How to Win Every Argument ( PDFDrive )

38 Never believe what people te always liars. It is because you k will know I am also telling the here is the most remarkable... (Remarkable.) Contradictory premises No matter how good the logic m argument which has certain fals argument true premises are need problem with contradictory premi true. If one is true, the other mu other words, we can be certain th false, and cannot therefore gener Everything is mortal, and Cod (This might look like an argument an argument against common se each other, one must be false. This The fallacy is an interesting one be valid. It usually amazes non-logic sistent premises any conclusion, n validly inferred. Logicians, howev to mean 'sound', If there is know be with contradictory premises, the logic is: the argument is not This is the fallacy which enable made of green cheese. The proof fun:

How to Win Every Argument ell you about patent medicine; they are know that I am truthful about this that you e truth when I tell you that my snake-oil may be, you cannot rely on an sity built into it. For a sound ded, as well as valid logic. The ises is that they cannot both be ust be false, and vice versa. In hat at least one of them must be rate a sound argument. is not mortal, so God is not everything. t against pantheism, but it is in fact ense. Since the premises contradict s makes any conclusion unreliable.) ecause it permits the logic to be cians to hear that with incon- no matter how irrelevant, can be ver, do not use the word 'valid' wn falsity built in, as there must then it matters not how good sound. es us to prove that the moon is is quite complicated, but quite

Crumenam, argumentum ad We are given two premises, that If 'milk is white' is true, then it is a or the moon is made of green ch we are also given that milk is not be true, namely that 'the moon There is nothing wrong with the contradictory premises can be including a rather smelly satellite It is difficult to use the fallac everyday argument, because yo that you are contradicting yours is to use contradictions which a speech, and proceed to wrap th He's a real professional, but a (It sounds acceptable enough, b literally prove that the moon is m Crumenam, argumentum ad The argumentum ad crumenam of Tightness, and that those wit correct. 'If you're so right, why form, but it translates poetically a There have been branches o worldly success could be taken there have been constitutions wh advantage of those with wealth / note that those earning in e with me.

39 t milk is white, and milk is not white. also the case that 'Either milk is white heese' is true. (This is correct.) Since ot white, the second alternative must is made of green cheese'. e logic. The known falsity in the e used to establish anything, e. cy of contradictory premises in our audience will normally see self. What you can do, however, are normally accepted in loose hem up in tight logic. a bit of an amateur at times. but remember that from it you can made of green cheese.) d assumes that money is a measure th money are more likely to be ain't you rich?' is the common as the belief that 'truth is booty'. of Christianity which held that as a mark of divine favour; and hich loaded the franchise to the and property. excess of £100,000 per year tend to agree

40 (Maybe so. He might have adde agreed with him, that 6-foot-tall p hazel eyes were evenly divided. Th being right as money does.) The fallacy in the argumentum a wealth has nothing to do with it. make a lot of money. It is also a right; but only an undistributed because of this. Behind the argumentum ad c feeling that God would not allow wrong to scoop the pool of life's isn't everything, but we suspect, de of 100, that it will buy nine of the the absence of the remaining one Surely a man who can make £6 songs cannot be all wrong? (He can.) The world's most expensive be (But it makes you no more drunk There are limited and artificial s measure of right. The customer is always right. (This is because the customer has t in Britain the convenience of the s France or Germany it always does In the field of tipping, money can

How to Win Every Argument ed that right-handed people dis- people agreed, and that those with hese have about as much to do with ad crumenam is, of course, that It is a sweet and fitting thing to a sweet and fitting thing to be d middle can relate the two crumenam there lies the vague w people who were wicked and goodies. We know that money eep down, that it is 90 things out e remaining ten, and even make tolerably comfortable. 60 million in a year by recording four eer... than does the cheapest.) situations in which money is the the money. It is true in America; but shopkeeper often comes first, and in s.) n often bring right in its wake.

