CHAPTER FIVE  Direct approach - occurs when an arguer, addressing a large group of

people, excites the emotions and enthusiasm of the crowd to win

INFORMAL FALLACIES
acceptance for his or her conclusion. The objective is to arouse a kind of
Fallacies in General mass mentality.
Fallacy is logical error/defect in an argument.  Indirect approach - the arguer aims his or her appeal not at the crowd
as a whole but at one or more individuals separately, focusing on some
Fallacies divided into two groups
aspect of their relationship to the crowd.
o Formal: is the fallacy which through inspecting of the form or structure 4. Argument against the person: One of them advances certain
of an argument. argument, and the other then responds by directing his or her attention
o Informal: can be detected only through analysis of the content the not to the first person’s argument but to the first person himself.
argument.  Ad hominem abusive  Ad hominem circumstantial  tu quoque //you too//
For example: 5. Accident: is committed when a general rule is applied to a specific
All factories are plants. form: All A are B. case it was not intended to cover.
All plants are things that contain chlorophyll. All B are C. Example: Freedom of speech is a constitutionally guaranteed right.
Therefore, all factories are things that contain chlorophyll. So, all A are C. Therefore, Alemu should not be arrested for his speech that incited the
uprising last week.
The presentation that follows divides twenty-two informal fallacies into 5
6. Straw man: It`s committed when an arguer distorts an opponent’s
groups:
argument for the purpose of more easily attacking it, demolishes the
Fallacies of relevance, fallacies of weak induction, fallacies of presumption, distorted argument, and then concludes that the opponent’s real
fallacies of ambiguity, and fallacies of grammatical analogy argument has been destroyed. //Church//
7. Missing the point: occurs when the premises of an argument support
1. Fallacies of Relevance: occurs when premises that are logically one particular conclusion, but then a different conclusion, often
irrelevant to conclusion. vaguely related to the correct conclusion, is drawn.
Appeal to force Appeal to pity Appeal to people Example: Crimes of theft and robbery have been increasing at an
Argument against the person Accident Straw man alarming rate lately. The solution is obvious; we must restore the death
Missing the point Red herring penalty immediately.
8. Red herring: is committed when the arguer diverts the attention of
1. Appeal to force: the reader or listener by changing the subject to a different but
Example Child to playmate: ‘‘Arsenal’’ is the best football club; and sometimes subtly related one. He or she then finishes by either
if you don’t believe it, I’m going to call my big brother over here and he drawing a conclusion about this different issue or by merely
is going to beat you up. presuming that some conclusion has been established.
2. Appeal to pity: occurs when an arguer attempts to support a Example: There is a good deal of talk these days about the need to
conclusion by merely evoking pity from the reader or listener. eliminate pesticides from our fruits and vegetables. But many of these
3. Appeal to the people: occurs when one wants to be loved, esteemed, foods are essential to our health. Carrots are an excellent source of
admired, valued, recognized, and accepted by others.
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 vitamin A, broccoli is rich in iron, and oranges and grapefruits have lots 3. Fallacies of Presumption: occurs because the premises believe/assume
of vitamin C. what they purport/relevance to prove.
[Link] the question: is committed whenever the arguer creates the
2. Fallacies of weak induction: occurs the connection between premises deception that inadequate premises provide adequate support for the
and conclusion is not strong enough to support the conclusion. conclusion by leaving out a key premise, by restating the conclusion
9. Appeal to unqualified authority: This fallacy is a variety of the as a premise, or by reasoning in a circle.
argument from authority and occurs when the cited authority or Example: Example 2: Of course humans and apes evolved from
witness is not trustworthy. common ancestors. Just look how similar they are.
Example: Dr. James, our family doctor, has stated that the creation of [Link] question: is committed when a single question that is really
robotic army hold the key to creating a sustained war gun two or more questions is asked and a single answer is then applied to
