Formalogicfallacy
Formalogicfallacyreferstothefallacyoflogicthatdoesnotfollowtherulesofformallogicreasoningforreasoning,deduction,andargumentation:
Negationoftheantecedentefallacy
Typicalform: "IfAisthenB, notA, thereforenotB".
Exemplum: "Ifitisabird, thenit willeventuallydie; manisnotabird; oldmanWillnotdie." Thisisamisuse of the bluntsyllogism.
Affirmans fallacyofthesubsequentpart
Typicalform: "IfAisthenB;CisB; thereforeCisA";
Exempli gratia: "Ifitisfrieddoughsticks, thenitis deliciosus, panis delectabilis; ergo panis frieddoughsticks." Hoc etiam in usu est hebetudo syllogismus.
Falsedilemma
Typicalform: "AorBorC, notA, ergoB."
Forma electivae yllogismi haec est: "AorB, notA; ergo B". Cascades est haec forma: "P1orP2orP3...orPn; non P2 et non P3... et non Pn; ergo P1".
Thisfallacyiscalledafalsedilemma,becausesophistsoftenexpressinthisform:"supportsweetsorsupportsaltyfood;youdonotsupportsweets;thereforeyousupportsaltyfood."Sophistsdeliberatelyput"neutral"intheirexpressions.Thisoptiondisappears,creatingtheillusionofselectivesyllogism.Itisworthnotingthatsomepeopletendtoclassifyfalsedilemmaasthefallacyofinformallogic.
Thefallacyofinformallogic
Thefallacyofinformallogicisessentiallythefallacyofpremiseerrors.Thisreferstologicalfallaciescausedbyreasoning,deduction,andargumentationbasedonwrongpremises,suchasnotadmittingthattheobjectiveworldexistsindependentlyofconsciousness.
Foraninference,itmusthaveitspremiseandinferenceform.
Inthegeneralthinkingofhumanbeings,thepremiseisoftenunclear,andthewrongconclusionwillbedrawnduetosomewrongpremises.
Appealtoignorance
Thepremiseoferror:todeterminethatathingiscorrectonlybecauseithasnotbeenprovenwrong;ortoconcludethatathingiswrong,onlyBecauseithasnotbeenprovencorrect.
Forexample,thelogicofmanyconspiracytheoristsisthis:Youcannotfalsifymytheory,somytheoryiscorrect,andreligioustheoryisatypicalexample.
CircularArgument
Alsoknownas"expectedreason"and"beggingmagic".Thisistousehypothesistoprovethelogicalfallacyofthehypothesis.Thepremiseoftheerrorhereistheassumptionitself.
Typicalform: "IfPisthenQ, ifQisthenR, ifRisthenP, putantP; ergoP".
Exempli gratia: "XX" dicit Deum esse "XX" est verbum Dei, ergo "XX" est omnino non esse falsum; ergo Deus est.
Ofcourse,whensophistryusescircularargument,theywillgoaroundabigcircle.Makesitlooksflawless.
Whenitcomestocircularargumentation,letmementionthecirculardefinitionbytheway.Arealexample,theacademiccirclesinthepast(nineteenthcentury)definedthekilogramas"themassofaliterofwateratstandardatmosphericpressure",whilethestandardatmosphericpressurewasdefinedas101325Pa,andthepressureunitPawasdefinedas"Newtonpersquaremeter”(N/(m^2)),andthedefinitionoftheunitofforceNewtonis“theforcethatcausesanobjectwithamassofonekilogramtoproduceanaccelerationofonemeterpersecondsquared”(kg·m/(s^2)),whichcreatesacirculardefinition.Later,inordertoavoidthecirculardefinition,thekilogramwaschangedtousethemassoftheinternationaloriginalkilogramtodefineit.
Thelandslidefallacy
Thepremiseoftheerroristhat"possibility"equals"inevitability"ormagnifiescertainrelatedfactors,whichwillnotleadtochangesinresults.
Sophistswhousetheslipperyslopefallacyoftenusealongseriesofcascadinginferences.Manyoftheseinferencesareonlyprobabilistic(orevenanegligiblysmallprobability),andthesophistrydeliberatelysaidthatitisinevitable,soonethingcanfinally"reason"toalmostunrelatedresults..
