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Bad Arguments
100 of the Most Important Fallacies in Western Philosophy
Robert Arp (Edited by), Steven Barbone (Edited by), Michael Bruce (Edited by)
9781119167907, Wiley
Paperback / softback, published 21 September 2018
456 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm, 0.658 kg
“…In view of the contemporary controversies surrounding many of the fundamental concepts of logic discussed, this synopsis is no mean feat, given the exacting formalities of the subject. As a helping hand to students new to critical thinking, the book is immensely successful and useful…” --L. C. Archie, emeritus, Lander University CHOICE April 2019
A timely and accessible guide to 100 of the most infamous logical fallacies in Western philosophy, helping readers avoid and detect false assumptions and faulty reasoning You’ll love this book or you’ll hate it. So, you’re either with us or against us. And if you’re against us then you hate books. No true intellectual would hate this book. Ever decide to avoid a restaurant because of one bad meal? Choose a product because a celebrity endorsed it? Or ignore what a politician says because she’s not a member of your party? For as long as people have been discussing, conversing, persuading, advocating, proselytizing, pontificating, or otherwise stating their case, their arguments have been vulnerable to false assumptions and faulty reasoning. Drawing upon a long history of logical falsehoods and philosophical flubs, Bad Arguments demonstrates how misguided arguments come to be, and what we can do to detect them in the rhetoric of others and avoid using them ourselves. Fallacies—or conclusions that don’t follow from their premise—are at the root of most bad arguments, but it can be easy to stumble into a fallacy without realizing it. In this clear and concise guide to good arguments gone bad, Robert Arp, Steven Barbone, and Michael Bruce take readers through 100 of the most infamous fallacies in Western philosophy, identifying the most common missteps, pitfalls, and dead-ends of arguments gone awry. Whether an instance of sunk costs, is ought, affirming the consequent, moving the goal post, begging the question, or the ever-popular slippery slope, each fallacy engages with examples drawn from contemporary politics, economics, media, and popular culture. Further diagrams and tables supplement entries and contextualize common errors in logical reasoning. At a time in our world when it is crucial to be able to identify and challenge rhetorical half-truths, this bookhelps readers to better understand flawed argumentation and develop logical literacy. Unrivaled in its breadth of coverage and a worthy companion to its sister volume Just the Arguments (2011), Bad Arguments is an essential tool for undergraduate students and general readers looking to hone their critical thinking and rhetorical skills.
Notes on Contributors xiii Introduction 1 Part I Formal Fallacies 35 Propositional Logic 37 1 Affirming a Disjunct 39 2 Affirming the Consequent 42 3 Denying the Antecedent 46 Categorical Logic 49 4 Exclusive Premises 51 5 Four Terms 55 6 Illicit Major and Minor Terms 60 7 Undistributed Middle 63 Part II Informal Fallacies 67 Fallacies of Relevance 69 8 Ad Hominem: Bias 71 9 Ad Hominem: Circumstantial 77 10 Ad Hominem: Direct 83 11 Ad Hominem: Tu Quoque 88 12 Adverse Consequences 94 13 Appeal to Emotion: Force or Fear 98 14 Appeal to Emotion: Pity 102 15 Appeal to Ignorance 106 16 Appeal to the People 112 17 Appeal to Personal Incredulity 115 18 Appeal to Ridicule 118 19 Appeal to Tradition 121 20 Argument from Fallacy 125 21 Availability Error 128 22 Base Rate 133 23 Burden of Proof 137 24 Countless Counterfeits 140 25 Diminished