Three Types of Fallacious Reasoning
Dunn 1
Lee Dunn
Dr. Jackson Jones
English 121
April 19 2015
Three Types of Fallacious Reasoning
In the essay,
Love Is A Fallacy
, the narrator attempts to educate his potential girlfriend of the different logic and fallacies, He said, “Logic," I said, clearing my throat, “is the science of thinking. Before we can think correctly, we must first learn to recognize the common fallacies of logic.” Ad misericordiam, false analogy, poisoning the well are just a three examples of fallacious reasoning from the essay.
Ad misericordiam is a fallacy in which someone tries to win support for an argument or idea by exploiting his or her opponent's feelings of pity or guilt. One example, from the essay, is
“A man applies for a job, and when he was asked what are his qualifications, he replies with how him and his family has nothing for the upcoming winter.” This is a fallacy because the fact that the man’s family will be suffering this winter has nothing to do with the fact if whether or not the man qualifies for the job. Ad misericordiam can also be used as a way to attempt to not have the officer give you a ticket, such as this example, “Oh, Officer, There's no reason to give me a traffic ticket for going too fast because I was just on my way to the hospital to see my wife who is in serious condition to tell her I just lost my job and the car will be repossessed.” This is also a fallacy because the fact that his wife is in the hospital, he lost his job, or that his car will be repossessed will not prevent him from getting a ticket from the officer. In public education, and ad misericordiam example can be, “Public Schools, K through 12, need to have much easier
Dunn 2
exams for students because teachers don't fully realize the extent of the emotional repercussions of the sorrow and depression of the many students who could score much better on easier exams.” This is a fallacy because students having an emotional break down will not affect
Lee Dunn
Dr. Jackson Jones
English 121
April 19 2015
Three Types of Fallacious Reasoning
In the essay,
Love Is A Fallacy
, the narrator attempts to educate his potential girlfriend of the different logic and fallacies, He said, “Logic," I said, clearing my throat, “is the science of thinking. Before we can think correctly, we must first learn to recognize the common fallacies of logic.” Ad misericordiam, false analogy, poisoning the well are just a three examples of fallacious reasoning from the essay.
Ad misericordiam is a fallacy in which someone tries to win support for an argument or idea by exploiting his or her opponent's feelings of pity or guilt. One example, from the essay, is
“A man applies for a job, and when he was asked what are his qualifications, he replies with how him and his family has nothing for the upcoming winter.” This is a fallacy because the fact that the man’s family will be suffering this winter has nothing to do with the fact if whether or not the man qualifies for the job. Ad misericordiam can also be used as a way to attempt to not have the officer give you a ticket, such as this example, “Oh, Officer, There's no reason to give me a traffic ticket for going too fast because I was just on my way to the hospital to see my wife who is in serious condition to tell her I just lost my job and the car will be repossessed.” This is also a fallacy because the fact that his wife is in the hospital, he lost his job, or that his car will be repossessed will not prevent him from getting a ticket from the officer. In public education, and ad misericordiam example can be, “Public Schools, K through 12, need to have much easier
Dunn 2
exams for students because teachers don't fully realize the extent of the emotional repercussions of the sorrow and depression of the many students who could score much better on easier exams.” This is a fallacy because students having an emotional break down will not affect