Quantifying Aristotle's Fallacies
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Vagueness Susanne Bobzien and Rosanna Keefe
Vagueness Susanne Bobzien and Rosanna Keefe I—SUSANNE BOBZIEN COLUMNAR HIGHER-ORDER VAGUENESS, OR VAGUENESS IS HIGHER-ORDER VAGUENESS Most descriptions of higher-order vagueness in terms of traditional modal logic generate so-called higher-order vagueness paradoxes. The one that doesn’t (Williamson’s) is problematic otherwise. Consequently, the present trend is toward more complex, non-standard theories. However, there is no need for this. In this paper I introduce a theory of higher-order vagueness that is paradox-free and can be expressed in the first-order extension of a normal modal system that is complete with respect to single-domain Kripke-frame semantics. This is the system qs4m+bf+fin. It corresponds to the class of transitive, reflexive and final frames. With borderlineness (unclarity, indeterminacy) defined logically as usual, it then follows that something is borderline precisely when it is higher-order borderline, and that a predicate is vague precisely when it is higher-order vague. Like Williamson’s, the theory proposed here has no clear borderline cas- es in Sorites sequences. I argue that objections that there must be clear bor- derline cases ensue from the confusion of two notions of borderlineness— one associated with genuine higher-order vagueness, the other employed to sort objects into categories—and that the higher-order vagueness para- doxes result from superimposing the second notion onto the first. Lastly, I address some further potential objections. This paper proposes that vagueness is higher-order vagueness. At first blush this may seem a very peculiar suggestion. It is my hope that the following pages will dispel the peculiarity and that the advantages of the proposed theory will speak for themselves. -
Interpretation: a Journal of Political Philosophy
Interpretation A JOURNAL A OF POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY Winter 1993-1994 Volume 21 Number 2 Thomas Lewis Identifying Rhetoric in the Apology: Does Socrates Use the Appeal for Pity? Joel Warren Lidz Reflections on and in Plato's Cave Bernard Jacob Aristotle's Dialectical Purposes Mary L. Bellhouse Rousseau Under Surveillance: Thoughts on a New Edition and Translation of Rousseau, Judge of Jean-Jacques: Dialogues Peter Augustine Lawler Tocqueville on Socialism and History Maurice Auerbach Carl Schmitt's Quest for the Political: Theology, Decisionism, and the Concept of the Enemy Discussion Victor Gourevich The End of History? Book Reviews Will Morrisey Self-Knowledge in Plato's Phaedrus, by Charles L. Griswold, Jr. Leslie G. Rubin Citizens and Statesmen: A Study of Aristotle's Politics, by Mary P. Nichols John S. Waggoner The Liberal Political Science of Raymond Aron: A Critical Introduction, by Daniel J. Mahoney Interpretation Editor-in-Chief Hilail Gildin, Dept. of Philosophy, Queens College Executive Editor Leonard Grey General Editors Seth G. Benardete Charles E. Butterworth Hilail Gildin Robert Horwitz (d. 1987) Howard B. White (d. 1974) Consulting Editors Christopher Bruell Joseph Cropsey Ernest L. Fortin John Hallowell (d. 1992) Harry V. Jaffa David Lowenthal Muhsin Mahdi Harvey C. Mansfield, Jr. Arnaldo Momigliano (d. 1987) Michael Oakeshott (d. 1990) Ellis Sandoz Leo Strauss (d. 1973) Kenneth W. Thompson European Editors Terence E. Marshall Heinrich Meier Editors Wayne Ambler Maurice Auerbach Fred Baumann Michael Blaustein - Patrick Coby Edward J. Erler Maureen Feder-Marcus Joseph E. Goldberg Stephen Harvey Pamela K. Jensen Ken Masugi Grant B. Mindle James W. Morris Will Morrisey Aryeh L. -
Philosophy 303 the Practice of Philosophy: Modes of Philosophical Argument
Philosophy 303 The Practice of Philosophy: Modes of Philosophical Argument TA: Carrie Swanson Email: [email protected] Office hours: After class, or by appointment (Mondays or Thursdays). Course description: This course is devoted to an examination of various modes of argumentation in the Western philosophical tradition. Our special topic this term is the art of refutation, with a special emphasis upon its origins and development in ancient Greek philosophy. Our starting point is the following remark of Aristotle (from chapter 11 of his treatise, On Sophistical Refutations): ‘Dialectic is at the same time a mode of examination as well. For neither is the art of examination an accomplishment of the same kind as geometry, but one which a man may possess, even though he has not knowledge. For it is possible even for someone who does not know the subject [scientifically] to hold an examination of one who does not know the subject, if also the latter grants him points taken not from thing that he knows or from the special principles of the subject under discussion but from all that range of consequences attaching to [the special principles of a subject] which a man may indeed know without knowing the theory of the subject, but which if he does not know, he is bound to be ignorant of the theory. So then clearly the art of examining does not consist in knowledge of any definite subject. For this reason, too, it deals with everything: for every 'theory' of anything employs also certain common principles. Hence everybody, including even amateurs, makes use in a way of dialectic and the practice of examining: for all undertake to some extent a rough trial of those who profess to know things. -
