phl - fallacies of reasoning

8/12/2019 Phl - Fallacies of Reasoning

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FALLACIES OF REASONING

FallacyComes from the Latin word “fallere,” which meansto deceive.”

A type of argument that seems to be valid, itconceals error, and projects an apparent truth.

A. Fallacies of Language

1. Semantic Amphiboly

A statement contains an ambiguous word orphrase.

Jessica always lines up on the right side.

Joseph is cold .

I now a little Italian.

!erry disputed their claim.

Aunt Amy does not use glasses.

"edical #eport$ %he has had no rigors or shaingchills, but her husband states she was very hot inbed last night.

2. Syntactic Amphiboly

&rammatical construction of a sentence is notclear and is therefore open to differentnterpretations.

!he patient has been depressed ever since shebegan seeing me in '()*.

+atient was becoming more demented with urinaryreuency.

!he patient states there is a burning pain in hispenis which goes to his feet.

3. Fallacy of Composition

A fallacy committed when a property of the parts is

licitly taen to belong to the whole.!he present LA Laers is composed of the best

basetball players in -A. /ence, their team is thebest in -A.

%ince the cost for printing the boo is relativelycheap, the boo as a whole must also be relativelycheap.

-o member of faculty at 0%! maes a lot ofmoney1 hence, faculty salaries don2t cost 0%! a lot.

4. Fallacy of Division

A fallacy committed when a property of the whole is illicitly taen to belong to its parts.

"en are more liely than women to be involvefatal automobile accidents. %o if you2re a man, are more liely than the ne3t woman you see toinvolved in a fatal automobile accident.

A balanced diet consists of the right proportionprotein, carbohydrates, and fat. /ence, each mshould consist of the same proportion of proteincarbohydrates, and fat.

!he /ealth %ciences of 0%! has an outstandiinternational reputation. !hus, "iaela Lan4on,graduate of C#%, has an outstanding internatioreputation.

5. Fallacy of Equivocation

5hen a word carrying different meanings is uin the same conte3t in a particular argument.

A king moves one suare in any direction1ut, %olomon is a King16rgo, %olomon moves one suare in any direct

Cancer is malignant growth in the body.

!he fourth sign of the 7odiac is Cancer .Ergo, the fourth sign in the zodiac is a malignantgrowth in the body.

. !o"# Const"uction

!his fallacy infers a similarity of meaning from

the similarity of the material pattern of the two words.

!he plural of fungus is fungi.!he plural of alumnus is alumni!herefore, the plural of circus is circi.

+eople of urma are called urmese

+eople of China are called ChineseTherefore, the people of Canada must be Canadese.

B. Psychological and EmotionalFallacies

1. A"$umentum a# %aculum

8%care tactic9 A fallacy committed when oneuses physical force, fear, or moral pressure inmaing an assertion.

If you do not transfer your money to my banaccount, then I2ll have you beaten up until yourhalf dead.



:ou would not want the world to now the real you,ight; %o better sign the contract so both of us couldve peaceful lives.

“"a2am, do not hesitate to buy the shoes now for its only on special sale today and someone elsemight be able to get it instead of you.<

2. A"$ument f"om &ut"a$e

%ubstitute anger for reason and judgment throughhe use of inflammatory words and insults.

Anyone who does not agree with me must eitherbe a fool or a traitor=

:ou must step down from the presidency for youhave stolen it not once but twice=

"oney greedy foreigners in the country are acause for our people2s demise. 5e must e3pel all ofhem and eep the +hilippines only for natural born

>ilipinos=

3. A"$umentum a# 'ise"ico"#iam

8Appeal to +ity9 A fallacy committed when onepleads for mercy and trying to get someone toaccept the claim by maing him?her feel guilty fornot accepting it.

!rying to get your professor to thin you deserve abetter grade by trying to mae him?her sorry for you.

“:our honor, my client, +edro Abdan, does notdeserve imprisonment. /e has three small childrenhat needs a father, and a wife that needs a

husband.<

%he should be hired in spite of her lac of sills forshe needs to support her starving children and sheneeds wor desperately.

4. Appeal to Envy

A fallacy committed when one emphasi4es ore3aggerates someone2s bad points to downplay theperson or group.

5ell, he may have a lot of money but certainly he

has bad manners.%he maybe a summa cum laude but the way she

dresses is old school.

