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AMADO, Coleen M.III-37 BSE Physics

G-SS 04Dr. Guillermo Q. Roman, Jr.

January 17, 2013____________________________________________________________________________

UNIT IV

CRITICAL THINKING AND LOGIC

A fallacy is a type of argument that relies on premises that are irrelevant to its

conclusion. Upon hearing a fallacy, one may think that this is actually sound. But when you

analyze it using logic, youll end up knowing that it is actually not. And, whats funny is, we use

these fallacies very often in our everyday lives. Not knowing that were actually being illogical at

those times.

.Suppose you have a relative who has long been confined to the hospital. She could no

longer do without the machines. One of your relatives suggested to do euthanasia since the

patient could already be considered dead anyway. So its better to let her rest and besides, that

would also save them for spending more money. What would be your reaction to your relatives

suggestion? Your response is fallacious if it is one of the following: (1) We should not do

euthanasia on her because killing is a mortal sin to God.; (2) We should not do euthanasia on

her. I want to be with her longer. If shes going to die, it would really break my heart. I may not

be able to take it.; and (3) Why do you want her dead? You must have something against her.

These three arguments are all fallacious because their bases are not relevant to the

conclusion. In the case of the first statement, we all know that it is indeed a sin to kill a person.

But the point is, the claim of your relative is that the patient is already dead anyway. Shes just

relying on the machines to live. So if you perform euthanasia, is that actually killing? The second

statement, on the other hand, is an appeal to emotion or to pity. Yes, they would all be sad if the

patient would die. But is it reasonable to spare her if she seems to be dead anyway. Does she

still really exist if shes just sleeping and cant talk? Lastly , the third statement is an abusive

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argument because it is an attack to the person and not to the argument. Your relative having

something against the patient is a different story. This is just pure assumption and it doesnt

have a clear and valid basis.

Other examples of fallacies that most people use are that all politicians are corrupt and

all rich people are cruel or abusive to the poor. These are fallacious because these are

generalizations made when only a few instances of the kind are observed. There may be

politicians that are corrupt and there may be rich people who are mean to the poor, but not all.

When youre a politician, you should not be automatically regarded as corrupt. This is the same

as in the case of the rich people. Another example is that men who dont have girlfriends at late

ages are gays. This is a false cause because being gay is not the only reason why men dont

marry or dont engage in relationship to the opposite sex. Examples of arguments from

ignorance, on the other hand are that eatingpancit on your birthday can give you longer life and

those who have big ears live longer. These dont actually have proofs. There are also no proofs

that these are not true.

You see, we hardly notice it but we actually use fallacies in our everyday life. But is it

really possible to be free from fallacies? Personally, I think, this is impossible. Its hard to be

logical. It requires high level of thinking. Besides, being human, we have our emotions, culture

and personal beliefs that intimidate in our thinking. This is one of the limitations of man. Thats

probably the reason why fallacies are very common on our daily discourse and very evident in

our everyday lives.