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Other Fallacies to Watch For   Fallacy of Emphasis or Accent This is another common fallacy committed in advertising, although it often appears also in political dialogue. This involves an incorrect emphasis of the words in a sentence. Improper stress is placed on some portion of a premise or conclusion so the meaning of the argument is distorted. Example: "When Councilman Rogers was asked whether he had any evidence of police brutality in the community, he replied, truthfully, 'There isn't any I have seen.' He had, however, received several verbal accounts of police brutality from his constituents." (The emphasis here is on the word seen. He was truthful; he had not seen any. But he had heard about cases of brutality. Councilman Rogers was attempting to deceive his constituents. Listen to politicians very carefully. They pull this stunt all too often!)   Fallacy of Significance This fallacy is usually an attempt to mislead or deceive. Example: "Twenty-eight percent of doctors smoke Crappies!" (This is a common ploy used by advertisers. We do not know, however, if this is significant at all. We don't know how many doctors do not smoke nor do we know how many doctors who do smoke, smoke only Crappies.) Example: "Sixty percent of the children in New York City read below grade level!" (Many times this is a ploy of those promoting special interests. We can't tell whether this percentage is significant without some means of comparison. How does New York City compare with other cities its size? What about racial makeup? What about other environmental factors compared with other similar cities? Without much more information, we just don't know how significant the figure is.) Statements similar to the above should always be challenged. It should always be asked how "significant" any statistic is, particularly regarding the basis for a comparison.   Quoting Out of Context This is another very common fallacy. Consider the following example. A book reviewer has written this about a new novel: "I would enjoy this book if and only if it were the only book in the world, or if I were on a desert island and had nothing else to read." This is, however, how it appears in an advertisement for the novel: "I would enjoy this book...if I were on a desert island..." We must always be wary of single quotes or partial quotes taken from written or verbal material without knowing what the full quote is or in what context the quote appeared.   Fallacy of the False Dilemma This fallacy consists of presenting an argument as if there were fewer possible solutions of the problem than is actually the case. Usually two alternatives are offered in an either-or fashion. But unless both are reasonably correct and one directly contradicts the other, there are generally other available alternatives. This fallacy appears often in political settings where a proponent of a particular social policy is arguing in favor of implementation. Example: "With the crime rate increasing at the rate it is, you must either carry a gun with you or live in fear!" (One needs to ask, of course, are these the only two alternatives. We should hope not. A statement like this deserves to be challenged directly. "Do you mean there are not any other alternatives but these two? Let's think about this before we rush into a bad solution.") This fallacy can have serious consequences. In 1972, Richard Nixon had the choice of fighting the Democrats by devious and sometimes unethical means, or handing the presidency over to George McGovern, whose foreign and domestic policies would, in Nixon's opinion, have spelled disaster for the country. Nixon was a victim of the false dilemma and argued he had no choice but to do things considered unethical to save the country. Were there no other alternatives? Of course, there were. But sometimes people try to rationalize their unethical behavior by pointing out it was the only alternative. Example: "The only way to manage a company effectively is to instill fear in your employees. Either you treat employees kindly and they take advantage of you and goof off, or you are tough on them and they'll work hard for you." (If these are the only two alternatives, we are all in serious trouble. Fortunately, most employers don't think this way. They don't become victims of the false dilemma.) It needs to be noted, of course, that there are situations where only one of two alternatives is possible. If there are only two genuine alternatives, then this fallacy does not apply. A particular situation may, in fact, raise a true dilemma and not a false one.   The Straw Man Fallacy This fallacy occurs when we interpret an individual's statements on a given matter in such a way as to make them most vulnerable to attack and criticism. It often involves reducing a relatively complex argument to an overly simple form, thereby leaving out some of its key elements. A college debate team member is arguing against the legalization of marijuana and says: "The only possible justification its proponents can give for legalizing marijuana is that marijuana laws cannot be absolutely enforced." The above argument is very weak because no one claims that any law can be absolutely enforced. The arguments for or against legalizing marijuana must rest on other more substantive grounds. The same holds true for the legalization of prostitution, a campaign that rears its head now and then in the press. Those in favor of legalization have consistently argued that it should be legalized because the laws against it cannot be strictly enforced. This may be, but it is a weak argument in favor of prostitution. No law has ever been able to be strictly enforced one-hundred per cent. If this argument is reasonable, we might as well legalize murder since many murderers are never caught and if caught, some are even acquitted.   Statistical Fallacies Statistical fallacies involve a misuse of the statistical method. Many people, unfortunately, think that "you can make statistics prove anything." But this is true only if statistical methodology is misused. The proper and correct use of the statistical method has been extremely valuable for the accumulation of scientific knowledge, most of which has been beneficial to mankind. The use of statistics in advertising commercials needs to be carefully evaluated by any consumer. Example: "Brand X laundry detergent washed 91 times cleaner than any other soap!" (One needs to ask: "What sort of tests were done? What is meant by the phrase 'cleaner than'?") The most misleading cases of statistical misuse we are seeing lately have to do with scientific reports on health matters appearing in the popular press. Most scientific studies, properly performed and presented, contain specific limitations as to the overall efficacy of their conclusions. Actually, most scientific studies are quite conservative and tentative. But this is not the impression one necessarily gets from the media. All too often, the media selects a tentative conclusion and offers it to us as if it was already a "truth" or fact of science. New scientific studies are particularly tentative and the conclusions should be treated accordingly. One example of this is when it is reported, for instance, that eating eggs is bad for you, only to be reported later that, well, eating eggs now may not be so bad after all. One other danger in the use of statistics that has arisen is the selective and misleading use of statistics to garner support for some specific political or social action. Beware of this!   In Conclusion All too often an argument will contain multiple logical fallacies and sometimes these are difficult to detect. We have to become observant and ready to challenge any argument that initially strikes us as "peculiar" or unreasonable. Let's consider three of these as we end our discussion of logical fallacies. "During every recession, we had a Republican in office. We can conclude, therefore, that the Republicans obviously do not know how to manage the nation's economic affairs." The above argument contains both the fallacy of hasty generalization and the fallacy of false cause. Can you find them? Here is a statement made by Richard Nixon in 1973: "Mr. Sparkman and Mr. Stevenson should come before the American people, as I have, and make a complete financial statement as to their financial history, and if they don't it will be an admission that they have something to hide." The above statement by Nixon contains three fallacies: an argument from ignorance, an ad hominem argument or personal attack, and an appeal to force. Can you find them? "The United States should not give aid to lesser developed countries. We gave aid to India and they developed an atomic bomb. We gave aid to South Vietnam and the war there has continued. We gave aid to Turkey and they invaded Cyprus." The above argument contains the fallacies of irrelevant conclusion and false cause. Can you find them? Back to Page One Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Book... Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Magazine... Main Page & Index
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