ENTRY 04_ LE THI NGOC ANH

ENTRY 04

ARGUMENT STRUCTURES AND FALLACIES

ITEM 1:

Một du khác đến thăm một thầy phù thủy ở Congo, thấy trong phòng ông ta có một cái hộp giấy đựng rất nhiều ong. Thầy phù thủy cho biết: ‘’ Nếu ông là thù thì lũ ong đã đốt ông rồi. Tuần trước có 1 kẻ xấu vào đây, liền bị ong đốt cho phải bỏ chạy.’’

-         Hắn ta đã nói gì với ông? – du khách hỏi

-         Chưa kịp nói gì cả

-         Vậy làm sao ông biết hắn là kẻ xấu?

-         Vì ong đã đốt hắn.

Source: http://tailieu.vn/xem-tai-lieu/logic-hoc-chuong-v-chung-minh-bac-bo-va-nguy-bien.927861.html

Structure of argument:

Premise 1: If someone is the bad, bees will bite him

Premise 2: He was bitten by bees

(Conclusion) He is a bad person

Structural fallacy:

If A, then B

B

Therefore, A

Argument error:

The argument is weak because premise 1 is wrong. In fact, bee is an animal that has no ability to distinguish between the good from the bad. Therefore, acusing someone of being the bad since he was bitten by bees isn’t a mistake.

ITEM 2:

You will get pregnant if you kiss a boy. I’ve seen Sally kiss boys three times, and now she is a pregnant.

Source: http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/Logic_Fallacies_Exercise.html

Structure of argument:

Premise 1: If you kiss a boy, you will get pregnant

Premise 2: I’ve seen Sally kiss boys three times

(Conclusion) She is a pregnant

Structural fallacy:

If A, then B

A

Therefore, B

Argument error:

The argument is weak because premise 1 is wrong. Because you will only get pregnant if you have sexual relations with someone but not a kiss.

ITEM 3:

Men are all alike: selfish creatures who spend every weekend glued to a television tube.

Source: http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/Logic_Fallacies_Exercise.html

Type of fallacy: hasty generalization

Argument error:

The argument is false because selfish is only one of the characters of men. There are also good men, bad men, sympathetic men, enthusiastic men and so on. Thus, concluding that ‘’men are all alike’’ is totally invalid