Download or read book Informal Logical Fallacies written by Jacob E. Van Vleet and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-01-28 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critical thinking is now needed more than ever. This accessible and engaging book provides the necessary tools to question and challenge the discourse that surrounds us—whether in the media, the classroom, or everyday conversation. Additionally, it offers readers a deeper understanding of the foundations of analytical thought. Informal Logical Fallacies: A Brief Guide is a systematic and concise introduction to more than fifty fallacies, from anthropomorphism and argumentum ad baculum, to reductionism and the slippery slope argument. This revised edition includes updated examples, exercises, and a new chapter on non-Western logical fallacies. With helpful definitions and relevant explanations, the author guides the reader through the realms of fallacious reasoning and deceptive rhetoric. This is an essential guide to philosophical reflection and clear thinking.

Download or read book Logically Fallacious written by Bo Bennett and published by eBookIt.com. This book was released on 2012-02-19 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a crash course in effective reasoning, meant to catapult you into a world where you start to see things how they really are, not how you think they are. The focus of this book is on logical fallacies, which loosely defined, are simply errors in reasoning. With the reading of each page, you can make significant improvements in the way you reason and make decisions. Logically Fallacious is one of the most comprehensive collections of logical fallacies with all original examples and easy to understand descriptions, perfect for educators, debaters, or anyone who wants to improve his or her reasoning skills. "Expose an irrational belief, keep a person rational for a day. Expose irrational thinking, keep a person rational for a lifetime." - Bo Bennett This 2021 Edition includes dozens of more logical fallacies with many updated examples.

Download or read book Political Fallacies written by George Junkin and published by . This book was released on 1863 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Informal Logical Fallacies written by Jacob E. Van Vleet and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 2012-07-10 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critical thinking is now needed more than ever. This accessible and engaging book provides the necessary tools to question and challenge the discourse that surrounds us —- whether in the media, the classroom, or everyday conversation. Additionally, it offers readers a deeper understanding of the foundations of analytical thought. Informal Logical Fallacies: A Brief Guide is a systematic and concise introduction to more than forty fallacies, from anthropomorphism and argumentum ad baculum, to reductionism and the slippery slope argument. With helpful definitions, relevant examples, and thought-provoking exercises, the author guides the reader through the realms of fallacious reasoning and deceptive rhetoric. This is an essential guide to philosophical reflection and clear thinking.

Download or read book Logical Fallacies written by B. J. Copeland and published by . This book was released on 2019-09-26 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Logical fallaciesWhat is a Logical Fallacy, Exactly?-------------------All logical fallacies(34)-Examples-Simple Explanation------------------------The word "fallacy" comes from the Latin "fallacia" which means "deception, deceit, trick, artifice," however, a more specific meaning in logic (a logical fallacy) that dates back to the 1550s means "false syllogism, invalid argumentation."An Error in ReasoningOne of the earliest academic discussions of logical fallacies comes from the book Elementary Lessons in Logic: Deductive and Inductive, published by MacMillian and Co. in 1872 where the modern definition of logical fallacies is used: "the modes in which, by neglecting the rules of logic, we often fall into erroneous reasoning." Today, this basic definition is still used, and often abbreviated to just "an error in reasoning." It is not a factual error.The Difference Between Logical Fallacies and Cognitive BiasesIn the early 1970s, two behavioral researchers, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky pioneered the field of behavioral economics through their work with cognitive biases and heuristics, which like logical fallacies, deal with errors in reasoning. The main difference, however, is that logical fallacies require an argument whereas cognitive biases and heuristics (mental shortcuts) refer to our default pattern of thinking. Sometimes there is crossover. Logical fallacies can be the result of a cognitive bias, but having biases (which we all do) does not mean that we have to commit logical fallacies. Consider the bandwagon effect, a cognitive bias that demonstrates the tendency to believe things because many other people believe them. This cognitive bias can be found in the logical fallacy, appeal to popularity.Everybody is doing X.Therefore, X must be the right thing to do.The cognitive bias is the main reason we commit this fallacy. However, if we just started working at a soup kitchen because all of our friends were working there, this wouldn't be a logical fallacy, although the bandwagon effect would be behind our behavior. The appeal to popularity is a fallacy because it applies to an argument.I would say that more often than not, cognitive biases do not lead to logical fallacies. This is because cognitive biases are largely unconscious processes that bypass reason, and the mere exercise of consciously evaluating an argument often causes us to counteract the bias.Factual Errors are Not Logical FallaciesTo illustrate this point, let's consider the availability heuristic, a cognitive bias that describes the tendency for one to overestimate the likelihood of more salient events, usually the result of how recent the memories are or how unusual or emotionally charged they may be. This bias can be demonstrated in believing that you are more likely to die in a plane crash than an automobile accident because of all the plane crashes you see in the news. As a result of this bias, one might argue: Plane crashes kill more people than automobile accidents. Therefore, it is safer to drive in a car than fly in a plane.This is not fallacious; it's factually incorrect. If it were true that plane crashes kill more people than automobile accidents, the conclusion would be reasonable. The argument itself does not contain flawed reasoning; it contains incorrect information. While we can say the reasoning behind the argument was fallacious, there is no logical fallacy present in the argument. Similarly, if I told you that the sun was about 30 miles from the earth and the size of a football stadium, I would not be committing a fallacy-but I would be a moron. Factual errors are not fallacies........