Cum hoc ergo propter hoc 'Cabbie, get me to the airport 'This cab ain't got wings, mis 'Here's £20 if you make it. ' 'Stand by for take-off!' 'My friend wants to know wh 'Who's your friend?' 'He sent his picture.' [waves ba 'You can tell Sir Edward Elgar A version of the argumentum a of the Industrial Revolution. Th perseverance and hard work ar rally to its converse, that world virtue. A society in which one respected for moral worth is pro ing economy. Your own use of the fallacy where you personally can ensur positively monopolizes the conv 7 say we do it this way, and I company. ' [chorus] 'You're right, j.G.!' This differs only in degree from 7 say it was a goal, and it's my Cum hoc ergo propter hoc The cum hoc fallacy assumes th are causally connected, and

41 by ten o'clock!' ster.' here Big M was last night. ' anknote] that Big M was at Molly's bar. ' ad crumenam helped in the success he belief that the virtues of thrift, re rewarded by wealth led natu- dly goods were the hallmark of e needs to make money to be obably conducive to an expand- y is best reserved for situations re that money not only talks, but versation. I own 60 per cent of the shares in this m the junior version: y football. ' hat events which occur together d leaves no room either for

42 coincidence, or for the operatio separately influences those event A tourist met a Spanish peasant an seen bananas before, so he offere into his, the train entered a tunne 'They make you blind. ' Like the post hoc fallacy which li consecutively, the cum hoc fallacy simultaneously. It is a fallacy assumption that either of the even other one. Things are happening all the without rain, electricity bills, te Guardian newspaper. It is inviti comforts with simultaneous even all somehow connected. In primi are made routinely, and one of th sort out which actions are linked our society, alas, life is more com The field of statistics provides a fallacy to lurk undetected. Indee called regression analysis is devot and extent of simultaneous ev probability of their being linke produced, with percentages att that mere chance was involved. relationships with a 95 per cent o 'more than chance is involved'. A statistician looking over figures to discover in the 7-12 age-group with size of shoe. He checked the

How to Win Every Argument on of an outside factor which ts. nd his wife on a train. They had never ed one to each of them. As the farmer bit el. 'Don't eat it, Carmen,' he shouted, inks events because they occur y links them because they occur because of its unwarranted nts would not occur without the e time. Scarcely a day goes by elevised show-jumping, or the ing to link these endemic dis- nts, and conclude that they are itive societies such assumptions he jobs of the witchdoctor is to d with various consequences. In mplicated. a natural habitat for the cum hoc ed, a whole branch of statistics ted to measuring the frequency vents, and to calculating the ed. Correlation coefficients are tached showing the likelihood . Statisticians routinely offer us or a 99 per cent probability that for pupil performance was astounded that neatness of handwriting matched figures for hundreds of children, but it

Cum hoc ergo propter hoc was quite clear. Neat handwr cent probability that this was (A teacher later told him that this to write more neatly. Being olde Most disciplines which involv ing economics and sociology, fin their domain. The reason for thi what makes human beings act, the fact and try to relate them to grow up with the wheat of genu Elections make people spend goes up in an election year. (Could it be that governments se down in election years, and that to spend?) Deliberate use of the cum ho with the support of reams of st ence, bemused by the figures, ra against you. They can be made the link which you are proposi leading figures in the social s nothing so absurd that it has people. It helps to be selective in Cun ownership is a major caus in the US matches the high ra contemplated, the guns are (Excellent; but remember not to every household has a gun as p has low rates for violent crime, an

43 riting correlated with large feet, with 99 p s not mere chance. s was because older children tended er, they tended to have bigger feet.) ve human measurement, includ- nd cum hoes scattered liberally on is is that we do not really know so we look at their actions after o other events. The cum hoc tares uine insights. d. The figures are clear. Spending alway eeking re-election tend to keep taxes people, in consequence, have more oc ergo propter hoc is best made tatistical information. Your audi- arely have any of their own to set e even more disposed to accept ing if you cite the authority of sciences. This is easy. There is not been attested to by such in your use of information. se of violent crime. The prevalence of guns ates for crimes of violence. When violence all too available. mention Switzerland, where almost part of military training. Switzerland and the guns are almost never used.)

