Page 51 - Žagar, Igor Ž. 2021. Four Critical Essays on Argumentation. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
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fallacies: do we ‘use’ them or ‘commit’ them? ...
(4) Fallacies are defects [what kind of defects?] that weaken [does
‘weaken’ mean that these arguments are still arguments, but with
less argumentative force?] arguments. [...] It is important to re-
alise two things about fallacies: First, fallacious arguments are
very, very common and can be quite persuasive, at least to the
casual reader or listener ... Second, it is sometimes hard to evalu-
ate whether an argument is fallacious [is it, therefore, at all possi-
ble to detect such ‘defects’? what purposes can such a ‘definition’
serve at all?]. (Handout and links (http://www.unc.edu/depts/
wcweb/handouts/fallacies.html))
(5) A ‘fallacy’ is a mistake [any kind of mistake?], and a ‘logical’ falla-
cy is a mistake in reasoning [is every mistake in reasoning—inci-
dentally, what does count as a mistake in reasoning?—a ‘logical’
fallacy? there are many ‘fallacies’ that seem to be contextual or
circumstantial]. There are, of course, other types of mistake than
mistakes in reasoning. For instance, factual mistakes are some-
times referred to as ‘ fallacies’ [repetitive, even circular, but not ex-
plicative enough]. (Fallacy files, http://www.fallacyfiles.org/intro-
tof.html)
Inventing the fallacies
Obviously, there is quite a confusion about what fallacies are nowadays.
And this confusion, this inability (impossibility?) to propose clear-cut cri-
teria, boundaries and definitions, generates new fallacies. Actually, there is
quite an inflation of (new) fallacies nowadays as well avalanche. Here are a
few of my favourite ones:
(a) Poisoning the Well Fallacy
(Nizkor project: http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/poisoning-the-
well.html) This sort of ‘reasoning’ involves trying to discredit what a per-
son might later claim by presenting unfavorable information (be it true or
false) about the person. This ‘argument’ has the following form:
(1) Unfavorable information (be it true or false) about person A is
presented.
(2) Therefore any claims person A makes will be false.
51
(4) Fallacies are defects [what kind of defects?] that weaken [does
‘weaken’ mean that these arguments are still arguments, but with
less argumentative force?] arguments. [...] It is important to re-
alise two things about fallacies: First, fallacious arguments are
very, very common and can be quite persuasive, at least to the
casual reader or listener ... Second, it is sometimes hard to evalu-
ate whether an argument is fallacious [is it, therefore, at all possi-
ble to detect such ‘defects’? what purposes can such a ‘definition’
serve at all?]. (Handout and links (http://www.unc.edu/depts/
wcweb/handouts/fallacies.html))
(5) A ‘fallacy’ is a mistake [any kind of mistake?], and a ‘logical’ falla-
cy is a mistake in reasoning [is every mistake in reasoning—inci-
dentally, what does count as a mistake in reasoning?—a ‘logical’
fallacy? there are many ‘fallacies’ that seem to be contextual or
circumstantial]. There are, of course, other types of mistake than
mistakes in reasoning. For instance, factual mistakes are some-
times referred to as ‘ fallacies’ [repetitive, even circular, but not ex-
plicative enough]. (Fallacy files, http://www.fallacyfiles.org/intro-
tof.html)
Inventing the fallacies
Obviously, there is quite a confusion about what fallacies are nowadays.
And this confusion, this inability (impossibility?) to propose clear-cut cri-
teria, boundaries and definitions, generates new fallacies. Actually, there is
quite an inflation of (new) fallacies nowadays as well avalanche. Here are a
few of my favourite ones:
(a) Poisoning the Well Fallacy
(Nizkor project: http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/poisoning-the-
well.html) This sort of ‘reasoning’ involves trying to discredit what a per-
son might later claim by presenting unfavorable information (be it true or
false) about the person. This ‘argument’ has the following form:
(1) Unfavorable information (be it true or false) about person A is
presented.
(2) Therefore any claims person A makes will be false.
51
