Bad Arguments: 100 of the Most Important Fallacies in Western Philosophy

436 Pages·2018·1.707 MB·English

by  Robert Arp, Steven Barbone, Michael Bruce

Bad Arguments
Edited by
Robert Arp, Steven Barbone, and Michael Bruce
BAD
ARGUMENTS
100
of the Most
Important
Fallacies
in Western
Philosophy
This edition first published 2019
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to
reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
The right of Robert Arp, Steven Barbone, and Michael Bruce to be identified as the authors of
the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with law.
Registered Offices
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK
Editorial Office
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK
For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about
Wiley products visit us at www.wiley.com.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print-on-demand.
Some content that appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in
other formats.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty
While the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this work, they
make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the
contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation
any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty
may be created or extended by sales representatives, written sales materials or promotional
statements for this work. The fact that an organization, website, or product is referred to in
this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the
publisher and authors endorse the information or services the organization, website, or
product may provide or recommendations it may make. This work is sold with the
understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. The advice
and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult
with a specialist where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in
this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when
it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other
commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other
damages.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data applied for
Hardback ISBN: 9781119165781
Paperback ISBN: 9781119167907
Cover image: Wiley
Cover design by Wiley
Set in 10/12pt Sabon by SPi Global, Pondicherry, India
Printed in the UK by Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Notes on Contributors xiii
Introduction 1
Part I Formal Fallacies 35
Propositional Logic 37
1 Affirming a Disjunct 39
Jason Iuliano
2 Affirming the Consequent 42
Brett Gaul
3 Denying the Antecedent 46
Brett Gaul
Categorical Logic 49
4 Exclusive Premises 51
Charlene Elsby
5 Four Terms 55
Charlene Elsby
6 Illicit Major and Minor Terms 60
Charlene Elsby
7 Undistributed Middle 63
Charlene Elsby
Part II Informal Fallacies 67
Fallacies of Relevance 69
8 Ad Hominem: Bias 71
George Wrisley
vi Contents
9 Ad Hominem: Circumstantial 77
George Wrisley
10 Ad Hominem: Direct 83
George Wrisley
11 Ad Hominem: Tu Quoque 88
George Wrisley
12 Adverse Consequences 94
David Vander Laan
13 Appeal to Emotion: Force or Fear 98
George Wrisley
14 Appeal to Emotion: Pity 102
George Wrisley
15 Appeal to Ignorance 106
Benjamin W. McCraw
16 Appeal to the People 112
Benjamin W. McCraw
17 Appeal to Personal Incredulity 115
Tuomas W. Manninen
18 Appeal to Ridicule 118
Gregory L. Bock
19 Appeal to Tradition 121
Nicolas Michaud
20 Argument from Fallacy 125
Christian Cotton
21 Availability Error 128
David Kyle Johnson
22 Base Rate 133
Tuomas W. Manninen
23 Burden of Proof 137
Andrew Russo
24 Countless Counterfeits 140
David Kyle Johnson
25 Diminished Responsibility 145
Tuomas W. Manninen
Contents vii
26 Essentializing 149
Jack Bowen
27 Galileo Gambit 152
David Kyle Johnson
28 Gambler’s Fallacy 157
Grant Sterling
29 Genetic Fallacy 160
Frank Scalambrino
30 Historian’s Fallacy 163
Heather Rivera
31 Homunculus 165
Kimberly Baltzer‐Jaray
32 Inappropriate Appeal to Authority 168
Nicolas Michaud
33 Irrelevant Conclusion 172
Steven Barbone
34 Kettle Logic 174
Andy Wible
35 Line Drawing 177
Alexander E. Hooke
36 Mistaking the Relevance of Proximate Causation 181
David Kyle Johnson
37 Moving the Goalposts 185
Tuomas W. Manninen
38 Mystery, Therefore Magic 189
David Kyle Johnson
39 Naturalistic Fallacy 193
Benjamin W. McCraw
40 Poisoning the Well 196
Roberto Ruiz
41 Proving Too Much 201
Kimberly Baltzer‐Jaray
42 Psychologist’s Fallacy 204
Frank Scalambrino
viii Contents
43 Red Herring 208
Heather Rivera
44 Reductio ad Hitlerum 212
Frank Scalambrino
45 Argument by Repetition 215
Leigh Kolb
46 Special Pleading 219
Dan Yim
47 Straw Man 223
Scott Aikin and John Casey
48 Sunk Cost 227
Robert Arp
49 Two Wrongs Make a Right 230
David LaRocca
50 Weak Analogy 234
Bertha Alvarez Manninen
Fallacies of Ambiguity 239
51 Accent 241
Roberto Ruiz
52 Amphiboly 246
Roberto Ruiz
53 Composition 250
Jason Waller
54 Confusing an Explanation for an Excuse 252
Kimberly Baltzer‐Jaray
55 Definist Fallacy 255
Christian Cotton
56 Division 259
Jason Waller
57 Equivocation 261
Bertha Alvarez Manninen
58 Etymological Fallacy 266
Leigh Kolb
59 Euphemism 270
Kimberly Baltzer‐Jaray
Contents ix
60 Hedging 273
Christian Cotton
61 If by Whiskey 277
Christian Cotton
62 Inflation of Conflict 280
Andy Wible
63 Legalistic Mistake 282
Marco Antonio Azevedo
64 Oversimplification 286
Dan Burkett
65 Proof by Verbosity 289
Phil Smolenski
66 Sorites Fallacy 293
Jack Bowen
Fallacies of Presumption 297
67 Accident 299
Steven Barbone
68 All or Nothing 301
David Kyle Johnson
69 Anthropomorphic Bias 305
David Kyle Johnson
70 Begging the Question 308
Heather Rivera
71 Chronological Snobbery 311
A.G. Holdier
72 Complex Question 314
A.G. Holdier
73 Confirmation Bias 317
David Kyle Johnson
74 Conjunction 321
Jason Iuliano
75 Constructive Nature of Perception 324
David Kyle Johnson
76 Converse Accident 330
Steven Barbone
x Contents
77 Existential Fallacy 332
Frank Scalambrino
78 False Cause: Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc 335
Bertha Alvarez Manninen
79 False Cause: Ignoring Common Cause 338
Bertha Alvarez Manninen
80 False Cause: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc 342
Bertha Alvarez Manninen
81 False Dilemma 346
Jennifer Culver
82 Free Speech 348
Scott Aikin and John Casey
83 Guilt by Association 351
Leigh Kolb
84 Hasty Generalization 354
Michael J. Muniz
85 Intentional Fallacy 357
Nicolas Michaud
86 Is/Ought Fallacy 360
Mark T. Nelson
87 Masked Man 364
Charles Taliaferro
88 Middle Ground 367
Grant Sterling
89 Mind Projection 369
Charles Taliaferro
90 Moralistic Fallacy 371
Galen Foresman
91 No True Scotsman 374
Tuomas W. Manninen
92 Reification 378
Robert Sinclair
93 Representative Heuristic 382
David Kyle Johnson
Contents xi
94 Slippery Slope 385
Michael J. Muniz
95 Stolen Concept 388
Rory E. Kraft, Jr.
96 Subjective Validation 392
David Kyle Johnson
97 Subjectivist Fallacy 396
Frank Scalambrino
98 Suppressed Evidence 399
David Kyle Johnson
99 Unfalsifiability 403
Jack Bowen
100 Unwarranted Assumption 407
Kimberly Baltzer‐Jaray
Index 410