MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

logical fallacies

-Antonio V. Ferrer
   
    
Quantification Fallacies
Bad Reason Fallacy
Error in logic where the quantifiers of the premises are in
The bad reasons fallacy stems from the claim that
contradiction to the conclusions quantifiers. An example of
because the reason(s) given for a certain
such a fallacy is when the argument has a universal
conclusion are bad therefore the conclusion must
premise and a particular conclusion. That is, the premise(s)
also be incorrect. This fallacy supposes that it is
do not justify the conclusion(s).
not possible to give a bad reason for a correct
The most important quantifiers are:
conclusion. In fact, it is possible to give bad •Universal Quantifier: All x
reasoning for a valid conclusion.
•Existential Quantifier: Some x
Fallacy formula:
•The reason A given for argument B is bad,
Example of Quantification Fallacies
therefore conclusion B is not valid
• All dogs hate some cats. This is an impossible claim to
validate. It may be the case that some some dogs hate
Example of Bad Reason Fallacy
• Dogs are afraid of heights, therefore dogs don't some cats, but it would be impossible to determine whether
or not all dogs hate only some cats.
fly.Though it may be true that dogs are afraid of • Financial experts agree that everyone should invest in
heights, that is not the reason why they do not fly.
• Ostrich cannot fly, therefore they are not birds.It is technology stocks.This statement implies thatallfinancial
experts agree, which may not be the case.
true that ostrich cannot fly, but they are in fact
birds.
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      Syllogistic Fallacies
Propositional Fallacies When logical fallacies occur in the syllogisms of
A propositional fallacy is one where an error in logic takes deductive reasoning. This occurs with a reference to
place due to compound propositions--a proposition is a something general, and then makes a conclusion about
'statement'. In order for a compound proposition to have a something more specific.
true value, each component proposition must also be true. Definition of a categorical syllogism is an argument with
Logic formulas: two premises: one syllogism and one conclusion.
• Affirming a disjunct: A or B; A; therefore not B •A: All S are P. (Ex. All dogs are mammals.)
• Affirming the consequent: A, then B; B, therefore A •E: No S are P. (Ex. No cats are fish.)
• Denying the antecedent: If A, then B; not A, therefore not •I: Some S are P. (Some logicians are philosophers.)
B •O: Some S are not P. (Some men are not clowns.)

Example of Propositional Fallacies Example of Syllogistic Fallacies

• William Shatner is Captain Kirk or he is in Miss •All sharks are fish (All S are P.)All salmon are fish (All x
Congeniality. William Shatner is in Miss Congeniality. are P).Therefore all salmon are sharks. (All x are P.)The
Therefore he is not Captain Kirk.It is possible for William two generalities in the first two statements are true, but
Shatner to be in both of these movies (in fact he was). they do not validate the conclusion being drawn.
• I am going to bed or reading a book. I feel really tired •No philosophers are elephants.All elephants are
tonight, so I will go to bed. So, I cannot read.It is possible to mammals.Therefore no philosophers are
go to bed, as well as read a book. mammals.Though it is true that there are no philosophers
that are elephants, and that all elephants are in fact
Note mammals. These do not negate the fact that philosophers
Alternative Name: Denying the Antecedent (humans) are mammals.
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Ad Hominem
The ad hominem attack is a logical fallacy associated
with trying to undermine the opponent's arguments by
personal attacks, through attacking their character or skill
level, etc. The ad hominem attack uses an accepted fact
about a person to undermine their credibility despite the       
lack of causal connection between the two parts of the Anecdotal
argument. The anecdotal fallacy uses a personal experience or an
isolated example instead of a sound argument.
Example of Ad Hominem
• Bill claims that this was an accident, but we know Bill to Example of Anecdotal
•Leanne thinks smoking does not affect life expectancy
be a liar, so we can't take his word for it.Even though Bill
may be a liar, his character does not automatically make since her grandmother smoked for 4 decades and lived to
anything he says untrue. be 87.The fact that Leanne's grandmother did not result in
• Susan is an avid hunter, therefor she cannot possibly cancer or other kind of disease, does not mean that
support gun control.Being a hunter is used as a negative someone else with the same behavior would have had the
characteristic to make a conclusion which could very well same result.
•I have never seen a happy marriage. Getting married is a
be untrue. Susan could support a variety of gun control
elgislation. bad idea.Even though the speaker has only seen unhappy
marriages, it does not mean that there are no happy
Note marriages and that people should avoid getting married.
Short for: Argumentum Ad Hominem This is a common fallacy.
 https://www.logicalfallacies.org/tu-quoque.html

