A timely and accessible guide to 100 of the most infamous logical fallacies in Western philosophy, helping readers avoid and detect false assumptions and faulty reasoning
You'll love this book or you'll hate it. So, you're either with us or against us. And if you're against us then you hate books. No true intellectual would hate this book.
Ever decide to avoid a restaurant because of one bad meal? Choose a product because a celebrity endorsed it? Or ignore what a politician says because she's not a member of your party? For as long as people have been discussing, conversing, persuading, advocating, proselytizing, pontificating, or otherwise stating their case, their arguments have been vulnerable to false assumptions and faulty reasoning. Drawing upon a long history of logical falsehoods and philosophical flubs, Bad Arguments demonstrates how misguided arguments come to be, and what we can do to detect them in the rhetoric of others and avoid using them ourselves.
Fallacies-or conclusions that don't follow from their premise-are at the root of most bad arguments, but it can be easy to stumble into a fallacy without realizing it. In this clear and concise guide to good arguments gone bad, Robert Arp, Steven Barbone, and Michael Bruce take readers through 100 of the most infamous fallacies in Western philosophy, identifying the most common missteps, pitfalls, and dead-ends of arguments gone awry. Whether an instance of sunk costs, is ought, affirming the consequent, moving the goal post, begging the question, or the ever-popular slippery slope, each fallacy engages with examples drawn from contemporary politics, economics, media, and popular culture. Further diagrams and tables supplement entries and contextualize common errors in logical reasoning.
At a time in our world when it is crucial to be able to identify and challenge rhetorical half-truths, this bookhelps readers to better understand flawed argumentation and develop logical literacy. Unrivaled in its breadth of coverage and a worthy companion to its sister volume Just the Arguments (2011), Bad Arguments is an essential tool for undergraduate students and general readers looking to hone their critical thinking and rhetorical skills.
Notes on Contributors xiii Introduction 1 Part I Formal Fallacies 35 Propositional Logic 37 1 Affirming a Disjunct 39 Jason Iuliano 2 Affirming the Consequent 42 Brett Gaul 3 Denying the Antecedent 46 Brett Gaul Categorical Logic 49 4 Exclusive Premises 51 Charlene Elsby 5 Four Terms 55 Charlene Elsby 6 Illicit Major and Minor Terms 60 Charlene Elsby 7 Undistributed Middle 63 Charlene Elsby Part II Informal Fallacies 67 Fallacies of Relevance 69 8 Ad Hominem: Bias 71 George Wrisley 9 Ad Hominem: Circumstantial 77 George Wrisley 10 Ad Hominem: Direct 83 George Wrisley 11 Ad Hominem: Tu Quoque 88 George Wrisley 12 Adverse Consequences 94 David Vander Laan 13 Appeal to Emotion: Force or Fear 98 George Wrisley 14 Appeal to Emotion: Pity 102 George Wrisley 15 Appeal to Ignorance 106 Benjamin W. McCraw 16 Appeal to the People 112 Benjamin W. McCraw 17 Appeal to Personal Incredulity 115 Tuomas W. Manninen 18 Appeal to Ridicule 118 Gregory L. Bock 19 Appeal to Tradition 121 Nicolas Michaud 20 Argument from Fallacy 125 Christian Cotton 21 Availability Error 128 David Kyle Johnson 22 Base Rate 133 Tuomas W. Manninen 23 Burden of Proof 137 Andrew Russo 24 Countless Counterfeits 140 David Kyle Johnson 25 Diminished Responsibility 145 Tuomas W. Manninen 26 Essentializing 149 Jack Bowen 27 Galileo Gambit 152 David Kyle Johnson 28 Gambler's Fallacy 157 Grant Sterling 29 Genetic Fallacy 160 Frank Scalambrino 30 Historian's Fallacy 163 Heather Rivera 31 Homunculus 165 Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray 32 Inappropriate Appeal to Authority 168 Nicolas Michaud 33 Irrelevant