44 A US legislator recently noted tha with a high prison population, an be released in order to cut the cr For use of the fallacy in print, the front pages to see how it is d MARK TWAIN COMES TO TOWN ASCOT GOLD CUP STOLEN Damning the alternatives In cases where there is a fixed and legitimate to establish the superio others to be inferior. However, in not fixed or known, and where a tives are sought, it is a fallacy to by denigrating the alternatives. Th alternatives. Hawkins' theory has to be the proved hopelessly wrong. (And his may be proved wrong to Even where there are only two alt one is good by showing that the o equally bad. The same applies for Chelsea is a really great team. L they are both useless. (Other teams not taken account o so, if Liverpool and Manchester Un

How to Win Every Argument at a high crime-rate correlated nd suggested that the prisoners rime figures. simply juxtapose articles. Study done. N d known set of alternatives, it is ority of one by showing all of the cases where the alternatives are absolutes rather than compara- suppose that we argue for one he fallacy is that of damning the right answer. All the others have been omorrow.) ternatives, we cannot show that other one is not. Both might be r larger groups. Look at Liverpool and Manchester United; of might enter the reckoning. Even United were bad, it would not prove

Damning the alternatives Chelsea good. It might be tha terrible.) The fallacy occurs because in l alternatives not referred to, we e relevant to a decision. Second, denigrates others in cases where we bring in irrelevant matter. Damning the alternatives is th to elevate his own village, nation or class, he thinks he does so by r Brooke used the fallacy for humo The Old Vicarage, Grantches Grantchester itself are sandwic other villages in the area. He tel For Cambridge people rarely sm Being urban, squat and packed w Strong men have run for miles a When one from Cherry Hinton s Strong men have blanched and Rather than send them to St Ives In British elections it is consider promote his own cause by castig election agent do it instead. compunction: You takes your choice: a con pervert, an embezzler and me *Rupert Brooke, 'The Old Vicarage, Gr (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1918).

45 at all football teams are absolutely leaving out the performance of exclude material which might be , by introducing material which e a simple judgement is required, he fallacy of the partisan. Anxious n, team, church, occupation, race running down the others. Rupert orous effect in his famous poem, ster'.* Amongst the praise for ched adverse comments on the lls us: mile, with guile... and miles smiles... shot their wives s. red bad form for a candidate to gating his opponents; he lets his In the USA there is no such nvicted rapist, an adulterer, a practising e. rantchester', in Brooke, Collected Poems

46 (The candidates tend to be more e it.) The fallacy will give you hou amount of guilty fun) in running you are proposing. We appear to which leaves us short-sighted on To you this is but opportunity. W alternatives and expose their impe turning those defective eyes away will assume that you would not mean, foolish, wrong and wicke better. They will be mistaken. No design for a new building ever look at the alternatives: a glass-fr the pipes on the outside, or a mou (Whereas the one you approve of by and needs a king's ransom to m you keep them focused on the da Definitional retreat A definitional retreat takes place meaning of the words in order to against the original wording. By c it into a different statement. 'He's never once been abroad/ 'As a matter of fact, he has been to 'You cannot call visiting Boulogne

How to Win Every Argument exotic in the USA; this might explain urs of innocent fun (and a fair g down the alternatives to what o have a kind of double vision virtue but hawk-eyed for faults. When you pick on a couple of erfections, the audience will be y from your own proposal. They t run down everything else as ed if your own ideas were no r meets with universal approval, but ronted matchbox, something with all ulded concrete monstrosity. lets in water, sheds tiles on passers- maintain. But they won't see that if amned alternatives.) e when someone changes the o deal with an objection raised changing the meaning, he turns o Boulogne. ' going abroad!'

