philo

• fallacies - errors or mistakes in reasoning
• formal and informal - two kinds of fallacies
• formal fallacies - errors in reasoning due solely to an incorrect torm or structure of an argument
• informal fallacies or material fallacies - errors in reasoning due solely to an anomaly or defect in the content
• fallacies of ambiguity - error in reasoning is brought about by the occurrence of ambiguous terms whose meanings are confused in an argument
• fallacies of relevance - reasoning is brought about by the irrelevance of the premise to the conclusion of an argument
• equivocation, composition, and division - the fallacies of ambiguity
• argument from ignorance, appeal to inappropriate authority, appeal to the person, appeal to pity, appeal to popular will, and appeal to force - fallacies of relevance
• complex question, false cause, begging the question, accident, and hasty generalization - fallacies of presumption
• fallacy of equivocation - when several meanings of a word or phrase become confused in the context of one argument
• fallacy of equivocation - All laws should be respected and obeyed. The law of gravity is a law. Therefore, the law of gravity should be respected and obeyed.
• fallacy of composition - when one reasons from the qualities of the parts of a whole to the qualities of the whole itself
• fallacy of composition - Every part of this machine is light in weight. Therefore, the whole machine is light in weight.
• fallacy of division - when one reasons from the qualities of a whole to the qualities of its parts of the whole
• fallacy of division - Filipino cultural minorities are disappearing. Juan is a Filipino cultural minority. Therefore, Juan is disappearing.
• fallacy of argument from ignorance - our ignorance of how to prove or disprove a proposition does not necessarily establish either its truth or falsehood
• fallacy of argument from ignorance - Mental telepathy must be accepted as a fact; for nobody has proven that it is impossible.
• fallacy of appeal to inappropriate authority - when one appeals to an authority whose field of expertise does not include the nature of the conclusion being established
• fallacy of appeal to inappropriate authority - We should vote for this candidate for he is endorsed by our favorite basketball player.
• fallacy of appeal to the person - when one evaluates an argument by means of citing something about the person who asserts the said argument, an argument is often claimed to be wrong because of some negative qualities of the person who asserted the argument
• fallacy of appeal to the person - She cannot be a good president, for she comes from a broken family
• fallacy of appeal to pity - when one appeals to pity cause the acceptance of a conclusion
• fallacy of appeal to pity - This employee certainly deserves a promotion, for he can hardly feed his starving family
• fallacy of appeal to force - when one appeals to force, often with subtlety, to cause the acceptance of a conclusion
• fallacy of appeal to force - It is your duty to pledge allegiance to the new conclusion, for otherwise rebellion charges will be filled against you.
• fallacy of complex question - when one argues that these assumptions are true just because an answer is given to the complex question
• fallacy of complex question - A lawyer who wants to establish that person A is beating his child asks this question: Have you stopped beating your child?
• fallacy of begging the question - when reasoning is circular in that the conclusion is already assumed in the premises
• fallacy of begging the question - The soul is immortal, for it never dies.
• fallacy of false cause - when one attributes a wrong cause to something, which is due to a mere temporal succession of two events
• fallacy of false cause - Edgar Allan Poe's literary genius must have been caused by drinking liquor, for it is said that before he would write he would first drink some liquor.
• fallacy of accident - when one applies a general rule to individual cases, which, because of their special or accidental
• fallacy of accident - Running is good for the heart. Therefore, running will be good for Pedro who is suffering from a heart disease.
• fallacy of hasty generalization - when one makes generalization from a special or accidental case, or simply from insufficient number of cases
• fallacy of hasty generalization - While running, Mario had a heart attack. Therefore, running is bad for the heart.
• metaphysical and existential approach - two general kinds of approaches
• metaphysical approach - focuses on the kinds of substances or materials and capacities that uniquely make up a human person
• existential approach - which focuses on the kind of life, or mode of existence, that is unique to a human person
• soul, mind, spirit - the three nonbodily component of a human person
• soul - emphasizes its life-giving function