MATERIAL FALLACIES

1. MATERIAL FALLACIES Michael Jhon M. Tamayao, M.Phil. College of Medical Technology

2. Introduction: What are Material Fallacies? Types of Material Fallacies: Fallacies of Language Equivocation Amphiboly Composition Division Accent Figures of Speech Fallacies not of Language Accident Irrelevant Conclusion Appeal to Authority Appeal to Fear Appeal to the Majority Appeal to the Person Appeal to Pity Affirming the Consequent Denying the Antecedent Begging the Question False Cause Complex Question Summary Exercises Topic Outline

3. OBJECTIVES • At the end of the discussion, the student must be able to: • Distinguish a good argument from a fallacious argument. • Debunk a fallacious argument. • Use a fallacy in practical situations.

4. INTRODUCTION • What is a Fallacy? • The word “fallacy” came from the Latin word fallo, which means “I deceive.” • Either formal or informal (material) • In his Organon (De Sophistici Elenchi), Aristotle studied the different informal fallacies in the rhetorical arguments of the “Sophists”

5. INTRODUCTION • Why should we study fallacies in Logic? • Good arguments are best known and appreciated by contrasting them from bad arguments. • Readiness in recognizing fallacies will put you on guard against deceptions. • Familiarity with the fallacies will give you a great advantage over an opponent in discussion and debate

6. FALLACIES OF LANGUAGE • EQUIVOCATION • AMPHIBOLY • COMPOSITION • DIVISION • ACCENT • FIGURES OF SPEECH

7. FALLACY OF EQUIVOCATION • It is the fallacy of using a word in two senses in an argument. • Aside from being an equivocal term, the ambiguous word could also be an analogous term. • It is a deceptive argument which lets the listener believe that two different terms (represented by one word or sound) are actually the same.

8. FALLACY OF EQUIVOCATION • EX. • Microscope is the official logo of CMT. I just used a microscope in the science lab awhile ago. Thus, we can also use the official logo of CMT in looking at the structure of minute objects and organisms. • God is a Perfect Being. Michelangelo is a god. Therefore, Michelangelo is a Perfect Being.

9. AMPHIBOLY • It is a deception resulting from the grammatical or syntactical ambiguity of language. • Although it uses univocal terms, an amphiboly can be interpreted in various ways. • EX. 1 The Oracle gave to King Croesus this message when he was planning a war against Persia: If Croesus wages war against the Persians, He will destroy a mighty kingdom. Whose kingdom? • EX. 2 “Go slow men at work”

10. COMPOSITION • The fallacy of composition consists in taking words or phrases as a unit when they should be taken separately. • EX. • Cajus: “I admit that thieves and murderers cannot enter the kingdom of heaven… Yes, I am a thief, but not a murderer. So I can still enter the kingdom of heaven.”

11. COMPOSITION • “From Each to All” • Arguing from some property of constituent parts, to the conclusion that the whole (composite) item has that property. • Examples: • The components parts of the car is relatively heavy. Therefore, the car is only relatively heavy. • All the members of the basketball team is highly skilled. Therefore the entire basketball team is highly skilled.

12. DIVISION • Converse of the fallacy of composition • Consists in taking separately what should be taken together as a unit. • Arguing from a property of the whole, to each constituent part. • Example Rats are all over the world. My pet, Sparky, is a rat. Therefore, Sparky is all over the world.

13. DIVISION • Examples All in this room weighs about a ton; But Zambo is in this room; Therefore Zambo weighs about a ton. Philippines (the whole) is a poor country; Gloria (part) is a Filipino. Therefore Gloria is poor.

14. ACCENT • Very similar to amphiboly only that it creates ambiguity not through its grammatical structure but through its changing emphasis. • The oral counterpart of amphiboly. • Consists of emphasizing the wrong word in a sentence. • It is an ambiguity that results from shifting emphasis from one word to another.

15. ACCENT • Examples • The Med Tech Basketball Team is not a SORE loser. • The Med Tech Basketball Team is not a sore LOSER. • The Med Tech Basketball Team is not a sore loser.

16. ACCENT • Examples • THE PHILIPPINES WON 10 GOLD MEDALS IN THE OLYMPICS…according to Madam Auring’s foresight • TWO CSUans CAUGHT SLEEPING TOGETHER AT BACK OF THE AMPHITHEATER… because their father kicked them out from their house.

17. ACCENT • Example SALE! 50% OFF on selected items

18. FALSE ANALOGY • The confusion between the metaphorical and ordinary uses of a word or phrase. • Consists in wrongly inferring similarity of meaning from similarity of word structure. • Example What is immaterial is not material And what is insoluble is not soluble Therefore what is inflammable is not flammable.

