Lecture Notes by Christopher Lay

Los Angeles Pierce College

Department of History, Philosophy, and Sociology

 

 

 

 

Mathew Van Cleave's 2016 Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking

 

https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/BookDetail.aspx?bookId=457

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4 "Informal fallacies", § 3 "Fallacies of Relevance"

"[F]allacies of relevance ... make an argument or response to an argument that is [wait for it ...] irrelevant." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Psychological vs Logical Relevance

"Fallacies of relevance can be compelling psychologically, but it is important to distinguish between rhetorical techniques that are psychologically compelling, on the one hand, and rationally compelling arguments, on the other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being Compelling is not Enough

"What makes something fallacy is that it fails to be rationally compelling, once we have carefully considered it." 

 

"That said, arguments that fail to be rationally compelling may still be psychologically or emotionally compelling."