FALLACY

Informal
Fallacy

llacy

erived from the Latin word fallere which means to deceive.

is a violation of the logical principle disguised under
show of validity.
awed reasoning or argument which is deceptive in presentat
plausible argument that uses false or illogical reasoning.

nds

phism- fallacy is committed with the intention of deceiving o

ralogism- fallacy is committed unconsciously.

A. Fallacies of Ambiguity-

fallacies that
occur in arguments using words whose meaning
change in the course of the argument.
1. Equivocation- argument using word that has the
same spelling or sound but different meaning in
different parts of the argument.
2. Amphiboly-it is produced by using faulty
sentence construction allowing itself to be
interpreted in various ways due to faulty syntax.
3. Accent- it arises due to a difference in
interpretation brought about by misplaced
emphasis on a phrase, word, or syllable in a
proposition.

4. Composition- Taking together what should be

taken separately. It proceeds to take the attribute
of the parts of the whole to be the same to the
whole itself.
e.g. 2 and 3 are less than 4
2 and 3 are 5
of pages.
5 is less than 4
light

A page is light.
This book is made up
Thus, this book is

5. Division- Taking separately what should be taken

together as a unit. Argument takes what is true of
the whole to be true to its parts.
e.g. 20 is divisible by 5
school
12 and 8 are 20

Uslt is a catholic
Thus every student

B. Fallacies of Relevance- Premises of the argument are

logically irrelevant so the conclusion cannot be established. It does
not provide evidence to support the conclusion, rather, it simply
works on certain emotions to cause acceptance of the conclusion.
It thus depends on psychological factors for the persuasive force.
1. Argumentum ad Hominem (Argument against the person)Argument is rejected not because of its noncoherence but because
of who the person is. It is the person who presents the argument
who is being attacked not the argument itself.
e.g. Why should I believe in you, youre an ex-convict!
You are probably the rapist because you look like one.
To Quoque (you too)- a variation of Ad Hominem which arises when
one claims that a certain action is all right because someone or
everybody else does it.
e.g. Sometimes our instructor uses his cellphone inside the class, so
theres nothing wrong if we also use our cellphone once in a while.

2. Argumentum Ad Verecundiam (Appeal to

Authority)- it arises if we site someone as an
authority on a topic which lies outside of his field
of specialty.
e.g. Tomorrow is a holiday according to the janitor
of the school.
If you use Palmolive shampoo, your hair will be
as beautiful as that of KC Conception.
I am the best of the best according to my
mother.
3. Argumentum Ad Misericordiam (Appeal to Pity)- It
arises when a speaker, instead of using logical
reasons to support his conclusion, uses emotional
persuasion to effect the acceptance of his
conclusion. It appeals to our instinct of
compassion.

4. Argumentum Ad Populum (Appeal to the People)- it

arises when one who, instead of giving more weight
or emphasis to the relevant fact of the argument,
gives more emphasis to the emotions and opinions of
the crowd as basis of conclusion.
e.g. Manny Pacquiao should already retire in boxing
because majority of his supporters favors his
retirement.
The University just made the wrong decision in
increasing tuition fee because most of the students of
the university are rallying against it.

5. Argumentum Ad Ignorantiam (Appeal to Ignorance)It arises when an argument is taken as true inasmuch
as this has not yet been proven as false.
e.g. The existence of Purgatory must be true, because
nobody has ever successfully defended that it is just
a product of imagination.

6. Argumentum Ad Baculum (Appeal to Force)- it is

committed when one appeals to force or threat for
the acceptance of an argument. It is usually resorted
to when an evidence or rational arguments fail.
e.g. If you will not give me your cellphone number Ill
give you a failing grade.
Allow me to kiss you or else, youll never see me
again.
You must believe that God exists. After all, if you
do not accept the existence of God, then you will be
thrown into the fires of hell.

C. Fallacy of Insufficient Evidence Premises of the

argument is not enough to support the conclusion.
1.Hasty Generalization- This occurs when one
generalization about an entire set on the basis of
small sample that does not represent the set.
e.g. This item from the store is expensive. This item
from the same store is also expensive. Thus, all
items in that store is expensive.
2. False Cause (Post Hoc) Committing an error by
assuming that the most recent event is the cause
of the present event. It takes coincidental
occurrence to be the true cause of an event.
e.g. I got well after I wore this crystal.
So, this crystal possesses healing powers.

3. Neglected Aspect- Committed when one presents

an evidence in support of a conclusion while
neglecting or ignoring evidence that would support
another.
e.g. A classmate invites you for a sleep-over without
telling you how far the place is, since such
information might affect your decision.
4. Accident- committer when one take a general rule
and applies it to its accidental or exceptional cases.
e.g. Using knives on people is bad. Surgeons use
knives on people. So, they are bad.
Killing is a mortal sin. Dan, a soldier killed many
in the battle field. Thus, Dan committed a mortal
sin.

5. Converse Accident- Formulating

general rules from accidental
situations.
e.g.