     
Appeal to Ridicule
      Appeal to Ridicule is an informal fallacy which
Appeal to Emotion claims an argument to be ridiculous or absurd. The
The fallacy of appeal to emotion makes a claim fallacy uses this claim in an attempt to invalidate the
based on sympathy or empathetic instead of just or argument since it is not worth entertaining.
logical grounds. Appeal to ridicule can be used in conjunction with
other fallacies such as appeal to emotion. Sarcasm
Example of Appeal to Emotion  can also be used as a means of appeal to ridicule.
• Sarah did not want to eat liverwurst for dinner, but
he mother told her to think of all the starving children Example of Appeal to Ridicule
in the world who do not have food at all.Sarah eating •Everyone should wear seatbelts. We should also
(or not eating) her food has no bearing on starving wear bibs and sleep in a bassinet.
children in another part of the world. •Why should I support the 2nd Amendment, do I
• Almost every commercial is an appeal to emotion. A look like toothless hick?
cereal commercial shows kids enjoying their
breakfast with a happy mom in the background.The Note: Alternative Name: Appeal to Mockery, Ab
commercial is supposed to make parents think that if Absurdo
they get this cereal their kids will just sit down and
have their breakfast without running around and
driving them crazy.
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Bandwagon
Argument from Repetition
The fallacy of bandwagon says, 'But everyone is doing
it.' This fallacy appeal to the popularity of something
Argument from repetition refers to someone
as a means of validating it.
repeating a statement often in the hopes that the
listener will begin to accept it as truth, instead of
Example of Bandwagon
providing evidence. •A recent study shows 8 out of 10 doctors say that
acupuncture is an effective therapy, therefore it must
Example of Argument from Repetition
• Hurtlocker deserves an Oscar. Other films have be true since 8 out of 10 doctors can't be wrong!
Agreement among experts does not necessarily lead
potential, but they do not deserve an Oscar
to a true outcome.
like Hurtlocker does. The other movies may •Everyone else is going to attend a four-year
deserve an honorable mention
university, so I am going to do the same instead of
but Hurtlocker deserves the Oscar.The argument
taking classes at a local community college.Doing
basically claims that theHurt Lockeris a great
something because everyone else is doing it is not a
movie because it is a great movie.
• Stupid people are so annoying. They prove their logically valid reason for taking part in something.
This is a common fallacy.
stupidity by saying stupid things.

Note
Alternative Name: Argumentum ad Nauseam
 
Fallacy of Composition and Division

The fallacy of composition and division makes the assumption that one

part of something will apply to the whole, or that the whole must apply
to all the parts. False Cause & False Attribution
False cause refers to an argument where
Example of Fallacy of Composition and Division someone cites sequential events as evidence that
• Composition: the first event caused the second. False
• Each part of this chair is cheap, so the whole chair for sale must be attribution happens when someone appeals to
cheap. irrelevant, biased, or unqualified information.
• Division: Healthy brains think. Healthy brains are comprised of
nothing but brain cells. If healthy brains think, then the individual brain Example of False Cause & False Attribution
•False Cause: I eat bananas for a snack every
cells can think too.
day. One day I skipped my banana, and my car
was broken into. I have not missed a day of
 Genetic Fallacy banana-snacking since.
The genetic fallacy reasons that one can •False Attribution: John showed me this book that
accurately judge or assess something as good or proved scientists have empirical evidence for the
bad based on where it originates from. existence of mermaids, but I lost the book and
don't remember the title.
Example of Genetic Fallacy
• I was brought up Mormon, so I believe
Mormonism is the truth, since my parents are
good people and they wouldn't lie to me.
• My physician is overweight. I can't trust any of
his health advice. https://www.logicalfallacies.org/tu-quoque.html
      