Download or read book Mastering Logical Fallacies written by Michael Withey and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2016-06-21 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "If I have learned anything in ten years of formal debating, it is that arguments are no different: without a good understanding of the rules and tactics, you are likely to do poorly and be beaten."—HENRY ZHANG, President of the Yale Debate Association Your argument is valid and you know it; yet once again you find yourself leaving a debate feeling defeated and embarrassed. The matter is only made worse when you realize that your defeat came at the hands of someone's abuse of logic—and that with the right skills you could have won the argument. The ability to recognize logical fallacies when they occur is an essential life skill. Mastering Logical Fallacies is the clearest, boldest, and most systematic guide to dominating the rules and tactics of successful arguments. This book offers methodical breakdowns of the logical fallacies behind exceedingly common, yet detrimental, argumentative mistakes, and explores them through real life examples of logic-gone-wrong. Designed for those who are ready to gain the upper hand over their opponents, this master class teaches the necessary skills to identify your opponents' misuse of logic and construct effective, arguments that win. With the empowering strategies offered in Mastering Logical Fallacies you'll be able to reveal the slight-of-hand flaws in your challengers' rhetoric, and seize control of the argument with bulletproof logic.

Download or read book Bad Arguments written by Robert Arp and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-10-29 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Three Anarchical Fallacies written by William A. Edmundson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998-09-28 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book exposes fallacies inspired by the idea that coercion seems inseparable from government and in doing so shows that living in a just state remains a worthy ideal.

Download or read book The Fallacies of States Rights written by Sotirios A. Barber and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Barber shows how arguments for states’ rights from John C. Calhoun to the present offend common sense, logic, and bedrock constitutional principles. The Constitution is a charter of positive benefits, not a contract among separate sovereigns whose function is to protect people from the central government, when there are greater dangers to confront.

Download or read book Fatal Fallacies written by C.W. Griffin and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2014-11-26 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the unprecedented assault on science and logical thinking afflicting the U.S., the role of lies has been recognized, if not adequately, by the general media. Almost totally ignored, however, are the logical fallacies perpetrating ideological nonsense. Christian fundamentalists and Republican plutocrats have formed our first religiously based national political party, dedicated to lower taxes on the rich and imposition of a superstitious dictatorship by the busybodies. Led by Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, the worlds highest paid professional liar, the enemies of science and reason have deliberately accelerated the dumbing of America. Republican presidential candidates must reject climate science, and they cant unequivocally endorse the Theory of Evolution (which Theodore Roosevelt did 135 years ago). Enforced by determined Tea Party zealots, this process suppresses fact, endlessly repeats lies, and, more importantly, ignores logic. Every fallacy in the logic textbooks, buttressed by politically originated fallacies, is exploited to the fullest extent. These fallacies include the slippery slope, straw men, red herrings, reversing the burden of proof, vicious circles, language perversion, and single-entry bookkeeping, all united in rejection of science and perpetuation of free-lunch patriotism, supply-side economics, and other false ideologies.