Definitional retreat (What can you call it then? How chair at Blackpool?') Words are used with convention deal with objections to what we something totally unusual, ra altogether. The fallacy in a definitiona substitution of one concept fo explaining what the words rea for the one position might not said I hadn't been drinking, offi than I get through in a normal The definitional retreat allow ment to save face by claiming th a totally different view. It also a be eliminated by a more restric 'You have no experience of d 'Well, I did act as anti-terrori and Singapore, and I spent fo 'I meant you have no experie (He should have made it Scunt 'When I said that we were ru the tax-collectors and admin Definitional retreat is a favo Their proposed definitions of 'v 'meaning' itself, are set up like bowl at. When the occasiona instead of walking back gracefu pher is more likely to re-erect t

47 w about calling it 'sitting on a deck- nal meanings. If we are allowed to e say by claiming that they mean ational discourse breaks down al retreat lies in its surreptitious or another, under the guise of ally mean. The support advanced apply to its substitute. ('When I icer, I meant that I hadn't had more social evening. 0 ws someone beaten in an argu- hat he was really putting forward allows for a possible exception to ctive interpretation. dealing with terrorism. ' ist adviser to the governments of Malaysia our years at the US anti-terrorist academy. ence of dealing with terrorists in England.' thorpe, to be even safer.) uled by tyrants, I was naturally referring to nistrators, rather than to Your Majesty. ' ourite recourse of philosophers. virtue', 'the good', and even of e wickets for their colleagues to al googly scatters the stumps, ully to the pavilion, the philoso- the stumps in a slightly different

48 place and show that the ball wo position. A passage from Lewis Carroll s 'There's glory for you!' 'I don't know what you mean b Humpty Dumpty smiled contem till I tell you. I meant \"there's a nic 'But \"glory\" doesn't mean \"a n objected. 'When / use a word,' Humpty tone, 'it means just what I choos less.'* The UK's finance ministers are n numbers of Treasury officials who words like 'growth', 'investmen cycle'. When you marshal your own a tional retreat, it is advisable to c which is at least plausible. It shou the usage. One good way is to s when you started out using ordin Of course, I was using 'expecta probability of the returns by the we expected anything to happe (Except, perhaps, for a fish wriggl A useful device to provide c retreat is the presumption tha *Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Class (

How to Win Every Argument ould not have hit them in that sums it up: by \"glory,\" Alice said. mptuously. 'Of course you don't - ce knock-down argument for you!\" ' nice knock-down argument\"/ Alice Dumpty said in rather a scornful se it to mean - neither more nor no less skilled. They have vast ose sole purpose is to redefine nt', 'spending' and 'business arguments into a timely defini- claim a meaning for the words uld have some authority behind slip into a technical vocabulary nary speech. ation' as statisticians do, multiplying the eir size. I didn't mean it in the sense that en. ling artfully off a hook.) covering fire for a definitional at everyone understood your (London: Macmillan, 1927), pp. 124-5.

Denying the antecedent second meaning all along, and finicky as to ignore it: Everybody knows that when railway definition of being w (They do now, anyway.) Denying the antecedent As with affirming the consequ antecedent is for those who do going forwards or backwards. I that different events can produc If I eat too much, I'll be ill. Si ill. (So saying, he downed a whole rusty nail and sat out all night in The point is, of course, that oth same result, even if the event r With these 'if... then' construc antecedent (the 'if part) and it is (the 'then' part). It is the other tw the consequent or denying the If he's slow, he'll lose. Since he isn't slow, he won't (But he might just be stupid.) You can affirm the antecedent: ' deny the consequent: 'He didn

