Bad Arguments: 100 of the Most Important Fallacies in Western Philosophy

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, 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 premises 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 argumentation. Whether an instance of sunk cost, 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

Affirming a Disjunct 39
Jason Iuliano

Affirming the Consequent 42
Brett Gaul

Denying the Antecedent 46
Brett Gaul

Categorical Logic 49

Exclusive Premises 51
Charlene Elsby

Four Terms 55
Charlene Elsby

Illicit Major and Minor Terms 60
Charlene Elsby

Undistributed Middle 63
Charlene Elsby

Part II Informal Fallacies 67

Fallacies of Relevance 69

Ad Hominem: Bias 71
George Wrisley

Ad Hominem: Circumstantial 77
George Wrisley

Ad Hominem: Direct 83
George Wrisley

 Ad Hominem: Tu Quoque 88
George Wrisley

Adverse Consequences 94
David Vander Laan

Appeal to Emotion: Force or Fear 98
George Wrisley

Appeal to Emotion: Pity 102
George Wrisley

Appeal to Ignorance 106
Benjamin W. McCraw

Appeal to the People 112
Benjamin W. McCraw

Appeal to Personal Incredulity 115
Tuomas W. Manninen

Appeal to Ridicule 118
Gregory L. Bock

Appeal to Tradition 121
Nicolas Michaud

Argument from Fallacy 125
Christian Cotton

Availability Error 128
David Kyle Johnson

Base Rate 133
Tuomas W. Manninen

Burden of Proof 137
Andrew Russo

Countless Counterfeits 140
David Kyle Johnson

Diminished Responsibility 145
Tuomas W. Manninen

Essentializing 149
Jack Bowen

Galileo Gambit 152
David Kyle Johnson

Gambler s Fallacy 157
Grant Sterling

Genetic Fallacy 160
Frank Scalambrino

Historian s Fallacy 163
Heather Rivera

Homunculus 165
Kimberly Baltzer ]Jaray

Inappropriate Appeal to Authority 168
Nicolas Michaud

Irrelevant Conclusion 172
Steve Barbone

Kettle Logic 174
Andy Wible

Line Drawing 177
Alexander E. Hooke

Mistaking the Relevance of Proximate Causation 181
David Kyle Johnson

Moving the Goalposts 185
Tuomas W. Manninen

Mystery, Therefore Magic 189
David Kyle Johnson

Naturalistic Fallacy 193
Benjamin W. McCraw

Poisoning the Well 196
Roberto Ruiz

Proving Too Much 201
Kimberly Baltzer ]Jaray

Psychologist s Fallacy 204
Frank Scalambrino

Red Herring 208
Heather Rivera

 Reductio ad Hitlerum 212
Frank Scalambrino

Argument by Repetition 215
Leigh Kolb

Special Pleading 219
Dan Yim

Straw Man 223
Scott Aikin and John Casey

Sunk Cost 227
Robert Arp

Two Wrongs Make a Right 230
David LaRocca

Weak Analogy 234
Bertha Alvarez Manninen

Fallacies of Ambiguity 239

Accent 241
Roberto Ruiz

Amphiboly 246
Roberto Ruiz

Composition 250
Jason Waller

Confusing an Explanation for an Excuse 252
Kimberly Baltzer ]Jaray

Definist Fallacy 255
Christian Cotton

Division 259
Jason Waller

Equivocation 261
Bertha Alvarez Manninen

Etymological Fallacy 266
Leigh Kolb

Euphemism 270
Kimberly Baltzer ]Jaray

Hedging 273
Christian Cotton

If by Whiskey 277
Christian Cotton

Inflation of Conflict 280
Andy Wible

Legalistic Mistake 282
Marco Antonio Azevedo

Oversimplification 286
Dan Burkett

Proof by Verbosity 289
Phil Smolenski

Sorites Fallacy 293
Jack Bowen

Fallacies of Presumption 297

Accident 299
Steve Barbone

All or Nothing 301
David Kyle Johnson

Anthropomorphic Bias 305
David Kyle Johnson

Begging the Question 308
Heather Rivera

Chronological Snobbery 311
A.G. Holdier

Complex Question 314
A.G. Holdier

Confirmation Bias 317
David Kyle Johnson

Conjunction 321
Jason Iuliano

Constructive Nature of Perception 324
David Kyle Johnson

Converse Accident 330
Steve Barbone

Existential Fallacy 332
Frank Scalambrino

False Cause: Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc 335
Bertha Alvarez Manninen

False Cause: Ignoring Common Cause 338
Bertha Alvarez Manninen

False Cause: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc 342
Bertha Alvarez Manninen

False Dilemma 346
Jennifer Culver

Free Speech 348
Scott Aikin and John Casey

Guilt by Association 351
Leigh Kolb

Hasty Generalization 354
Michael J. Muniz

Intentional Fallacy 357
Nicolas Michaud

Is/Ought Fallacy 360
Mark T. Nelson

Masked Man 364
Charles Taliaferro and K.M. Villa

Middle Ground 367
Grant Sterling

Mind Projection 369
Charles Taliaferro and K.M. Villa

Moralistic Fallacy 371
Galen Foresman

No True Scotsman 374
Tuomas W. Manninen

Reification 378
Robert Sinclair

Representative Heuristic 382
David Kyle Johnson

Slippery Slope 385
Michael J. Muniz

Stolen Concept 388
Rory E. Kraft, Jr.

Subjective Validation 392
David Kyle Johnson

Subjectivist Fallacy 396
Frank Scalambrino

Suppressed Evidence 399
David Kyle Johnson

Unfalsifiability 403
Jack Bowen

Unwarranted Assumption 407
Kimberly Baltzer ]Jaray

Index

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.

Steven Barbone is Associate Professor of philosophy at San Diego State University. He has published articles and book chapters on Baruch Spinoza.

Michael Bruce works in the software industry in San Francisco. With Steve 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.