Download or read book Give Them an Argument written by Ben Burgis and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2019-05-31 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Ben Burgis understands that in order to persuade people to join a political movement, you have to master the techniques of rigorous argumentation. He masterfully exposes the cheap sophistry of right-wing 'philosophy' and shows why there's still a place for logic and reason in political discourse. This is a crucial handbook for those who want to 'crush' and 'destroy' the Ben Shapiros of the world.' Nathan Robinson, Editor, Current Affairs Many serious leftists have learned to distrust talk of logic and logical fallacies, associated with right-wing "logicbros". This is a serious mistake. Unlike the neoliberal technocrats, who can point to social problems and tell people "trust us", the serious Left must learn how to argue and persuade. In Give Them an Argument, Ben Burgis arms his reader with the essential knowledge of formal logic and informal fallacies.

Download or read book An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments Learn the Lost Art of Making Sense Bad Arguments written by Ali Almossawi and published by The Experiment, LLC. This book was released on 2014-09-23 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This short book makes you smarter than 99% of the population. . . . The concepts within it will increase your company’s ‘organizational intelligence.’. . . It’s more than just a must-read, it’s a ‘have-to-read-or-you’re-fired’ book.”—Geoffrey James, INC.com From the author of An Illustrated Book of Loaded Language, here’s the antidote to fuzzy thinking, with furry animals! Have you read (or stumbled into) one too many irrational online debates? Ali Almossawi certainly had, so he wrote An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments! This handy guide is here to bring the internet age a much-needed dose of old-school logic (really old-school, a la Aristotle). Here are cogent explanations of the straw man fallacy, the slippery slope argument, the ad hominem attack, and other common attempts at reasoning that actually fall short—plus a beautifully drawn menagerie of animals who (adorably) commit every logical faux pas. Rabbit thinks a strange light in the sky must be a UFO because no one can prove otherwise (the appeal to ignorance). And Lion doesn’t believe that gas emissions harm the planet because, if that were true, he wouldn’t like the result (the argument from consequences). Once you learn to recognize these abuses of reason, they start to crop up everywhere from congressional debate to YouTube comments—which makes this geek-chic book a must for anyone in the habit of holding opinions.

Download or read book Bentham s Handbook of Political Fallacies written by Jeremy Bentham and published by . This book was released on 1952 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Economic Facts and Fallacies written by Thomas Sowell and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2011-03-22 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas Sowell “both surprises and overturns received wisdom” in this indispensable examination of widespread economic fallacies (The Economist) Economic Facts and Fallacies exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues-and does so in a lively manner and without requiring any prior knowledge of economics by the reader. These include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, such as mistaken ideas about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economics fallacies about academia, about race, and about Third World countries. One of the themes of Economic Facts and Fallacies is that fallacies are not simply crazy ideas but in fact have a certain plausibility that gives them their staying power-and makes careful examination of their flaws both necessary and important, as well as sometimes humorous. Written in the easy-to-follow style of the author's Basic Economics, this latest book is able to go into greater depth, with real world examples, on specific issues.

Download or read book Bentham s Handbook of Political Fallacies written by Jeremy Bentham and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Book of Fallacies written by Jeremy Bentham and published by . This book was released on 1824 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform written by John Samples and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At first glance, campaign finance reform looks like a good idea. McCain-Feingold, for instance, regulates campaigns by prohibiting national political parties from accepting soft money contributions from corporations, labor unions, and wealthy individuals. But are such measures, or any of the numerous and similarly restrictive proposals that have circulated through Washington in recent years, really good for our democracy? John Samples says no, and here he takes a penetrating look into the premises and consequences of the long crusade against big money in politics. How many Americans, he asks, know that there is little to no evidence that campaign contributions really influence members of Congress? Or that so-called negative political advertising actually improves the democratic process by increasing voter turnout and knowledge? Or that limits on campaign contributions make it harder to run for office, thereby protecting incumbent representatives from losing their seats of power? Posing tough questions such as these, Samples uncovers numerous fallacies beneath proposals for campaign finance reform. He argues that our most common concerns about money in politics are misplaced because the ideals implicit in our notion of corruption are incoherent or indefensible. The chance to regulate money in politics allows representatives to serve their own interests at a cost to their constituents. And, ironically, this long crusade against the corruption caused by campaign contributions allows public officials to reduce their vulnerability by suppressing electoral competition. Defying long-held ssumptions and conventional political wisdom, The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform is a provocative and decidedly nonpartisan work that will be essential for anyone concerned about the future of American government.