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VIRGINIA LAW REVIEW ASSOCIATION VIRGINIA LAW REVIEW ONLINE VOLUME 103 DECEMBER 2017 94–102 ESSAY ACT-SAMPLING BIAS AND THE SHROUDING OF REPEAT OFFENDING Ian Ayres, Michael Chwe and Jessica Ladd∗ A college president needs to know how many sexual assaults on her campus are caused by repeat offenders. If repeat offenders are responsible for most sexual assaults, the institutional response should focus on identifying and removing perpetrators. But how many offenders are repeat offenders? Ideally, we would find all offenders and then see how many are repeat offenders. Short of this, we could observe a random sample of offenders. But in real life, we observe a sample of sexual assaults, not a sample of offenders. In this paper, we explain how drawing naive conclusions from “act sampling”—sampling people’s actions instead of sampling the population—can make us grossly underestimate the proportion of repeat actors. We call this “act-sampling bias.” This bias is especially severe when the sample of known acts is small, as in sexual assault, which is among the least likely of crimes to be reported.1 In general, act sampling can bias our conclusions in unexpected ways. For example, if we use act sampling to collect a set of people, and then these people truthfully report whether they are repeat actors, we can overestimate the proportion of repeat actors. * Ayres is the William K. Townsend Professor at Yale Law School; Chwe is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles; and Ladd is the Founder and CEO of Callisto. 1 David Cantor et al., Report on the AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct, Westat, at iv (2015) [hereinafter AAU Survey], (noting that a relatively small percentage of the most serious offenses are reported) https://perma.cc/5BX7-GQPU; Nat’ Inst. -
CHAPTER XXX. of Fallacies. Section 827. After Examining the Conditions on Which Correct Thoughts Depend, It Is Expedient to Clas
CHAPTER XXX. Of Fallacies. Section 827. After examining the conditions on which correct thoughts depend, it is expedient to classify some of the most familiar forms of error. It is by the treatment of the Fallacies that logic chiefly vindicates its claim to be considered a practical rather than a speculative science. To explain and give a name to fallacies is like setting up so many sign-posts on the various turns which it is possible to take off the road of truth. Section 828. By a fallacy is meant a piece of reasoning which appears to establish a conclusion without really doing so. The term applies both to the legitimate deduction of a conclusion from false premisses and to the illegitimate deduction of a conclusion from any premisses. There are errors incidental to conception and judgement, which might well be brought under the name; but the fallacies with which we shall concern ourselves are confined to errors connected with inference. Section 829. When any inference leads to a false conclusion, the error may have arisen either in the thought itself or in the signs by which the thought is conveyed. The main sources of fallacy then are confined to two-- (1) thought, (2) language. Section 830. This is the basis of Aristotle's division of fallacies, which has not yet been superseded. Fallacies, according to him, are either in the language or outside of it. Outside of language there is no source of error but thought. For things themselves do not deceive us, but error arises owing to a misinterpretation of things by the mind. -
Statistical Fallacy: a Menace to the Field of Science
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 9, Issue 6, June 2019 297 ISSN 2250-3153 Statistical Fallacy: A Menace to the Field of Science Kalu Emmanuel Ogbonnaya*, Benard Chibuike Okechi**, Benedict Chimezie Nwankwo*** * Department of Ind. Maths and Applied Statistics, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki ** Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. *** Department of Psychology and Sociological Studies, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki DOI: 10.29322/IJSRP.9.06.2019.p9048 http://dx.doi.org/10.29322/IJSRP.9.06.2019.p9048 Abstract- Statistical fallacy has been a menace in the field of easier to understand but when used in a fallacious approach can sciences. This is mostly contributed by the misconception of trick the casual observer into believing something other than analysts and thereby led to the distrust in statistics. This research what the data shows. In some cases, statistical fallacy may be investigated the conception of students from selected accidental or unintentional. In others, it is purposeful and for the departments on statistical concepts as it relates statistical fallacy. benefits of the analyst. Students in Statistics, Economics, Psychology, and The fallacies committed intentionally refer to abuse of Banking/Finance department were randomly sampled with a statistics and the fallacy committed unintentionally refers to sample size of 36, 43, 41 and 38 respectively. A Statistical test misuse of statistics. A misuse occurs when the data or the results was conducted to obtain their conception score about statistical of analysis are unintentionally misinterpreted due to lack of concepts. A null hypothesis which states that there will be no comprehension. The fault cannot be ascribed to statistics; it lies significant difference between the students’ conception of with the user (Indrayan, 2007). -
