FALLACY

Statements
used to deceive people;
FALSE REASONING
 2 CLASSIFICATIONS OF FALLACIES:
 1. Fallacies of ambiguity – the term or the
premise used in argument appears to have
more than one meaning, and while
applicable in one situation may not be
applicable in another.

 2. Fallacies of relevance – the conclusion

does not necessarily follow from the
premises.
 Ms. Bautista is useless on this topic.
She has no right to talk about LOGIC
and FALLACIES since she is not even a
Philosophy teacher.
 Can you learn LOGIC and FALLACIES from a
teacher of English and Mass
Communication graduate?
 How can the lawmakers formulate a law
that is pro-poor if, in the first place, they
haven’t experienced being poor? All of
them are millionaires. That is why, our
laws, obviously, are pro-rich.
 Abusive type/ Genetic fallacy -- focuses
on the characteristic of the person which is
incompatible with the statement

 “My dad always tells me to stop smoking.
Why should I follow him when he couldn’t
stop smoking himself?”
 “My parents didn’t finish college but they
are literally dragging me to go to school. I
can’t believe it. I think I should not follow
them.”
 Circumstantial type -- One
argues against the statement
because the author himself has
contradicted the statement. (“Don’t
do as I do.”)
 April is not a credible contestant in Ms.
Philippines. She had joined Mutya ng
Pilipinas last year and she didn’t win. Now,
she’s joining Ms. Philippines! I bet she has
no chance of winning.”
 “I’m not good at public speaking.
Everytime I deliver a speech, I fail. I’m not
credible. I quit.”
 “Mass housing results in faceless, drab-
looking apartment blocks and living spaces.
These buildings do not make for warmth
and beauty. We fee the city should stop its
mass housing program.”
 Call for perfection -- Arguing that a
 “ Liza will never make a good lawyer. In
one of her classes, he was once asked a
simple question, and the only answer he
could give the professor was a blank
stare.”

ACCIDENT – treating as
permanent a quality that may only
be temporary.
 “The Constitutional Commission came out with a
draft which suggests that we should adopt the
parliamentary form of government. This is the
most preferred, and the best form of government
suited to the country.”
 (most preferred by whom? Best suited
compared to what?)
 “Good morning Philippines! You are
listening to the number one radio station in
the land! This is 99.1 GVFM!”
 (number one? Land? So what’s the point of
comparison?)
FLOATING COMPARISON – the
comparative or superlative form of a term
which is not connected to anything
 “Before heavy rains fall, frogs always go
into a clamor of croaking. Clearly, frogs
cause heavy rains, and the louder their
croaking, the heavier the downpour.”
 “You lost a lot of weight. I heard you were
always practicing for this dance number.
So, I believe that the series of practices
made you really slim tonight.”
POST HOC, ERGO PROPTER
HOC (after the fact, therefore
because of it)
 “I’m confident of finally passing the bar
exams this time around. I’m going to use
the fountain pen of last year’s topnotcher.”

