Philosophy 6: Logic in Practice

Los Angeles Pierce College

Department of History, Philosophy, & Sociology

 

 

 

 

 

Lecture Notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lecture Notes for "Chapter Five" of Porter's The Voice of Reason

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

Argument to the Person    

 

"In this fallacy an attack is made on the person presenting the argument rather than on the argument itself." 

 

So as to overcome an opposing argument, attack the opponent instead of the opponent's argument. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

Argument to the Person / Personal   

 

"In the personal form ... the character or behavior of the person is discredited." 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Argument to the Person / Personal E.G.s   

 

"Freud was probably addicted to cocaine, but to use this as a way of disproving the worth of psychoanalysis is as irrelevant as discounting the formula e = mc2 because Einstein was an atheist." 

 

We shouldn't dismiss Heidegger's notion of being-in-the-world because he was a card carrying Nazi. 

 

We shouldn't abandon Frege's Begriffsschrift because he endorsed national socialism before his death, or because he was one of Hitler's fanboys.   

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Argument to the Person / Circumstantial  

 

"In the circumstantial form of ad hominem, the person's position is cited as the reason to disregard what he or she claims." 

 

So as to overcome an opposing argument, attack the opponent's position instead of the opponent's argument. 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Argument to the Person / Circumstantial E.G.    

 

"Never ask a barber whether you need a haircut." 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Argument to the Person / Circumstantial / You Yourself    

 

"Here an argument is discredited because the person does not practice what he preaches." 

 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Argument to the Person / Circumstantial / Smear Tactics  

 

Irrelevant facts about a person are used to attack a person's qualifications. 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Argument to the Person / Circumstantial / Relevance        

 

"This does not mean, of course, that questions about a person's behavior or position are always beside the point." 

 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Argument to the Person / Biographical Fallacy  

 

"judging the worth of literary work in terms of the life or character of the author." 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Argument to the Person / Genetic Fallacy

 

"the genetic fallacy ... refers to the attempt to explain away a chain of claims by referring to the source." 

 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Argument from Authority  

 

"the argument from authority (ipse dixit argument) ... [is a fallacy that is] committed whenever we argue for some point, not because it is well grounded in fact or logic but because of the authority of the person who presented it."

 

Instead of supporting an argument with evidence, authority is cited as evidence

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Responsibly Appealing to Authority    

 

"When we cite an authority in an argument we must always show why the person's opinion should be accepted, what definitive proof he or she has to offer."

        

Authority at What?      

 

Authority in war ­ authority in politics

 

Authority in acting ­ authority in animal rights

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Argument from Force        

 

"In many ways the argument from force is not an argument at all but the absence of an argument, for the opponent is frightened into agreeing with some position."

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Appeal to Pity   

 

"Here we play on the sympathy of others in order to get them to agree with us." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

        

Appeal to Pity / Courts E.G.        

 

In courts

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Appeal to Pity / Grading E.G.     

 

"As a student you may have used the argument from pity at one time or another.  You may have asked for a higher grade on an exam, arguing that you had studied hard but were emotionally upset or swamped with work.  You might have said that you have a twenty hour a week job, your car broke down, you were sick with the flue, or that you are having trouble with your parents." 

 

"Under such circumstances a sympathetic professor might allow you additional time to do the work or even let you retake the exam, but if the professor were to raise your grade on those grounds he or she would not be acting in a professional way.  A higher grade would indicate that you had mastered the material to a greater degree than you actually did, thereby giving a false impression to anyone reading your transcript.  Your grade should reflect your actual level of achievement, not how much sympathy the professor felt for you." 

        

Relevant    

 

"sometimes sympathy can be a relevant consideration." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

        

Trying it Out     

 

II. 2

 

II. 4

 

II. 7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

        

Straw Person Fallacy         

 

"straw person, the mistake of attributing to your opponents a ridiculous position they do not hold and that is easily knocked down like a person made of straw." 

 

Notice the steps involved. 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Straw Person Welfare E.G.         

 

"An opponent of welfare might argue, 'I am as generous and sympathetic as the next person, but if you want to give handouts to lazy teenage mothers with four kids who are getting rich on welfare payments contributed by decent, hard-working taxpayers, then I'm afraid I cannot go along with it." 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Handling Straw Person Fallacy 

 

"Whenever an opponent's position is described in a way that makes it ludicrous and indefensible, we know that the fallacy has been committed." 

 

[Really?]

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Poisoning the Well    

 

"Here one side in an argument is placed in a position where it cannot refute the other without discrediting itself." 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Poisoning the Well / Against Pro-Choice E.G.     

 

"'Women who support abortion on demand are selfish and godless people.  They put their own needs above everything and everyone else, and reject the divine gift of a child's life.'" 

 

Poisoning the Well / Against Pro-Life E.G.

 

"'The right of a woman to have an abortion, to do with her body as she pleases, is opposed only by reactionary men who want to keep in women in their traditional roles.  Every right-thinking person knows this to be true.'" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

        

Poisoning the Well / Divorce E.G.      

 

"If a couple is quarreling the husband might say, 'I find you so defensive, and your constant denials that you are defensive only prove my point.'" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

        

Poisoning the Well / Commercial E.G.        

 

"'When you care enough to send the very best.'"

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Handling Poisoning the Well      

 

"To combat it we must reject the very form in which the issue is presented because it invalidates all opposing views." 

 

"We have to point out how the system is rigged because the opposing view has been unfairly discredited." 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

Slippery Slope  

 

"thinking that if we take one step along a certain path then nothing can stop us from sliding inevitably to our ruin."

        

 

Slippery Slope qua Domino Effect    

        

Slippery Slope qua Edge 'o the Wedge      

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

        

Gambler's Fallacy     

 

"Each time a person enters a new lottery he or she has the same chance, not an increased chance, and to think otherwise is the gambler's fallacy." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

        

Gambler's Fallacy / "Maturity 'o Chances"

 

"A person playing roulette, for example, will wait to see which number has not come up in one hundred or two hundred spins of the wheel.  Then he or she will bet on that number on the assumption that, according to statistical probability, the roulette ball is due to falling that numbered compartment."

        

"at each turn of the wheel, each number has an equal chance of being chosen."