Misuse of Statistics in Surgical Literature
Statistics Corner Misuse of statistics in surgical literature Matthew S. Thiese1, Brenden Ronna1, Riann B. Robbins2 1Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational & Environment Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, 2Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Correspondence to: Matthew S. Thiese, PhD, MSPH. Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational & Environment Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah, 391 Chipeta Way, Suite C, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA. Email: [email protected]. Abstract: Statistical analyses are a key part of biomedical research. Traditionally surgical research has relied upon a few statistical methods for evaluation and interpretation of data to improve clinical practice. As research methods have increased in both rigor and complexity, statistical analyses and interpretation have fallen behind. Some evidence suggests that surgical research studies are being designed and analyzed improperly given the specific study question. The goal of this article is to discuss the complexities of surgical research analyses and interpretation, and provide some resources to aid in these processes. Keywords: Statistical analysis; bias; error; study design Submitted May 03, 2016. Accepted for publication May 19, 2016. doi: 10.21037/jtd.2016.06.46 View this article at: http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/jtd.2016.06.46 Introduction the most commonly used statistical tests of the time (6,7). Statistical methods have since become more complex Research in surgical literature is essential for furthering with a variety of tests and sub-analyses that can be used to knowledge, understanding new clinical questions, as well as interpret, understand and analyze data. -
35 Fallacies
THIRTY-TWO COMMON FALLACIES EXPLAINED L. VAN WARREN Introduction If you watch TV, engage in debate, logic, or politics you have encountered the fallacies of: Bandwagon – "Everybody is doing it". Ad Hominum – "Attack the person instead of the argument". Celebrity – "The person is famous, it must be true". If you have studied how magicians ply their trade, you may be familiar with: Sleight - The use of dexterity or cunning, esp. to deceive. Feint - Make a deceptive or distracting movement. Misdirection - To direct wrongly. Deception - To cause to believe what is not true; mislead. Fallacious systems of reasoning pervade marketing, advertising and sales. "Get Rich Quick", phone card & real estate scams, pyramid schemes, chain letters, the list goes on. Because fallacy is common, you might want to recognize them. There is no world as vulnerable to fallacy as the religious world. Because there is no direct measure of whether a statement is factual, best practices of reasoning are replaced be replaced by "logical drift". Those who are political or religious should be aware of their vulnerability to, and exportation of, fallacy. The film, "Roshomon", by the Japanese director Akira Kurisawa, is an excellent study in fallacy. List of Fallacies BLACK-AND-WHITE Classifying a middle point between extremes as one of the extremes. Example: "You are either a conservative or a liberal" AD BACULUM Using force to gain acceptance of the argument. Example: "Convert or Perish" AD HOMINEM Attacking the person instead of their argument. Example: "John is inferior, he has blue eyes" AD IGNORANTIAM Arguing something is true because it hasn't been proven false. -
89% of Introduction-To-Psychology Textbooks That Define Or Explain
AMPXXX10.1177/2515245919858072Cassidy et al.Failing Grade 858072research-article2019 ASSOCIATION FOR General Article PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science Failing Grade: 89% of Introduction-to- 2019, Vol. 2(3) 233 –239 © The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: Psychology Textbooks That Define sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245919858072 10.1177/2515245919858072 or Explain Statistical Significance www.psychologicalscience.org/AMPPS Do So Incorrectly Scott A. Cassidy, Ralitza Dimova, Benjamin Giguère, Jeffrey R. Spence , and David J. Stanley Department of Psychology, University of Guelph Abstract Null-hypothesis significance testing (NHST) is commonly used in psychology; however, it is widely acknowledged that NHST is not well understood by either psychology professors or psychology students. In the current study, we investigated whether introduction-to-psychology textbooks accurately define and explain statistical significance. We examined 30 introductory-psychology textbooks, including the best-selling books from the United States and Canada, and found that 89% incorrectly defined or explained statistical significance. Incorrect definitions and explanations were most often consistent with the odds-against-chance fallacy. These results suggest that it is common for introduction- to-psychology students to be taught incorrect interpretations of statistical significance. We hope that our results will create awareness among authors of introductory-psychology books -