19. FALLACIES NOT OF LANGUAGE • Accident • Irrelevant Conclusion • Appeal to Authority • Appeal to Fear • Appeal to the Majority • Appeal to the Person • Affirming the Consequent • Denying the Antecedent • Begging the Question • False Cause • Complex Question Fallacy of Accident

20. ACCIDENT • The fallacy of accident consists in confusing what is essential or necessary to a thing and what is merely accidental to it. • Example • Dialogue between teacher and student: • Teacher: “Did you read your lesson?” • Student: “Of course sir.” • “Do you know how many periods are there in the article?” • “No sir” • “So you’re saying that you know at the same time you don’t know.”

21. ACCIDENT • Concentrating on one accidental aspect of a thing which may or may not actually happen. • Example • Alcoholic drinks lead to drunkenness and should therefore be forbidden. • Good food leads to overeating and should therefore be forbidden. • Illegal Drugs leads to addiction and should therefore be forbidden.

22. ACCIDENT • Being too strict about the qualities of things to the point of not considering exemptions. • Example • Cutting people is a crime. Surgeons cut people. Therefore, surgeons are criminals.

23. IRRELEVANT CONCLUSION • Ignoratio Elenchi • Consists in proving a conclusion other than the one that should be proved. • It is simply “missing the point” of the dispute • Diverts attention away from a fact in dispute rather than address it directly.

24. IRRELEVANT CONCLUSION • Examples • There have been bad popes; therefore the pope is not infallible. • He wasn’t guilty. He was nice to all the kids and very athletic. We played basketball and water-skied with him and had wonderful times. He’d do anything for anybody. • She is really a very kind lady.

25. a. Appeal to Authority • Argumentum ad Verecundiam • Associating an argument or conclusion with the fame, reputation, or prestige of some person or institution. • social status = proof • “You should believe my truth because I have more famous people supporting it than my opponents have famous people supporting their truth.” • The argument is intended to take advantage of an audience’s ignorance by exploiting its respect for authority.

26. a. Appeal to Authority • Example: • Debate over marijuana - Some authorities believe it causes permanent reduction in intelligence and general brain function while other authorities believe it is no worse than tobacco and maybe better. • Always prefer the merits (proofs) for an argument to the fame of its supporters, and always feel free to sift information for yourself.

27. a. Appeal to Authority • Examples • Ramon Revilla must be a pretty good senator. After all, he had the support of President Estrada. • Pornography must be harmless because a Federal Task Force said it is. • As a Ph.D. and president of the Philippine Literary Society, I think this is a good novel. • Vicky Bello recommends this Bello facial product.

28. a. Appeal to Authority • Examples: • This must be a good beer because Manny Pacquiao endorses it. • If you want the opinion of an expert, ask my neighbor, Dr. Phosphate. He has a Ph.D. in Chemistry. He will tell you that Leonardo Da Vinci is a better painter than Michelangelo. • These opinions about world peace must be excellent and profound because they belong to that brilliant, world-famous theoretician Albert Einstein.

29. b. Appeal to Force • Argumentum ad Baculum • This is simply the adult form of arguing the way a bully does: if you don't accept my opinion, I'll punch you in the nose. • he arguer demands acceptance of his proposition not because it is true or proved but because there are consequences for rejecting it.

30. b. Appeal to Force • Examples: • If you expect to receive allowance tomorrow, I suggest you don’t talk to your boyfriend anymore. • Vote in the morning; die in the afternoon. --El Salvador guerrilla slogan, 1982 • You’d better have an abortion, or I'll tell everybody you're a whore and then leave you for good.

31. b. Appeal to Force • Examples • You don’t like our plans for the new Model 21? Well, if you don't like the products our company is planning to bring out, maybe you should be working for someone else. If you can't overcome your negative feelings, let me know and I'll write you a letter of recommendation. • I shoot people who don't agree with me. Don't you think that's a good idea?

32. c. Appeal to Personal Ridicule • Argumentum ad Hominem • One of the most common fallacies of irrelevant evidence. • Relies upon character assassination as a substitute for refutation of an opponent’s thesis. Blah blah

33. c. Appeal to Personal Ridicule • Examples: • Jun Lozada is not credible because he looks funny when he cries. • President Gloria and her colleagues have often been attacked by former President Estrada, a hero of the masses, who was once incarcerated because of plunder. • How can Jesus be the Messiah? He is just the son of Joseph the carpenter. • Well naturally he opposes my position. What can you expect from a third-grade dropout who drinks like a fish, sells drugs to kids, and tortures animals?

34. c. Appeal to Personal Ridicule • Apophasis--pretending to deny what is really being asserted: • Although it is obvious from his response, I pass silently over the fact that my opponent has only a high school diploma--and from a rather weak school district at that. • I wish to announce that race will not be an issue in this campaign. Just because my opponent is black, I will not encourage the so-called anti-black vote by stressing what a black might do if he were elected. • Of course, I don't mean to suggest that you have a rather limited ability to grasp the worth of my project or that you do not have the vision and experience necessary to understand it; I simply would like you to reconsider your stand.