Responsibility 145 26 Essentializing 149 27 Galileo Gambit 152 28 Gambler’s Fallacy 157 29 Genetic Fallacy 160 30 Historian’s Fallacy 163 31 Homunculus 165 32 Inappropriate Appeal to Authority 168 33 Irrelevant Conclusion 172 34 Kettle Logic 174 35 Line Drawing 177 36 Mistaking the Relevance of Proximate Causation 181 37 Moving the Goalposts 185 38 Mystery, Therefore Magic 189 39 Naturalistic Fallacy 193 40 Poisoning the Well 196 41 Proving Too Much 201 42 Psychologist’s Fallacy 204 43 Red Herring 208 44 Reductio ad Hitlerum 212 45 Argument by Repetition 215 46 Special Pleading 219 47 Straw Man 223 48 Sunk Cost 227 49 Two Wrongs Make a Right 230 50 Weak Analogy 234 Fallacies of Ambiguity 239 51 Accent 241 52 Amphiboly 246 53 Composition 250 54 Confusing an Explanation for an Excuse 252 55 Definist Fallacy 255 56 Division 259 57 Equivocation 261 58 Etymological Fallacy 266 59 Euphemism 270 60 Hedging 273 61 If by Whiskey 277 62 Inflation of Conflict 280 63 Legalistic Mistake 282 64 Oversimplification 286 65 Proof by Verbosity 289 66 Sorites Fallacy 293 Fallacies of Presumption 297 67 Accident 299 68 All or Nothing 301 69 Anthropomorphic Bias 305 70 Begging the Question 308 71 Chronological Snobbery 311 72 Complex Question 314 73 Confirmation Bias 317 74 Conjunction 321 75 Constructive Nature of Perception 324 76 Converse Accident 330 77 Existential Fallacy 332 78 False Cause: Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc 335 79 False Cause: Ignoring Common Cause 338 80 False Cause: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc 342 81 False Dilemma 346 82 Free Speech 348 83 Guilt by Association 351 84 Hasty Generalization 354 85 Intentional Fallacy 357 86 Is/Ought Fallacy 360 87 Masked Man 364 88 Middle Ground 367 89 Mind Projection 369 90 Moralistic Fallacy 371 91 No True Scotsman 374 92 Reification 378 93 Representative Heuristic 382 94 Slippery Slope 385 95 Stolen Concept 388 96 Subjective Validation 392 97 Subjectivist Fallacy 396 98 Suppressed Evidence 399 99 Unfalsifiability 403 100 Unwarranted Assumption 407 Index 410
Jason Iuliano
Brett Gaul
Brett Gaul
Charlene Elsby
Charlene Elsby
Charlene Elsby
Charlene Elsby
George Wrisley
George Wrisley
George Wrisley
George Wrisley
David Vander Laan
George Wrisley
George Wrisley
Benjamin W. McCraw
Benjamin W. McCraw
Tuomas W. Manninen
Gregory L. Bock
Nicolas Michaud
Christian Cotton
David Kyle Johnson
Tuomas W. Manninen
Andrew Russo
David Kyle Johnson
Tuomas W. Manninen
Jack Bowen
David Kyle Johnson
Grant Sterling
Frank Scalambrino
Heather Rivera
Kimberly Baltzer‐Jaray
Nicolas Michaud
Steven Barbone
Andy Wible
Alexander E. Hooke
David Kyle Johnson
Tuomas W. Manninen
David Kyle Johnson
Benjamin W. McCraw
Roberto Ruiz
Kimberly Baltzer‐Jaray
Frank Scalambrino
Heather Rivera
Frank Scalambrino
Leigh Kolb
Dan Yim
Scott Aikin and John Casey
Robert Arp
David LaRocca
Bertha Alvarez Manninen
Roberto Ruiz
Roberto Ruiz
Jason Waller
Kimberly Baltzer‐Jaray
Christian Cotton
Jason Waller
Bertha Alvarez Manninen
Leigh Kolb
Kimberly Baltzer‐Jaray
Christian Cotton
Christian Cotton
Andy Wible
Marco Antonio Azevedo
Dan Burkett
Phil Smolenski
Jack Bowen
Steven Barbone
David Kyle Johnson
David Kyle Johnson
Heather Rivera
A.G. Holdier
A.G. Holdier
David Kyle Johnson
Jason Iuliano
David Kyle Johnson
Steven Barbone
Frank Scalambrino
Bertha Alvarez Manninen
Bertha Alvarez Manninen
Bertha Alvarez Manninen
Jennifer Culver
Scott Aikin and John Casey
Leigh Kolb
Michael J. Muniz
Nicolas Michaud
Mark T. Nelson
Charles Taliaferro
Grant Sterling
Charles Taliaferro
Galen Foresman
Tuomas W. Manninen
Robert Sinclair
David Kyle Johnson
Michael J. Muniz
Rory E. Kraft, Jr.
David Kyle Johnson
Frank Scalambrino
David Kyle Johnson
Jack Bowen
Kimberly Baltzer‐Jaray
Subject Areas: Philosophy [HP]
