore you find a bad luck.
 3. Begging the question-when he offers
the proof the claim itself that needs the
proof.
 Ex.: So they are the FRW family; and they
are bad influence. Therefore, they are bad
and don’t go with them.
 4. Accident – when one incident occurs
and then one generalizes from that one;
hasty generalization.
 Ex.: One saw a student of GHY school in a
beerhouse and even wearing uniform.
Then, he concludes that all students of
GHY school are like that.
 Fallacies of ambiguity
 1. Equivocation- using the same term but
with analogous and/or different meanings.
 Ex.: The dog is good. My brother is good;
therefore my brother is a dog.
 2. Accent – the mark or stress put on the
terms used.

 Ex. You are the principal.

 You are the prince epal.

 3. Division – when one takes the features
of the whole to be equally true to its
parts.
 Ex.: All DWA students are intelligent. Pete
is a DWA student; therefore he is
intelligent.
 4. Composition – one takes the traits of
the part/s to be true to the whole. This is
like hasty generalization.
 Ex.: The house is made up of triangular
shaped prefab slabs. Therefore, the house
is triangular in shape.