49 d only your critic has been so we talk of trains being punctual, we use th within ten minutes of the timetable. uent, the fallacy of denying the o not really care if their brain is It does not admit the possibility ce similar outcomes. ince I have not eaten too much, I will not b bottle of whisky, cut his hand on a n wet clothes.) her events can bring about the referred to does not take place. ctions, it is all right to affirm the s all right to deny the consequent wo which are fallacious, affirming antecedent. t lose 'He is slow; he will lose.' You can n't lose, so he can't have been

50 slow.' The first of these is a type ponens, the second is called the m It is the other two which are fallac the valid forms. Denying the antecedent is a fal cause to an event for which there other possibilities which could oc The fallacy commonly occurs engenders the belief that if those harmful consequences, then a expected: If I smoke, drink or have sex, it cigars, booze and women and (No. It will just feel like a hundre It occurs to no lesser degree on th may calculate the courses of a consequences in their wake. Wh insure themselves against even avoiding those actions. If we have a strong army, coun disarming, we remove that ris (Possibly, but they might be more retaliation.) You can use the fallacy of deny in support of the status quo. It i because most changes we make d world. By pointing to the likelihoo the result of the proposed action

How to Win Every Argument of argument called the modus modus tollens, and both are valid. cies, even though they resemble llacy because it assigns only one e might be several. It dismisses ccur. where plans are being laid. It things are avoided which bring a pleasant outcome can be t will shorten my life-span. I shall give up d live another hundred years. ed years.) he international scale. Countries action which bring unpleasant hat they are not able to do is n worse outcomes simply by ntries which fear it might attack us. So by sk. e likely to attack because it brings no ying the antecedent very skilfully is a natural conservative fallacy do not avert all of the evils of the od that death and taxes will be ns, you might lull an audience

Dlcto simpliclter into rejecting them. The fact th anyway should not impinge on y Dicto simpliciter Dicto simpliciter is the fallacy of s of the application of a broad ge whose special features might mak generalization must apply to eac individual differences, is to comm Of course you voted for the res union cast 120,000 votes in fa (Carried unanimously, brothers, a Many of our general statemen them in the full knowledge th accidental features make them ex various things make people hea necessarily have to mean 'all' pe izations about foods, even tho people have allergies to various When we insist on treating universal which admitted no e simpliciter. The fallacy arises be the whole of a class, which has n We bring in outside material, the Everyone knows that hooded one isn't breaking any laws, he (Or maybe he's just having a day

51 hat death and taxes will result your success. sweeping generalization. It consists eneral rule to an individual case ke it exceptional. To insist that the ch and every case, regardless of mit the fallacy of dicto simpliciter. solution. You're a dock-worker, and your avour. and by a clear majority.) nts are not universals. We make hat there will be cases whose xceptions. We are apt to say that althy, knowing that we do not eople. We make similar general- ough we recognize that some foodstuffs. a generalization as if it were a exceptions, we commit a dicto ecause we use information about not been established or accepted. erefore, without justification. d teenagers are criminals. Since this hoode e must be older than he looks. y off.)

52 Dicto simpliciter arises whene conform to group patterns. If the 'teenagers', 'Frenchmen', or 't assumed to bear the characterist tunity is permitted for their individ are political ideologies which atte this way, treating them only as me and allowing them only represen values they may not, in fact, shar Look, you're a civil servant. Your r because they know it will be good f good for you. (He only imagined those lost wag In discussing people of whom often use dicto simpliciter in the attributes of the groups they be neighbour is civil to us and drives things from the fact that he is a C assumption of ancillary properties mistake is to suppose that it must b smaller than their parents. Well, no noticed that I'm quite a bit taller. Dicto simpliciter can be used t moulds. Since they belong to th dancers and horseriders, they mu and bow-legged. You must appea in order to fill in details about otherwise be resisted. You should as a parent use dic into doing what you want instea