NON CAUSA PRO CAUSA (there

is no cause of the kind that has been given
as the cause)
 “Darwin’s theory of evolution has not been
disproved either by rival theories (the
creationist view, for example) or empirical
evidence. It is therefore, to all intents and
purposes, true.”
 “Has anyone ever proven beyond
reasonable doubt that God exists? No one
has. That’s convincing proof that there is
no God.”
ARGUMENTUM AD
IGNORANTIUM (argument to
ignorance) – something must be true
because it has never been proven false;
something must be false because it has
 “The sanctity of marriage has been with
us for more than 400 years. The principle
that ‘what God has put together, let no
man put asunder’ has stood the test of
centuries. In light of this, it is wrong to
even propose that divorce be made legal
in our country.”
FALLACY OF CONSENSES
GENTIUM (agreement of the people) –
one argues the truth of a conclusion
because most people believe it, either at
the present time or universally
 Imelda Marcos: “When Marcos and I are
gone, the Philippines will go to the Russians.
Doesn’t America know this?”
 “If you don’t make it tomorrow in your final
production, you’ll get a failing mark on this
subject.”
 FALSE DICHOTOMY – rests on
the unreasonable assumption that only
two alternatives exist; if one does not
hold, the argument runs, the other
must.
 “ I do not know of a mother who gave
birth to a child and deliberately destroyed
that child. This is the same situation with
America. America guided and nurtured
the Philippines in the ways of democracy.
Can anyone seriously think that the US will
deliberately destroy our country, her own
child?”
 FALSE ANALOGY – use of
illustrations or analogies as proof
 “Mel Gibson was good in BRAVE HEART; he
was also good in RANSOM and THE
PATRIOT. I therefore conclude that Mel
Gibson is a good actor.”
 “Jihan Carla Mercado, a former ABMC student
from AUF had won the title Mutya ng PRISAA. This
year, another Mass Comm student from the same
university, Lyanna Paula Castro, won the same
title. ABMC students at AUF must be all be pretty
and smart.”
 HASTY GENERALIZATION –
generalizing from the limited or inadequate
evidence.
 “Not one of the members of the steering
committee comes from the urban poor or the
peasants. There are no farmers, fishermen,
laborers or craftsmen. The members are
businessmen and professionals, and all are
products of colleges and universities. This
committee will come up with proposals that will
favor only the rich and the middle class.”
 FALLACY OF COMPOSITION–
assuming that what holds true for
each member of a class will hold for
the class as a whole
 “A survey of selected AUF students
showed that 78% of them had cheated
several times, 10% said they cheated a
few times and only 2 % claimed they
haven’t cheated in any exam. These
results show that AUF is basically a school
of cheaters.”
 SKEWED SAMPLE – when a
statistical sample used as evidence is not
truly representative of the larger
population about whom the conclusion is
made
• “According to the latest survey by the
SWS, 37% of the Filipinos want Pres.
GMA to resign!”

• SL ANTING – selects or
overemphasizes evidence in favor
of a particular conclusion and/or
ignores or deemphasize evidence
against it.
• “Twice now, the first prize sweepstakes
winner came from Tacloban. I’m going
to buy a whole booklet of tickets when I
go there tomorrow – the chances are
great that I’ll finally win a prize.”
• GAMBLER’S FALLACY –
ignoring the laws of probability, this
fallacy argues that since something has
not happened for a long time, its
probability of occurrence thereby
increases, or conversely, that because a
chance occurrence has been repeated
over and over, the odds against its
happening increase or decrease.
“The president of the Republic of the
Philippines has declared that the county is now
on a state of national emergency to protect
public interest. Citizens who are found guilty of
sedition and rebellion will be dealt with
accordingly.”
Argumentum ad baculum
(APPEAL TO FORCE) -- You do
something out of fear, not because you
want to do it
► “What are you doing in your seats? Don’t you
think it’s about time that we question the
organizers of Wowowee? This program killed
our loved ones. I can’t forgive what they did!”
►RALLY TACTIC -- arouse the
emotions of large group to get them to
agree without presenting the logical side
of the issue

► “I don’t like Samsung. Nokia is my kind of

phone. All my friends are using the same brand
so why shouldn’t I?”
►Bandwagon
► “Why should celebrities be prosecuted
and sent to jail for failing to pay
correct taxes, when business tycoons
who have several tax evasion cases
are free?”

►TWO WRONGS DON’T MAKE

A RIGHT – justifying a wrong by
arguing that other people did the
same.
► “The youth is the hope of the nation.”– Dr.
Jose Rizal

►ARGUMENTUM AD
VERICUNDIAM (argument to
authority) – justifies an argument not
on its merits but because a well-known
person said it
► Ignoratio elenchi (IRRELEVANT
CONCLUSION) -- “You’re missing the
point.”
► Suppressing the facts -- presenting
only one side of the issue
► Complex question/Loaded question – A
question which actually alleges
something which is still to be proven.
► Ex: What wrong answer did you
copy from your seatmate?
► Accent– A statement has many meanings
depending on how you say it
► Ex: Go slow men at work
► Fine for parking
► Millionaires don’t steal/ Millionaires!
Don’t
steal!
► Fallacy of large numbers -- Using
expressions with large values to make the
argument more convincing.
► Small numbers -- the reverse tactic of large
numbers
► Not quite large tactic – Using figures that
act as psychological
boundaries
► Ex: prices – P29.95