Example:Xiaohongopposesgaymarriagebecauseshethinksthatifweallowgaymarriage,thensomepeoplewillwanttomarryatableorchair.Xiaohongcommittedthefallacyofslipperyslope.
Various"upgradesontheline"alsooftenusetheslipperyslopefallacy.
Takingpartialgeneralizations
Thepremiseoftheerroris:acertainpropertyofanindividualisauniversalpropertyofthegroupcontainingtheindividual.
Exemplum: "ADutchisaliar, soallDutchareliars."
Exemplum: "Oneofmytheoriesis recta, soallofmytheoria recta."
Clusterfallacy
Alsoknownastotalbias,thisisacommonmistakewhenanalyzingstatisticaldata.Thepremiseoftheerroristhatthefallacybelievesthatfromtheuniversalnatureofthegroup,itcanbeinferredthatanyindividualinthegroupmusthavethisnature.
Exemplum: "Saudisaregenerallyrich,soeverySaudiisrich."
Example:"ThepercapitaincomeoftheUnitedStatesishigherthanthatofChina,soanyAmericanIncomeishigherthanthatofanyChinese."
Appealtoanalogy
Analogyissuitableforelaboration,explanationandconjecture.
Thecorrectpremiseisthattwothingswithacertain"commonality"thatmakesense,havecommonalityatthelevelofargumentation.
Generallyspeaking,peoplethinkthatonlytwothingswhosecommonalityisnot"largeenough"atthelevelthatneedstobedemonstrated,ortwothingswhosecommonalityliesoutsidethelevelthatneedstobeargued,canbedemonstratedbyanalogy.Itisaninvalidargument.
Example:"Dogsandhumansarebothmammals,andeatinghumanfleshisagainstmorals,soeatingdogmeatisagainstmorals."(Thecommonalitybetweenhumansanddogsisinbiology.Notinhumanmorality.)
Infact,fromarigorouslogicalpointofview,theso-called"sufficientlylargecommonality"isactuallyimpossibletomeasure,andtheresultsobtainedarenotlogicallyinevitable.Sinceitisnotinevitable,italsolosesthebasicmeaningoflogicandargumentation.Logicallyspeaking,onlywhenthetwoarecompletelyequalcananinferencesimilartotheanalogyargumentbemade.Fromitspremise,thisargumentismeaningless.
Appealtothepublic
Alsoknownas"bandfloats",itisalogicalfallacythatusesherdeffecttodemonstrate.Toputitbluntly,appealingtothepublicisonlyapersuasivemethod,notanargumentationmethod.Truthhasnothingtodowiththeamountofsupport.
Thetypicalformisalsothepremiseoftheerror:"Everyoneislikethis,sothismustnotbewrong."
Exempli gratia: "Therearemanysmokers, sosmoking is notharmfulto health."
Appealtosubjectiveemotion
Hoc autem est maxime commune.
Inthefallacyofappealingtosubjectiveemotions,itisoftenpresupposedthat"themotivatedbehaviorisappropriate"isthefalsepremise.Infact,thecriteriaforjudgingtheappropriatenessofbehaviorareoftenbasedonsomecomprehensiverationalresults.Foraperson,motivationcanalsobedividedintolargeandsmall,foramotivatedbehavior,thereisalsoarationalwayornot.Whetherabehaviorisappropriateornotisnotonlyjudgedbytheperson.
Oneofitscommonapplicationsis"Aslongasitisrighttopraisethemotherland",thisisoftenusedasthewrongpremiseofthetheoryofculturalhegemony.
Whenapersonlovessomething,heoftenthinksitisbeautifulorevenperfect,andmaypraiseit.Thisisapurelyemotionalimpulse.Ifapersonistrulypatriotic,thegreatermotivationshouldbetodosomethingthatisgoodforthecountry,anditshouldberationallyconsideredwhatkindofbehaviorisgoodforthecountry,soastoavoidsomeuselessorharmfulactionsanddosomethingreallyuseful.thing.
