of Fallacies Inconsistency (i) (ii)
Self-contradiction
p p
p and not p
Self-defeating A
Double Standard
Fallacies of Irrelevance (i)
(ii)
0
1.
2.
Argument Ad p p
/
God exists because there are so many Christians in the world.
Many people believe that X is true.
Therefore, X is true.
1. X believes or says that p.
2. There are some problems with the
Hominem
characters/ habits/ background of X.
3. Therefore, p is not acceptable.
1.
Populum
Argument Ad
Appeal to 2.
Inappropriate 3.
Authority
Monet is a great artist since many scientists love his paintings.
A B
Argument from Analogy
Strained Analogy
A B rst
A p
B p
A p
B p
Straw Man
Es argument contains X (while Es
Attacking a
argument does NOT in fact contain X).
X is objectionable.
Therefore, Es argument is objectionable.
Red-herring
Different topic
Same topic
Fallacies of Insufficiency
(a) (b)
Hasty (c)
obvious: Most students about 70% of HKCC believe in
God.
Argument Ad
Hominem
Composition
Division
Do most students of HKCC believe in God? To find out, we
asked 10 students. 7 of them believe in God. conclusion The is
Generalization
/
Sodium chloride (table salt) is edible. Therefore its constituent
elements, sodium and chloride, are also edible.
Post hoc
Fallacy
/
The rooster () crows every morning just before sunrise.
B follows A.
Therefore sunrise is the result of the roosters crowing.
---------------------------
B is the effect of A.
But B is not the effect of A.
A B
B C
C D
The Fallacy
of Slippery
A
Slope
D
Not p
[]
Not q
If p, then q.
q
[]
Denying
If p, then q.
The Fallacy of
p
Antecedent
The Fallacy of
Affirming
Consequent
Appeal to
Ignorance
1.
A.
B.
Appeal to Ignorance as a Reason to
Support/Reject a Claim:
P has not been proved false.
Therefore, p is true.
P has not been proved true.
Therefore, p is false.
Fallacies of Inappropriate Presumption
Complex
Question
/
Have you stopped stealing?
Yes You admit you did steal in the past.
No You still engage in stealing now.
Begging the
Question
False Dilemma
If we dont give those serial killers the death penalty,
they will get off with a few years in prison and kill
again. So we should not abolish the death penalty.