Appeal to Authority
The fallacy of appeal to authority makes the argument that if one
     
credible source believes something that it must be true.
Begging the Question
Begging the question presents circular arguments
Example of Appeal to Authority
in which the conclusion is included in the premise •If the Pope says that an aspect of doctrine is true, then it should be
of the argument.
added to the creed, since he is infallible.
•The mayor said that the crime rate is down. The statistics claiming
Example of Begging the Question
•Opium is known to put people to sleep because it otherwise must be erroneous.Since the mayor is in charge of the city
and supposedly aware of the goings on his statement should
contains soporific properties.This is the same as
supersede statistical data.
saying "Opium puts people to sleep because it has
elements that put people to sleep."
•Stocks are the best investment since every other
investment is an inferior option.There is no  
explanation given as to why other investments are Argumentum ad Populum
inferior. Also known as 'appealing to the people', this fallacy presumes that a
proposition must be true because most/many believe it to be true.
Note
Alternative Name: Petitio Principii Example of Argumentum ad Populum
•Extended warranties are a very popular purchase by the consumer,
so extended warranties must be good for the consumer.The fact that
something is popular has no bearing on whether it is beneficial.
•Everyone drives over the speed limit, so it should not be against the
https://www.logicalfallacies.org/tu-quoque.html law.Just because a lot of people do something, it does not make it the
right thing to do.
      
      Equivocation
Circular Reasoning The fallacy of equivocation uses misleading terms of more than
The fallacy of circular logic occurs when the one one meaning without clarifying which definition is intended in the
reasoning begins with a claim they are trying to conclude scenario.
with. Example of Equivocation
Example of Circular Reasoning •Philosophy students are taught how to argue, but shouldn't we
•Whatever is less dense than water will float, because
teach them something more helpful? After all there are already a
such objects won't sink in water. lot of arguments and conflicts in the world.The term
•Women should be able to have abortions, so abortion
argue/argument is being used with different meanings.
should be legal and easily available. •Claiming someone is unethical because they have bad worth
ethics.The word unethical/ethics have two different meanings in
Note: Alternative Name: Circulus in Demonstrando this conflict.

     
      False Dilemma
Fallacy Fallacy Also called false dichotomy, fallacy of bifurcation,
This is an an argument that is based on false claims but is black-or-white fallacy, the false delamma presents
logically coherent. two alternative states as the only possibilities when
more possibilities may exist.
Example of Fallacy Fallacy
•Jenna thinks we should do yoga before work because it Example of False Dilemma
is natural and is said to relax you. Miles thinks we should •You are either with me or against me.
also smoke pot before work for the same reasons. •Either you buy me this toy, or you don't love me.
•Whenever it rains, the sky is cloudy. The sky is cloudy (Child saying to a parent)
now, so it must be raining.It is possible for the sky to be
cloudy but not to be raining.

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Slippery Slope      
The slippery slope fallacy consists of arguments that Red Herring
reason if something S were to happen, then something The red herring fallacy focuses on arguing for an
else P will eventually occur, so we should prohibit S from irrelevant topic with the intention of distracting the
happening. audience, this usually happens when the orator finds
another topic easier to outline.
Example of Slippery Slope
•If we let our child out of his room, eventually he will want
Example of Red Herring
to leave the house, and will end up on the street. If he is •"I know I cheated on the test, Mrs. Holburn. But
walking around on the street then he will be snatched up what am I going to do, my parents will kill me!"
by a stranger and sold into slavery in a remote region on •"Officer, I was speeding. But I have to return this
the World.Though it may be true that the child might leave book to the library. I don't want to have to pay a late
the house and go on the street, but endin gup as a slave in fee."
a remote part of the world is comically unlikely.
•If Donald Trump gets elected for a second term, he will
show his true colors as a nazi dictator, abolish the U.S.
democratic republic, and appoint himself as emperor.

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Tu Quoque
      Tu quoque is a fallacy answering criticism with
Strawman criticism, or turning the argument back around on the
The strawman fallacy occurs when one misrepresents other person. It also applied the logic that because
an argument so that it becomes easier to attack. someone has done something, that it justifies
someone else doing the same thing.
Example of Strawman
•Those who oppose abortion have no respect for Example of Tu Quoque
women's rights, and see women as baby-making •The Ancient Greeks were some of the greatest
machines, which is of course wrong. Women must be thinkers. They had slaves, so we should have slaves
able to choose. too.
•People who oppose gun control are potential terrorists. •Jason: You cheated on your test. Don't you know that
We cannot allow terrorists to decide our laws. All guns is wrong?David: Didn't you cheat on your test last
should be banned. year?

Note: Alternative Name: The two wrong fallacy