It is commendable that they won the awards fore3emplary public service but their communityprojects are only limited to microfinancing, unlieours which is wholistic.

5. Apple (olishin$

8Appeal to +ride9 A fallacy committed in whichflattery is disguised as a reason for accepting aclaim.

“5ell, whoever will be the highest in the e3ambe definitely me. I am the smartest person here

“I believe since all of you are !homasians, inprayerful, and obedient as you are, you will notdisagree with the proposed hie of tuition and

miscellaneous fees.<

. Appeal to (opula"ity

5e urge someone to accept a claim on thegrounds that all or most people believe orcommonly practice it.

I shouldn2t get a speeding ticet becauseeveryone drives over the limit.

!o live a life of sin is “in< nowadays so I2d bette join the bandwagon rather than be left out.

5e should not abolish ha4ing since it has beelong standing tradition.

). *"oup +hin, Fallacy

>allacy occurs when someone lets identificati with a group cloud reason and deliberation whearriving at a position on an issue.

I will protect and defend him even though he isguilty of the crime because he is a member andpart of our fraternity.

5e cannot appoint her as @ean even though sis professionally ualified because she is not onof us, a home grown !homasian.

5e only give aid to our people, if your not a>ilipino then better find food somewhere else.

-. +o !"on$s 'a,e a /i$ht

ccurs when we consider a wrong to be justification for any retaliatory action.

:ou destroyed your neighbor2s car because thmade too much noise at night.

-ot returning an e3cess change to a jeepneydriver on the grounds that, “if the situation werereversed,< the jeepney driver wouldn2t have givbac the e3cess money.

C. Ad ominem Fallacies

1. A# 0ominem Fallacy

"ost common of all mistaes in reasoning. It

Latin for “to the man,” indicating that it is not rea



8i: %o you see, there is something wrong with thegnition.

11. (e"fectionist Fallacy

Concluding that a policy or proposal is bad simplybecause it does not accomplish its goal toperfection.

“It2s a mistae to install CC! around the campusbecause no matter how many cameras you have

monitoring around, you2re still bound to misssomething. !here2s no way to see everything that2sgoing on.<

“+overty has been around the world even beforehe time of Christ, and will stay here as long as

humanind e3ists. %o what2s the use of joining acause to alleviate poverty; It2s just a waste of time.<

12. Slippe"y Slope

A form of fallacious reasoning in which it is

assumed that some event must inevitably followrom some other, but which no argument is made forhe inevitability.

“If we let E happen, the first thing you now : willhappen.<

("ofesso" > “5e should not allow students tohave their Magna Cartabecause there will come aime that they will as for something more that will

compromise our authority over them.<

“5e should not allow the use of contraceptives

because it will only lead to abortion.<

13. A"$umentum a# ?e"ecun#iam

8Appeal to misplaced authority9 A fallacycommitted when one maes an appeal using analleged e3pert advice who is not an authority in thesubject matter.

%leeping with your hair wet can mae you blind.!hat2s true= !hat2s what my Literature +rofessorsaid.

I invested my money in this scheme since mymedical doctor told me it was safe to do so.

I am taing this pill because my lawyer told me itwill help me cure my lung cancer.

14. Acci#ent

A fallacy committed when a general rule is appliedwhen circumstances suggest an e3ception to theule.

%tudents should be allowed to loo at theire3tboos during e3aminations. After all, surgeons

have EBrays to guide them during an operation,lawyers have briefs to guide them during a trialcarpenters have blueprints to guide them whenthey are building a house.

5e have to be generous to others. !herefore,during e3amination we have to share our answe

with our seatmate to show that we are generou

15. Cont"a#icto"y ("emises•5hen the premises of an argument contradicteach other, there can be no argument.

!he patient is tearful and crying constantly. %halso appears to be happy.

!he patient refused an autopsy. !hus, she wanot admitted.

/ealthy appearing decrepit F(ByearBold male,mentally alert but forgetful.

!he patient2s past medical history has beenremarably insignificant with only a GHBpound

weight gain in the past three days.

1. 0ypothesis Cont"a"y to Fact

@rawing a conclusion out of a hypothesis thatnot true.