Conclusion 172 Steven Barbone 34 Kettle Logic 174 Andy Wible 35 Line Drawing 177 Alexander E. Hooke 36 Mistaking the Relevance of Proximate Causation 181 David Kyle Johnson 37 Moving the Goalposts 185 Tuomas W. Manninen 38 Mystery, Therefore Magic 189 David Kyle Johnson 39 Naturalistic Fallacy 193 Benjamin W. McCraw 40 Poisoning the Well 196 Roberto Ruiz 41 Proving Too Much 201 Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray 42 Psychologist's Fallacy 204 Frank Scalambrino 43 Red Herring 208 Heather Rivera 44 Reductio ad Hitlerum 212 Frank Scalambrino 45 Argument by Repetition 215 Leigh Kolb 46 Special Pleading 219 Dan Yim 47 Straw Man 223 Scott Aikin and John Casey 48 Sunk Cost 227 Robert Arp 49 Two Wrongs Make a Right 230 David LaRocca 50 Weak Analogy 234 Bertha Alvarez Manninen Fallacies of Ambiguity 239 51 Accent 241 Roberto Ruiz 52 Amphiboly 246 Roberto Ruiz 53 Composition 250 Jason Waller 54 Confusing an Explanation for an Excuse 252 Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray 55 Definist Fallacy 255 Christian Cotton 56 Division 259 Jason Waller 57 Equivocation 261 Bertha Alvarez Manninen 58 Etymological Fallacy 266 Leigh Kolb 59 Euphemism 270 Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray 60 Hedging 273 Christian Cotton 61 If by Whiskey 277 Christian Cotton 62 Inflation of Conflict 280 Andy Wible 63 Legalistic Mistake 282 Marco Antonio Azevedo 64 Oversimplification 286 Dan Burkett 65 Proof by Verbosity 289 Phil Smolenski 66 Sorites Fallacy 293 Jack Bowen Fallacies of Presumption 297 67 Accident 299 Steven Barbone 68 All or Nothing 301 David Kyle Johnson 69 Anthropomorphic Bias 305 David Kyle Johnson 70 Begging the Question 308 Heather Rivera 71 Chronological Snobbery 311 A.G. Holdier 72 Complex Question 314 A.G. Holdier 73 Confirmation Bias 317 David Kyle Johnson 74 Conjunction 321 Jason Iuliano 75 Constructive Nature of Perception 324 David Kyle Johnson 76 Converse Accident 330 Steven Barbone 77 Existential Fallacy 332 Frank Scalambrino 78 False Cause: Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc 335 Bertha Alvarez Manninen 79 False Cause: Ignoring Common Cause 338 Bertha Alvarez Manninen 80 False Cause: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc 342 Bertha Alvarez Manninen 81 False Dilemma 346 Jennifer Culver 82 Free Speech 348 Scott Aikin and John Casey 83 Guilt by Association 351 Leigh Kolb 84 Hasty Generalization 354 Michael J. Muniz 85 Intentional Fallacy 357 Nicolas Michaud 86 Is/Ought Fallacy 360 Mark T. Nelson 87 Masked Man 364 Charles Taliaferro 88 Middle Ground 367 Grant Sterling 89 Mind Projection 369 Charles Taliaferro 90 Moralistic Fallacy 371 Galen Foresman 91 No True Scotsman 374 Tuomas W. Manninen 92 Reification 378 Robert Sinclair 93 Representative Heuristic 382 David Kyle Johnson 94 Slippery Slope 385 Michael J. Muniz 95 Stolen Concept 388 Rory E. Kraft, Jr. 96 Subjective Validation 392 David Kyle Johnson 97 Subjectivist Fallacy 396 Frank Scalambrino 98 Suppressed Evidence 399 David Kyle Johnson 99 Unfalsifiability 403 Jack Bowen 100 Unwarranted Assumption 407 Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray Index 410
ROBERT ARP is an instructor of philosophy and a researcher for the US Army. He has published numerous books and articles in philosophy and other areas. More information about his work and research interests can be found on his website. STEVEN BARBONE is an Associate Professor of philosophy at San Diego State University. He has published numerous articles and book chapters on Baruch Spinoza. MICHAEL BRUCE works in the software industry in San Francisco. With Steven Barbone, he edited Just the Arguments (Wiley Blackwell, 2011). An avid researcher in the history of philosophy and psychology, he has been published widely and is an active blogger for Psychology Today.