There Is No Fallacy of Arguing from Authority
There is no Fallacy ofArguing from Authority EDWIN COLEMAN University ofMelbourne Keywords: fallacy, argument, authority, speech act. Abstract: I argue that there is no fallacy of argument from authority. I first show the weakness of the case for there being such a fallacy: text-book presentations are confused, alleged examples are not genuinely exemplary, reasons given for its alleged fallaciousness are not convincing. Then I analyse arguing from authority as a complex speech act. R~iecting the popular but unjustified category of the "part-time fallacy", I show that bad arguments which appeal to authority are defective through breach of some felicity condition on argument as a speech act, not through employing a bad principle of inference. 1. Introduction/Summary There's never been a satisfactory theory of fallacy, as Hamblin pointed out in his book of 1970, in what is still the least unsatisfactory discussion. Things have not much improved in the last 25 years, despite fallacies getting more attention as interest in informal logic has grown. We still lack good answers to simple questions like what is a fallacy?, what fallacies are there? and how should we classifY fallacies? The idea that argument from authority (argumentum ad verecundiam) is a fallacy, is well-established in logical tradition. I argue that it is no such thing. The second main part of the paper is negative: I show the weakness of the case made in the literature for there being such a fallacy as argument from authority. First, text-book presentation of the fallacy is confused, second, the examples given are not genuinely exemplary and third, reasons given for its alleged fallaciousness are not convincing. -
Learning to Spot Common Fallacies
LEARNING TO SPOT COMMON FALLACIES We intend this article to be a resource that you will return to when the fallacies discussed in it come up throughout the course. Do not feel that you need to read or master the entire article now. We’ve discussed some of the deep-seated psychological obstacles to effective logical and critical thinking in the videos. This article sets out some more common ways in which arguments can go awry. The defects or fallacies presented here tend to be more straightforward than psychological obstacles posed by reasoning heuristics and biases. They should, therefore, be easier to spot and combat. You will see though, that they are very common: keep an eye out for them in your local paper, online, or in arguments or discussions with friends or colleagues. One reason they’re common is that they can be quite effective! But if we offer or are convinced by a fallacious argument we will not be acting as good logical and critical thinkers. Species of Fallacious Arguments The common fallacies are usefully divided into three categories: Fallacies of Relevance, Fallacies of Unacceptable Premises, and Formal Fallacies. Fallacies of Relevance Fallacies of relevance offer reasons to believe a claim or conclusion that, on examination, turn out to not in fact to be reasons to do any such thing. 1. The ‘Who are you to talk?’, or ‘You Too’, or Tu Quoque Fallacy1 Description: Rejecting an argument because the person advancing it fails to practice what he or she preaches. Example: Doctor: You should quit smoking. It’s a serious health risk. -
False Dilemma Wikipedia Contents
False dilemma Wikipedia Contents 1 False dilemma 1 1.1 Examples ............................................... 1 1.1.1 Morton's fork ......................................... 1 1.1.2 False choice .......................................... 2 1.1.3 Black-and-white thinking ................................... 2 1.2 See also ................................................ 2 1.3 References ............................................... 3 1.4 External links ............................................. 3 2 Affirmative action 4 2.1 Origins ................................................. 4 2.2 Women ................................................ 4 2.3 Quotas ................................................. 5 2.4 National approaches .......................................... 5 2.4.1 Africa ............................................ 5 2.4.2 Asia .............................................. 7 2.4.3 Europe ............................................ 8 2.4.4 North America ........................................ 10 2.4.5 Oceania ............................................ 11 2.4.6 South America ........................................ 11 2.5 International organizations ...................................... 11 2.5.1 United Nations ........................................ 12 2.6 Support ................................................ 12 2.6.1 Polls .............................................. 12 2.7 Criticism ............................................... 12 2.7.1 Mismatching ......................................... 13 2.8 See also