35. d. Appeal to the People/Masses • Argumentum ad Populum • Normal/common/acceptable = proof • This argument makes an appeal to a person’s sense of belonging or wanting to belong to a particular group • The point simply is ,You should • (1) be suspicious of arguments based largely upon their current popularity, • (2) keep your mind operating when you are offered traditional information, and • (3) never offer as a proof the fact that something is popular.

36. d. Appeal to the People/Masses • Examples: • You really must buy one of these shirts—it’s the latest style, and everybody’s wearing them. You don’t want to be left out, do you? • Information Technology must be the best major because twice as many people major in it as in any other field. • “85% of college students smoke pot, says psychiatrist.” --That's reason enough, Emil. Here, have a joint. • A million people have bought Magic Cream, so you know they must be good.

37. d. Appeal to the People/Masses • Examples: • Virtually the whole country now believes in Aswangs, so they must exist. • You’re behind the times. Getting drunk is now accepted as normal at every party. • Come on, Mary Jane. Everybody’s doing it. • More people use Head and Shoulders than any other brand. • All the others in the class want the party in the gym, so don't you think we should have it there, too?

38. e. Appeal to Pity • Argumentum Ad Misericordiam • Ignores the point at issue and appeals, instead, to our instinct to have compassion on the unfortunate.

39. e. Appeal to Pity • Ex. Plea for Euthanasia • I have watched three loved ones and a dear friend die slowly and horribly of cancer. I saw their flesh turn yellow and shrivel into a hanging mass of vicious sickly design. I watched the light of reason die in their eyes and haunting madness take its place. I heard their shrieks of agony and their desperate plea for death when opiates ceased to deaden their pain… The Bible says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Let the law-makers take this page and apply it in their courtrooms.

40. BEGGING THE QUESTION • Petitio Principii • Consists in assuming under some form or other the conclusion that should be proved and then using it as a premise to prove the very same conclusion.

41. BEGGING THE QUESTION • Examples • Whiskey causes drunkenness because it is intoxicating. • The soul is immortal because it cannot die. • Morphine induces sleep because it has soporific effects.

42. BEGGING THE QUESTION • Many intelligent people believe in ghosts. This is clear because several intelligent people told me so. And I know they were intelligent because they all believed in ghosts. • All of the best economists follow Keynes. Joseph Line told me, and he's clearly one of the best economists because he follows Keynes. • The fossils in this stratum are 200 million years old. How did I date them? Well they are in a stratum of that age. How do I know the stratum is that old? Because it contains these fossils, which are found in strata of that age.

43. BEGGING THE QUESTION • The premises and the conclusions state exactly the same thing and differ from one another only verbally. • Things are worse than before because they are not as good as they used to be. • I think Erap is guilty. Why? Because I think he did it. • This is also seen in “vicious circles”

44. FALSE CAUSE • Consists in assuming a cause or reason for a thesis that which in reality is not. • Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (“after this, therefore because of this”) • Night comes before day; therefore night causes day. • I got well after praying to Medicus Typoos, the god of health. Therefore I got well because of praying to this god.

45. COMPLEX QUESTION • “Have you stopped beating your wife?” • “Have you stopped smoking?” • Consists in asking either a multiple question as though it were a single question, and then demanding a simple yes or no for an answer and thus tricking someone into making admissions he did not intend.

46. COMPLEX QUESTION • Mr. Glass, did you or did you not visit the bank that morning--as our witnesses have established--and then rob it later that afternoon? Just answer yes or no. • Are you planning to quit your job and thereby doom yourself to failure and despair? • Don't you think steamed lobster, boiled ox eyes, and steak with mushrooms are delicious? • Aren't you against immoralities like lust, kissing, and adultery?

47. COMPLEX QUESTION • How often do you cheat on tests this year? • How do you account for your incompetence? • Why did you cause the Smiths' divorce? • Why do you want war? • Are you trying to impose your outdated standards on me? • Do you expect me to believe that lie? • Where did you hide the murder weapon? • Who made God? • Have you always been such a fanatic? • Why do you always commit logical fallacies when you talk? • Why won't you be convinced by obvious truth?

48. CONSEQUENT • Inferring that an antecedent is true because its consequent is true, or that a consequent is false because its antecedent is false. • Example If Popo is sick, then he will not look well. But Popo does not look well. Therefore Popo is sick. If Popo is sick, then he will not look well. But Popo is not sick. Therefore Popo looks well.

49. CONSEQUENT • Example 2 A dolphin is an intelligent being; Man is an intelligent being; Therefore man is a dolphin. A dolphin is an intelligent being; Man is not a dolphine; Therefore man is not an intelligent being.

50. NON SEQUITUR • It does not follow. • It is a series of true but unrelated propositions that simulate the structure of a syllogism. • Ex. God is good. Satan is bad. Therefore man is good.