An Amphiboly Is a Tactic to Deceive - Essay Example

Logical fallacies are those types of arguments that seem to introduce a logical argument to prove a point.
For example, “Darwin’s book.” The statement could have two meanings, one being that the book is written by Darwin and the second being that Darwin is the owner of the book.

Arguing from authority
Whatever we take to believe today, we believe it on the account of some authority figure behind it. Almost everything that we believe today has some authority figure behind it (Walton 1997). Therefore certain people would tend to quote an individual who holds certain authority to prove their claims. However, on closer inspection, it could be possible that the authority figure isn’t exactly an expert in the respective field. For example, if the President of the United States claims that the twin towers collapsed on themselves, one cannot take this to be accurate as he is not an expert in the field of building demolition.

Argumentum ad Hominem
Argumentum ad Hominem refers to a personal attack on an opponent. This form of fallacy occurs when one attacks the characteristic of an individual, instead of his claims. Such attacks are both common and very effective (Walton 1998). For example, “You cannot employ this man as an accountant, he cannot even tidy up his room.” The fallacy lies in the neglect of the accusation (Walton).
Argumentum ad Ignorantiam
This form of argument is based on a negative logic, where if A is not proven to not exist, then it must mean that A does exist, and vice versa. This has been coined as probative obligations (Walton 1996), where reasoning functions by reversing the roles of the proponent and respondent. Argumentum ad ignorant can be used to turn the tables on an opponent, shifting the burden of proof to the accuser and not the defender.
Argumentum ad misericordiam
This form of fallacy occurs in a logical argument when an individual appeals to the emotions of his audience to get them to agree with him, even though this would have no relevance to the argument (Pirie 2006). For example, this occurs when a lawyer pleads with a jury regarding the punishment his client would suffer if proven guilty, even though the question is whether his client is guilty or not and not what the conviction would do to him.
Composition
The fallacy in logic arises in composition arises when one concludes that if a small part of an object or class has a certain property, then the entire object or class as a whole is concluded to have the same property (The Nizkor Project). For example, if the first ten students in a school are witnessed to wear spectacles, it would be illogical to conclude that all the students in the entire school wear spectacles. However, the argument of composition could be used for legitimate purposes depending on the properties that are being addressed.
Division
A fallacy in logical reasoning occurs when if an object as a whole has a certain property, a conclusion is drawn that even its constituents would hold the same property. This is considered to be the reverse of the fallacy of composition (Fallacy of Division). For example, water is liquid, therefore, H2O molecules are liquid (Fallacy of Division). However, this form of fallacy only occurs for some properties, while at the same time could be used as a logical argument for other forms of properties, similar to the argument of composition.

False Analogy
The fallacy of false analogy occurs when an individual compares one circumstance to another to prove the second circumstance to be the same, even though there is no real relevance between the two. This form of argumentative error is difficult to detect as they are hidden from scrutiny, or also concealed in what is called, semantical ambiguity (Fischer 1971). For example, London can be considered similar to the heart. If the heart swells then it would be considered as a disease and a danger to the body. Therefore, if London grows, it would be considered hazardous to England (Fischer).

Hasty Generalizations
A generalization is a statement that assumes that all or most things of a certain kind will share a similar characteristic or quality, such as “All emeralds are green” (Bassham 2005). A hasty generalization would occur when we assume a generalization too quickly based on very little evidence, biases, or small sample size (Bassham). For example, “I have purchased a Dell laptop, which was poor in performance. I suppose all of Dell’s products are of poor performance.”
Slippery Slope
This form of fallacy occurs when an individual claims that a proposition is unacceptable, and a negative chain of events would lead from the activity of that proposition to more disastrous outcomes (Stephens Guide). The arguments would normally be negative. The fallacy occurs only when all the cause and effect patterns are not established as factual. For example, smoking will lead to drinking, which will lead to abuse, which will lead to violence, which will lead to murder.

Conclusion
Generally speaking, the above terms show the various forms of fallacies that are used in so-called “logical arguments”. These can be utilized as tactics to win any argument. The psychology of using such tactics does indeed play well to the untrained mind, who would easily then be trapped into accepting whatever claims are being made. Read More