OPINION

AND COMMON FALLACIES

Prepared by:
MR. ANTONIO T. DELGADO
Faculty, General De Jesus College
 FOCUS QUESTIONS

1. What is opinion?
2. What is argument? What are its parts?
3. What are fallacies?
4. Why is it important to avoid fallacies in forming
opinion?

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TRUTH OR OPINION?
1. Listening to music reduces stress.
2. She talks loudly.
3. Mall of Asia is in Pasay City.
4. E = mc2
5. Ginebra will win the next PBA Cup.
6. Martial Law was declared on September 21, 1972.
7. The soul starts a new life in a different physical
body after each death.
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OPINION

▪ It is a statement of judgment of a person about

something in the world.
▪ It is a statement of judgment that is in need of
further justification.

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 “

Walang maling opinyon.

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 “

Akala mo lang wala…

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 “

…pero meron!

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 “
“Opinyon ko na
dapat mamatay
na tayong lahat.”
 “

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ARGUMENT

▪ It is a group of statements that serve to support a

conclusion.
▪ It is made up of a claim (the conclusion of an
argument) and premises (the reasons used to
support the conclusion).

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ARGUMENT

▪ Not all arguments are good arguments.

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 “
“Everyone is entitled
to his own opinion...”
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FALLACIES

▪ We call fake arguments “fallacies”.

▪ Fallacies are groups of statements that appear to
be arguments, but fail to support the conclusion.

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 COMMON
FALLACIES
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 1.
AD BACULUM

This occurs when one appeals

to force or the threat of force to bring about
the acceptance of a conclusion.
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 2.
COMPOSITION

This arises when one infers that something is true of the

whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole.
Composition

▪ This tire is made of rubber, therefore the vehicle to

which it is a part is also made of rubber.

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 3.
DIVISION

This is an error in logic that occurs when one reasons that

something that is true for a whole or a class must also be
true of all or some of its parts.
Division

▪ The Twelfth Grade in in General De Jesus College

eats a lot of ice cream. Carlos is a 12th grader in
General De Jesus College. Therefore, Carlos eats
a lot of ice cream.

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 4.
AD HOMINEM

This occurs when an author attacks his

opponent instead of his opponent’s argument.
Ad Hominem

▪ Trina thinks guns should be outlawed but Trina

doesn’t go to church, so we shouldn’t listen to her.

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 5.
AD POPULUM

It attempts to prove an argument as correct

simply because many people believe it to be so.
Ad Populum/ Bandwagon

▪ 80% of people are for the death penalty, therefore,

the death penalty is moral.

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 6.
APPEAL TO AUTHORITY

The author claims his argument is right because

someone famous or powerful supports it.
Appeal to Authority

▪ We should change the

drinking age because
Einstein believed that
18 was the proper
drinking age.

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 7.
BEGGING THE QUESTION

This happens when the author’s premise and

conclusion say the same thing.
Begging the Question

▪ Fashion magazines don’t

hurt women’s self-esteem
because women’s
confidence is intact after
reading the magazine.

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 8.
FALSE DICHOTOMY

This fallacy rests on the assumption that there

are only two possible solutions.
False Dichotomy

▪ The teacher gives too many 90’s and therefore

must be fired because grade inflation is unfair to
other students.

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 9.
HASTY GENERALIZATION

It occurs when the proponent uses too small of a

sample size to support a sweeping generalization.
Hasty Generalization

▪ Sally couldn’t find any cute clothes at the boutique

and neither could Maura, so the boutique doesn’t
have any cute clothes.

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 10.
POST HOC

This fallacy assumes that correlation

equals causation.
Post Hoc/ False Cause

▪ The chess team gets better grades than the

basketball team, therefore playing chess makes
you smarter than playing basketball.

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 11.
MISSING THE POINT

It occurs when the premise of the argument supports a

specific conclusion but not the one the author draws.
Missing the Point

▪ Antidepressants are overly prescribed which is

dangerous, so they should clearly be made illegal.

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 12.
SPOTLIGHT FALLACY

It occurs when the author assumes that the cases that

receive the most publicity are the most common cases.
Spotlight Fallacy

▪ 90% of news reports talk about negative events.

Therefore, it follows that 90% of events that occur
in the real world are negative.

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 20,000
Number of extrajudicial killings according to human rights groups

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 “
This is the front-page photo in the Philippine Daily
Inquirer’s July 24, 2016 issue showing pedicab
driver Michael Siaron’s lifeless body being cradled
in a Pieta-like pose by his partner. Siaron, the
newspaper claimed,* was executed by the police in
the course of President Duterte’s war against illegal
drugs. The photo went viral on the internet, with
Western newspapers publishing it on their own front
pages.

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 “
It turns out now, after more than a year of police
investigation, that the pedicab driver was killed by a
drug syndicate’s assassin, one Nesty Santiago,
who was also responsible for five other killings. The
unique scratches – like fingerprints – on the bullets
that murdered Siaron matched with the gun used by
the killer, recovered when he was killed in
December.

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 13.
STRAW MAN

The author puts forth one of his opponent’s weaker,

less central arguments forward and destroys it, while
acting like this argument is the crux of the issue.
Straw Man

▪ My opponent wants to increase teachers’ pay but

studies have shown that professors with tenure
don’t work as hard at their job to improve
themselves.

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 14.
APPEAL TO EMOTION

This is characterized by the manipulation of the

recipient's emotions in order to win an argument,
especially in the absence of factual evidence.
Appeal to Emotion

▪ Power lines cause cancer. I met a little boy with

cancer who lived just 20 miles from a power line
who looked into my eyes and said, in his weak
voice, “Please do whatever you can so that other
kids won’t have to go through what I am going
through.” Therefore, me must tear down all power
lines.

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 15.
SLIPPERY SLOPE

In this fallacy, a party asserts that

a relatively small first step leads to a chain
of related events culminating in some significant effect.
Slippery Slope

▪ Example: If I loan you a peso today then you will

eventually ask me for one hundred pesos and then
one million pesos. I do not want that to happen, so
I cannot give you the one peso loan.

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 EVALUATION

1. What is opinion?
2. What is argument? What are its parts?
3. What are fallacies?
4. Why is it important to avoid fallacies in forming
opinion?

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THANKS!
ANY QUESTIONS?

PowerPoint presentations are available at:

▪ www.facebook.com/GJCphilo
REFERENCES
1. Skoskiewicz, M. (May 22, 2011). 10 Common
Logical Fallacies. Retrieved May 17, 2018, from
https://www.myguruedge.com/our-
thinking/myguru-blog/bid/214477/10-common-
logical-fallacies
2. Richardson, J., et al. Thou Shalt Not Commit
Logical Fallacies. Retrieved July 9, 2019, from
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com
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