Fallacies as a Part of our Life - Admission/Application Essay Example

College: Fallacies Thesis ment Fallacies have become part of life weighing heavily on decisions people make thus affecting their rational thinking, beliefs behavior and reactions to different situations. People should not heed to fallacies but have a clear mind in order to make sound decisions. A fallacy is a defect weakening a particular argument or a form of reasoning error (Garssen & Meuffels, 2009). It pertains to arguments specifically or reasoning used in an effort to lay rational basis or ground for an opinion or view. Correct arguments will follow the sound reason principles through formal rules provided by logic. Logically incorrect arguments as a result of including false ideas or violating formal rules of logic may lead to fallacious arguments causing false conclusions (Garssen & Meuffels ,2009). Whereas each simple idea or term bears a precise meaning, they may not be termed as either false or true until something is said about them. Fallacies are present in everyday situations in life as even governments as suggested by Evans in his book may loose to falsehoods brought about by fallacies. The American government seems to have lent money with the aim of profiting but ends up losing while Britain gains “ The American Creditor lent his money on the fame terms of interest………….Should he dispose of his stock at present, he must sacrifice on every ₤ .100 at lest ₤ .50, whilst the British creditor ……………….gains nearly as much” (Evans11). This paper discusses the fallacies occurring in everyday life; Argumentum Ad ignorantiam (appeal to ignorance) fallacy in this case, and how a layman’s rational thinking is affected by the fallacy. The paper also discusses the reasons appeal to ignorance fallacy is deliberately committed by people ,in that individuals’ create stories that they are not sure of but only tell them to assume a certain significance in the society. The appeal to ignorance fallacy is based on the premise of lacking conclusive evidence for a particular issue and as such an arguer’s conclusion should be readily accepted. An example is in the argument of God’s existence. For centuries, the existence of God has been debated with no researcher providing irrefutable proof on the issue. An arguer on either side of whether God exists or not lacks evidence to support their claim and hence a conclusion is made on the basis of lacking evidence. This is seen in the encounter between science and theology where Newman, a theologist attempted to take the image of God as topic contributing to speculation, ending in absolute failure (Thomsen, 2009), there was no proof produced. The fallacy came in because of the need for proof hence no one paid attention to the bishop; “a man of good behavior, of great boldness in his faith, especially apt to teach, - indeed possessing those qualities which are specifically commended in a bishop or deacon” (Thomsen, 2009). Even the bishop allowed himself to be swayed from his faith for the need of proof. This clearly shows how misleading fallacies can be even to people of faith creating doubt to believers today. Another example of argumentum ad ignorantiam is global warming which someone may argue is unquestionably occurring as there has been no conclusive demonstration to suggest otherwise. The issue of God and his true form is also debated in another publication. Alexander Pirie in his book also seems to suggest that the true God is not known as he seems to suggest others as being made by man; “Comparing his new God with the God of the scripture, I find the former as unlike the latter………..The God of Dura and the God of Birmingham are both idols; both the works of men: ……………….-God is a spirit (Pirie 2). Failing to provide proof on the falsehood of global warming is not equivalent to proving it true (Whitman). A courtroom in America for instance, where burden of proof lies with prosecution, the fallacy would be for the prosecution’s argument to be, "The defendant has no alibi, and therefore he must have committed the crime." It would however be absolutely valid if the defense argued, "The prosecution has not proven the defendant committed the crime, therefore you should declare him not guilty." (Whitman). The statements both have a form of argumentum ad ignorantiam; the burden of proof provides the difference (Adler,2008). Appeal to ignorance affects a person’s rational thinking in that one relies on evidence to prove or disprove a particular issue. Relying on evidence that may never be found or does not exist pushes rational thinking to the background making it almost impossible to provide a logical explanation. Rational thinking regarding the appeal to ignorance fallacy may also seem unrealistic as some of the issues relating to this fallacy may not be concluded based on logic and rational thinking. The existence of God for instance, is an issue of faith hence may not be easily concluded through rational thinking. Other times, people commit fallacies to gain support for their views and also lead people into carrying out their desires. There have been cases where fallacies have resulted in death due to being easily swayed by another person’s thoughts. Civil wars and crimes against fellow humans such as racial discrimination have been as a result of fallacies where people are persuaded to believe certain things by errors in reasoning. Fallacies normally cloud sound reasoning and judgment leading people to do things that would be termed as irrational or illogical in particular circumstances (Kemp,2005). In conclusion, fallacies are a part of human life and hence should be taken with caution through rational thinking and faith for things that may not be proven beyond a shadow of doubt. Work Cited Marmor T R “Fads, Fallacies And Foolishness In Medical Care Management And Policy”. Singapore : World Scientific, 2007. Bart Garssen and Bert Meuffels . “Fallacies and judgments of reasonableness : empirical research concerning the pragma-dialectical discussion rules”. New York : Springer, 2009. Brian, Thomsen “The awful truths : famous myths, hilariously debunked”. New York : HarperCollins e-books, 2006. Adler, Jornathan . “Reasoning Studies of Human Inference and its Foundations”. Leiden : Cambridge University Press, 2008 Kemp,Gary . “Critical thinking a concise guide / Tracy Bowell and Gary Kemp”. London ; New York : Routledge, 2005. Pryne,William. “The falsities and forgeries of the anonymous author of a late pamphlet”. London, : for Michael Sparke, Senior., 1644. Dowden, Bradley. “Fallacies.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 27 Mar. 2003. 4 Apr. 2011. http://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/ Evans. “Fallacy detected, by the evidence of facts; or, Consideration on the impolicy and injustic of a compulsory reduction of the interest on the public debt, in a letter to a member of Congress”. Philadelphia, 1790 Hurley, Patrick J. “A Concise Introduction to Logic”. Thornson Learning, 2000 Read More