manufacturing at Canada. In view of Dr. James’s expertise as a both questions.
physician, we must conclude that this is indeed true. Examples:
[Link] to ignorance: The issue usually involves something that is Have you stopped cheating on exams?
incapable of being proved or something that has not yet been proved. Where did you hide the cookies you stole?
Example: People have been trying for centuries to provide conclusive [Link] dichotomy: ‘‘false bifurcation’’ and the ‘‘either- or fallacy’’
evidence for the claims of astrology/prophecy, and no one has ever Example: Either you let me attend the Yismak Brooks concert or
succeeded. Therefore, we must conclude that astrology is a lot of I’ll be miserable for the rest of my life. I know you don’t want me
nonsense. to be miserable for the rest of my life, so it follows that you’ll let
[Link] Generalization: is a fallacy that affects inductive me attend the concert.
generalizations. [Link] evidence:
Example: Six Arab fundamentalists were convicted of bombing the Example: Most dogs are friendly and pose no threat to people who
World Trade Center in New York City. The message is clear: Arabs care/kept them. Therefore, it would be safe to care the sick dog
are nothing but a pack of religious fanatics prone to violence. that is approaching us now.
[Link] clause: occurs whenever the link between premises and
conclusion depends on some imagined causal connection that 4. Fallacies of ambiguity: arise from the occurrence of some form of
probably does not exist. ambiguity in either the premises or the conclusion (or both).
Example: The quality of education in our schools has been declining [Link]: occurs when the conclusion of an argument depends
for years. Clearly, our teachers just are not doing their job these days. on the fact that a word or phrase is used in two different senses in the
[Link] slope: occurs when the conclusion of an argument rests upon argument.
an unproven chain reaction and there is not sufficient reason to think Ex: Any law can be canceled by the legislative authority. But the
that the chain reaction will actually take place. law of gravity is a law. Therefore, the law of gravity can be
[Link] analogy: The fallacy of weak analogy is committed when the cancelled by the legislative authority.
analogy is not strong enough to support the conclusion that is drawn. [Link]: occurs when the arguer misinterprets a statement that is
syntactically ambiguous and proceeds to draw a conclusion based on
this faulty interpretation. Ex: John told Henry that he had made a
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 mistake. It follows that John has at least the courage to admit his own All S are P.
mistakes. No S are P.
Some S are P.
Some S are not P
5. Fallacies of Grammatical Analogy: include composition/arrangement o No & some are quantifier, some means at least one, S-subject & P-
and division/ separation. predicate, are & are not couple, because they link the subject term
[Link]: with predicate term.
Example: Maria likes honey. She also likes difo–broad. Therefore, Example: All mammals are animals.
it is certain Quantifier: all
that she would like a difo–broad mixed with honey. Subject term: mammals
[Link]: is the exact reverse of composition. As composition goes Copula: are
from parts to whole, division goes from whole to parts. Predicate term: animal
Example: Salt is a nonpoisonous compound. Therefore, its 2. Venn Diagrams and the Modern Square of Opposition
component elements; sodium and chlorine, are nonpoisonous.

Shaded area-empty, X in area – at least something exist and if No marks in

area- nothing is known about that area. Shaded content represented by A&E,
X in area represented by I&O.
3. Conversion, Obversion, and Contraposition
CHAPTER SIX
 Conversion- all A are B  All B are A
CATEGORICAL PROPOSITIONS
 Obversion – all A are B  No A are non B
1. The Components of Categorical propositions  Contraposition – all A are B  All non B are non A
A proposition that relates two classes, or categories, is called a categorical
proposition. The classes in question are denoted respectively by the subject term
and the predicate term. There are exactly four types of categorical
propositions:
(1) Those that assert that the whole subject class is included in the predicate class,
(2) Those that assert that part of the subject class is included in the predicate class,
(3) Those that assert that the whole subject class is excluded from the predicate
class,
(4) Those that assert that part of the subject class is excluded from the predicate
class.

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