How to Win Every Argument ever individuals are made to ey are treated in tight classes as travelling salesmen', and are tics of those classes, no oppor- dual qualities to emerge. There empt to treat people in precisely embers of sub-groups in society ntation through a group whose re. representatives voted for this action for the civil service. It must therefore be ges.) we have a little knowledge, we e attempt to fix onto them the elong to. Knowing only that a s a better car, we try to deduce Catholic or a squash-player. Our s may, in fact, be correct; the be: 'We all know that children are ow that I'm 50 and Dad is 80, I've Maybe he isn't my real father.' to fit people into stereotypical he class of Frenchmen, ballet- ust be great lovers, effeminate al to generally accepted truisms individual cases which would cto simpliciter to trick your child ad of what they want:

Division Spinach is good for growing c (But beware of the construction w such and such'. Your progeny mig by recognizing themselves as bad Division The doppelgànger of the fallacy When we attribute to the individu is only true of the group as a unit, w Welsh-speakers are disappear therefore Dafydd Williams is (No such luck. Only the class of W the individuals who make it up.) We commit the fallacy by sliding whole over onto the individuals w The Icelanders are the oldest must be older than other pop (And before you go to her house, r live surrounded by hot mud and As with composition, the sour division lies in the ambiguity of are a form of the fallacy of equivo meanings of the noun which ups It would only be valid if the throughout. (The gospels are fo gospel, so St Mark's is four in nu Division is often used fallacious

53 children. Eat it up. which says that 'all good children do ght slip out of the group in question d.) of composition is that of division. uals in a group something which we fall into the fallacy of division: ring. Dafydd Williams is a Welsh-speaker disappearing. Welsh-speakers is disappearing, not g our adjectives to describe the who comprise it: nation on earth. This means that Bjork p stars. remember that the Icelandic people active volcanoes.) rce of the error in the fallacy of collective nouns. Both of these ocation, in that it is the different set the validity of the argument. same meaning were retained our in number. St Mark's is a umber.) sly to confer upon an individual

54 some of the prestige attached to belongs. The French are tops at rugby; at rugby. (But, since the French produce a has some other strange qualities. California is a very wealthy st worth quite a bit. We often commit the falla people according to the groups can work to their advantage: T versity is brilliant; Johnson lectu first-class, or to their disadvantag nation, so I don't think we can our Swiss directors. An entertaining version of th complex division, and assumes th the same properties as the entire the average British couple with their 0.7 of a cat with a quarter which they somehow manage to In the world of complex divi two children are very nervous, third child born is Chinese. In different subclasses which prod class as a whole. (Test-pilots occ that Flight-Lieutenant Robinson himself.') Division can be used to bring by virtue of your membership of

How to Win Every Argument o the group or class to which he Marcel is French; obviously he must be top lot of low-fat milk, Marcel probably s.) tate, so if he comes from there he must be acy unconsciously, typecasting from which they emanate. This The teaching at Edinburgh Uni- ures there, so he must be really ge: Switzerland is a very passive expect too much initiative from he fallacy is called the fallacy of hat subclasses of the whole share e class. In this version, we meet their 2.2 children, out walking of a dog. They have 1.15 cars, o fit into only a third of a garage. ision, an expectant couple with because they know that every the real world, of course, it is duce the overall figures for the casionally get killed, so I imagine n will get killed now and again g unearned credit upon yourself of meritorious classes:

Emotional appeals Let me settle this. We British than anyone else in the world (Most of it acquired long before It can also be used to heap odiu similarly to their involvement i respect. My opponent comes from Gla (If it were true, it would probably your opponent, come from it.) Emotional appeals It would be a strange world if emotions. This influence steps o tory of logical fallacy, however, deciding the soundness of an a influence our behaviour should n questions of fact. While it might convicted criminal, it is certainly affect our judgement of whether Recognition that reason and e influence is as old as Plato's divis it succinctly, telling us that pas reason directs the course of th words, motivates us to do things ulate what to do. Separate spheres they may inh have long known ways of makin of reason. Once whipped up, the gallop that they easily clear the