“If "adame Curie had not happened to leave aphotographic plate in a drawer with a chun ofpitchblende, the world today would not now abradium.<

“If the %paniards and Americans did not colonthe +hilippines, then the >ilipinos today would nnow about &od and democracy respectively.<

1). A"$ument f"om the %ea"#

@rawing a conclusion that differences areunnoticeable since small differences are notalways important.

In an airport$ “+lease e3empt me from the pencharge. "y luggage is only an e3cess of ' g, none will notice.<

“@ean, grant me the %umma Cum Laude. I2m jD decimal points away from the reuired averagIt is not that significant.<

!"ill$ Identify the Fallacies in the follo%ing

&assages$

1.This piece of proposed environmental protection

legislation must not be approved because it comes from a

group of people advancing gay and lesbian rights.



.The patient left the hospital feeling much better e!cept for

her original complaints.

.#ischarge status$ %live but without permission. The patientwill need disposition, and hence we will get #r. Cruz to

dispose of him.

.'ou secretly threw away the research pro(ect of your

lassmate since she)he has been spreading bad rumors about

you.

.+nly intelligent and enlightened individuals lie you can

understand my appeal to legalize abortion in the country.

.an is a "/letter word. 0onathan is a an. ence, 0onathan

s a "/letter word.

.3ecy is honest because she is trustworthy and truthful.

.#o not listen to her criticisms about 5resident 6icy, she (ust

an7t get over the fact she lost the last two presidential

lections to her.8

.These pills must be safe and effective for reducing because

Toni :onzaga is endorsing it.

;.0ae$Can you prove that :od e!ists?

<aye$Well, the =criptures say very clearly that :od e!ists.

ae$Why should we believe the =criptures?

<aye$The =criptures are divinely inspired by :od imself, so

hey must be true.

1.>+f course, you don7t agree with death penalty because

you7re a Catholic.8

.We should not let Western thoughts creep in our traditional

ways. t has only taught our youth to @uestion the authority of

heir elders and be disrespectful. ence, we must ban Western

hiningA

".=he slipped on the ice and apparently her legs went in

eparate directions in early #ecember.

&.>Bo matter what we do, we cannot alter anymore climate

hange. Thus, there is no point anymore for me to lessen my

arbon footprints.8

*.=he maybe beautiful but she has bad body odor.

-.oger Dedererand =vetlana <uznetsovaare the two best

ennis players in the world. Thus, they7d mae the best mi!ed

double team.

2.=wallowing a tablespoonful of 6ics 6apor ub will cure

your colds.

4.a7am please pass me. have big problems in the family

and my grandma is very sic, she7ll be very depressed if

don7t mae it this year.

19.f laws to register handgun is passed, the ne!t thing w

now there will be laws to mae owning any ind of gunillegal.

;.>ost teenagers my age are already not a virgin, so w

should be different?8

1.0ess$#oes :od e!ist?0oe$'ou now what, in the name of :od, many people w

to war and illed each other.

.ow many times did you cheat your girlfriend?

".'ou are guilty because you have not proven yourself t

be innocentA

&.:ive me the (eans that want and 0enny will not now

what you did last night.

*.%my$'ou now what, believe you have a big probleTed$WaA What maes you say that?

%my$ #on7t as me, you7re the one who has the problem

you tell me.

-.t7s o to get cooies from her (ar, there are so many o

them she won7t even notice it.

2.Either you endorse prayer in public schools or you7re

atheist. =ince you do not endorse it, you must be an athei

4.+ne has to tell the truth always. Thus, if a murderer

confesses his crime to a priest, it is but proper for the prieto reveal the truth to the authority.

9.f =t. Thomas %@uinas was not born, then we would n

now how to rationally prove :od7s e!istence.

";. >ow dare you accuse me of being immoral. t is perfectly acceptable to have a mistress given that you7re

@uite happy with the other woman you have.8

"1.The Catholic Church is a holy institution. Therefore,

=heila, a Catholic, is a holy person.

".f it rained, then the ground is wet. 3ut the ground is w

Therefore, it rained.

"".f :od can do anything, then e can mae a stone so

heavy that e won7t be able to lift it.

"&.%id to aiti? :ive me a breaA Why should we care m

about the people in aiti than our own people?

"*., a womanizer? 7m (ust following Christ7s command

>love one another.8 Thus, 7m (ust sharing the love broth

There is nothing wrong about that.

phl - fallacies of reasoning

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