Anotherformofappealingtosubjectiveemotionsis"empathy",suchas"Ifyouaretheparentofthevictim,wouldyoustillthinkthatitiswrongtosentenceYaoJiaxintodeath?"Isitsentencedhere?Thestandardofthedeathpenaltyshouldnotbedeterminedbythesubjectiveemotionsofthevictim’sparents.
Anothervariantofitis"thesameforyou",suchas"IfyousitinFangBinxing'sposition,youwillalso'buildawall',soFangBinxingisrighttobuildawall."Inthesameway,thestandardforjudgingrightorwronghereshouldnotbedeterminedbythesubjectiveemotionofthepersonsittinginthisposition.
Thereisalsoalogicalfallacythatusesthecompassionoftheaudiencetodemonstrate.Thisismoreameansofpropaganda.
Forma typica: "Quia valde miserabilis est, ideo quod Adidis non est malum."
Example:"BecauseXiaoZhang'sfamilyisverypoor,soXiaoZhangengravedfakeofficialseals.Thereisnothingwrongwithmedicalexpenses."
Similarly,thestandardforjudgingrightorwronghereshouldnotbedeterminedbyXiaoZhang’ssubjectiveemotions,andotherrationalmeanscanalsobeusedtoachieveitsgoals.
AppealtoAuthority
Youusethepointofviewofanauthorityfigure/organizationtoreplaceapowerfulargument.
Toproveapointofview,itisnotenoughtoextractotherpeople’spointsofview.Atleastonemustknowtheauthoritativepointofviewmentioned.Becauseauthorityfigures/organizationscanalsomakemistakes,itisimpossibletounconditionallyassumerationality.Ofcourse,theopinionofanauthorityfigure/organizationmayberight,soitisnotjustbecausetheotherpartyhasusedthefallacyofappealingtoauthoritytoconcludethatthispointofviewisdefinitelywrong.
Exemplum: "Theoria evolutionis rectae, quia notus ingratus theoriam evolutionis sustinet."
Irrelevantfallacy
Alsoknownasdistortingthetopic,evadingthetopic,andchangingthetopic.Conceptorredherring.Itisafallacythatdistortstheobjectofargumentandshiftsthefocusofdiscussion.Sophistsoftenusethistofishintroubledwaters.Infact,thebasistoprovethestolenthesiscanprovethewrongpremiseoftheoriginalthesis.
Therearemanytypicalformsofthisfallacy,butonlyoneisgivenbelow.
Oneofthetypicalforms: "IfAthenB, ifCthenD, Quia C, soB."
Exemplum: "Ifyouliketoeat'RedFuji', youliketoeatapples; ifyouliketodrink'MasterKongAppleJuice', youliketodrinkapplejuice; youliketodrink'MasterKongAppleJuice',Soyouliketoeatapples.
Personalitas, animi impetus.Attacking theopponent'spersonality, motivation, habitus, status, classis, situs, etc.
>Example:"Youareanemployeeofanoilcompany,ofcourseyouhavetoclaimthatglobalwarmingisfake"
The "terrex" thatoftenapparsindebatesisingsisalsofallacy.
TheFallacyofThisLater
Alsoknownaspost-eventattribution,falsecausation.Thepremiseoftheerroris:justbecauseeventAhappenedbeforeeventB,itcanbeconcludedthateventAisthecauseofeventB.
Example:"Abutterflyflappeditswingsatnineo'clock,andatyphoongeneratedinthePacificatteno'clock,sothebutterflyflappeditswingswasthecauseofthetyphoon."
Therearealsosomesophistrymethodsforinvalidproofstousethe"obscuremethod"intheproofprocesstohideacertainwrongpremiseanddrawthewrongconclusion.
Example:Proof1isthegreatest"Assumethatthelargestpositiveintegerisnot1,buta,witha>1;a>1>0,andaispositive,soa*a>aisobtainedfroma>1;Buta*aisstillapositiveinteger,butthereisnopositiveintegergreaterthana,whichiscontradictory;therefore,thelargestpositiveintegeris1."(Leaveittoyoutofindoutthe"obscuremethod".)
Logicalfallacyisagreatenemyofdebate,butagoodfriendofsophistry.Aslongaswedefendourbrainwithlogicalthinking,wecanletLogicalfallaciesandsophistshavenowheretohide,thuscreatingaworldofrationaldebate.