55 have a longer experience of settling dispute d. any of us were born.) um upon adversaries by pointing in groups which command no asgow, not a city noted for high intelligence y be because the bright ones had, like none of us were influenced by over the boundary into the terri- when it becomes the means of argument. The emotions which not influence our judgement on be appropriate to show pity to a not sound procedure to let pity or not he committed the crime. emotion have separate spheres of sion of the soul. David Hume put ssion moves us to act, whereas hose actions. Emotion, in other s, but reason enables us to calc- habit, but sophists and tricksters ng emotions invade the territory e emotions can be set at such a gulf between their domain and

56 that of reason. A complete range many names as there are emotio In addition to the ones im enough to be covered by separa assorted and miscellaneous emot which can be drawn upon at one astray from its intended course. by the alluring calls of the ap metum), to envy (ad invidiam), t stition (ad superstitionem) and t even more to tempt our prefer appeal to a just proportion of ev which actually says straight out t than reason (sentimens superior) out the pull of these emotions, as up their ears to the allure of the S influenced. Therein lies their end Those who still oppose nuclear thermonuclear blast. It can me from great distances. (This argumentum ad metum c graphs and films and simulated might distract the audience from ment will make it more or less lik There is no way in which Robin would make him better than (Right. Envy will not affect the ou might persuade people not to be The secret of using these falla trouble to discover the emotiona

How to Win Every Argument e of fallacies is available, with as ons to draw on. mportant enough or common rate treatment, there is a list of tions, complete with Latin tags, e time or another to lead reason The unwary sailor is entranced ppeal to fear (argumentum ad to hatred (ad odium), to super- to pride (ad superbiam). There is rence for a quiet time with an verything (ad modum), and one that sentiment is a better guide ). Unless one deliberately blocks s the sailors of Odysseus blocked Sirens' call, it is difficult not to be during effectiveness as fallacies. r disarmament should study the effects of a elt the eyeballs and vapourize human flesh can be intensified by the use of photo- d burns, and anything else which m asking whether nuclear disarma- kely.) nson could have solved the problem. That we are. utcome, though a timely ad invidiam elieve it.) acies is a simple one. Take the al disposition of your audience

Emotional appeals and use language calculated to a have built it up assiduously by me turn it to bear on the question of f to turn it off abruptly; most will al normally reserved for reasoned as is to fear, envy, hatred, pride or s Indeed, you can use them altern class or nation can be appealed to up, perhaps to the point where a The argumentum ad modum because its appeal is to the audie audience is most vulnerable to reasonable. They equate reason something admitted in due mea Like the argumentum ad temper course between extremes, the a ancient of maxims which recom You should always introduce yo away from reason by urging you Let's be reasonable about this. (A strong emotional appeal for th Sentimens is a clever fallacy. It better guide, is most alluring to gent people are often afraid of be they use reason so much. They emotionally deficient, and are eas them that they are just as sensitiv the next person, who is also a bit delusion that they are welcome in remaining aloof from it. They h price of their admission ticket to

57 arouse that emotion. When you eans of graphic descriptions, you fact. Very few audiences are able llow it to flood out onto the area ssessment. Whether your appeal superstition makes no difference. nately. Pride in one's own race, o, even as envy of others is built an ad odium becomes possible. m deserves a special mention ence's desire for gradualism. An it when they are trying to be with a quiet life, thinking that asure is more likely to be right. rantiam, which urges the middle ad modum appeals to that most mends moderation in all things. our subtle appeal to lure them ur audience: he quiet life.) ts idiotic claim, that emotion is a an intelligent audience. Intelli- eing thought rather cold because do not want to appear to be sy prey to a speaker who assures ve, loving and compassionate as of a bore. This permits them the nto the common fold, instead of happily abandon reason as the the human race.

58 An individual can be ensnared a carefully thought-out position she cares just as much about hum would hardly count as a good res lead by the nose on a sentimen international gathering which did any gaga idiot who urged them t on loving each other. 'Most of the troubles of this wo things out, instead of respon humanity. We should ignore the torships, and reach out with love (And yuk.) Equivocation Equivocation means using words intent to deceive, it can even dec of equivocation occurs when wor meaning, even though the soun the same use to be sustained th Happiness is the end of life. The end of life is death; So happiness is death. (The form of the argument is va aim in the first line, and to its te discovery, out go a million schoo Half a loaf is better than nothing. Nothing is better than good healt

How to Win Every Argument d with sentimens, and led to drop n after being assured that he or manity as the rest of us. A denial sponse. A crowd is even easier to ntal string. I have rarely seen an d not give a standing ovation to to forget reason and concentrate orld are caused by people thinking nding naturally with warmth and ese facts about Third World dicta- e in our hearts and . . . ' s ambiguously. Often done with ceive the perpetrator. The fallacy rds are used with more than one ndness of the reasoning requires hroughout. alid, but 'the end of life' refers to its ermination in the second. With this olboy conundrums.) . th;

Equivocation So half a loaf is better than go Equivocal use of words is fall transfer what we are prepared to another one which happens to which processes the relationship the concepts themselves change Elephants are not found in Br will never find it again. (The word 'found' represents two Many of the equivocal uses a them are not. Clairvoyants specia give them cover in the event of q would be a totally different art i equivocation. So would business You can rest assured that you deserves. (As it executes a gentle parabola 'Anyone who gets Mr Smith fortunate.' Puns and music-hall jokes often 'My dog's got no nose. ' 'How does he smell?' 'Terrible!' Calvin Coolidge was asked:

59 ood health. lacious because it invites us to accept about one concept onto o have the same name. Logic, p between concepts, is useless if e. ritain, so if you have one, don't lose it or you o different concepts here.) are easy to spot. Many more of alize in equivocal expressions to quite different outcomes. Politics if it had to forego the fallacy of s correspondence: ur letter will receive the attention it fully towards the bin.) to work for him will indeed be depend on this fallacy.

60 What do you think of the singer's (He replied: 'I'm all for it.') The advice given to a politica committee is 'When in doubt, eq you cannot please all of the peop have a good shot at fooling mos candidate assures those in favour wants 'realistic' penalties for murd 'humane consideration'. But he light sentences or humane killing Equivocation is a particularly to cracks of international discord. It with a smooth and undetectabl discussions are terminated happil treaty whose wording is carefully ferent things to each of the signa The vocabulary of equivocati strangers' gallery of the House of the chamber, there is nothing yo Once you have acquired the k such as 'having due regard for', subtle manifestations of the fallac Well, it all depends on what y (You might have thought it obvio Every schoolboy knows You would be amazed what ever secure acquiescence in their co solemnly assure their audiences t

How to Win Every Argument s execution? al candidate facing a selection quivocate.' The blunt fact is that ple all of the time, but you can st of them for much of it. The r of capital punishment that he der. To those against, he wants could be in favour of realistic g. ough paste for pouring into the t joins irreconcilable differences le finish. Many full and frank ly by the appearance of a joint y chosen to mean entirely dif- atories. ion may be learned from the Commons. If you have a seat in ou have to learn about it. knack, and are fluent in phrases you can move on to the more cy. you mean by full-hearted consent. ous. You'd be wrong.) ry schoolboy knows. Anxious to ontroversial claims, disputants that every schoolboy knows the

Every schoolboy knows truth of what they are saying. T ignorant of matters so widely u posed to keep silent about the dubious assertions are passed off Every schoolboy knows that the ra ductive system is expressed by a (Indeed, this is the main topic conkers.) The tactic is fallacious. Its basic p evidence to secure acceptance. T not from conviction but out of s less knowledgeable than a mere meanwhile overlooked. So widely used is the tactic encumbered with several encyclo scarcely anything which he does As my learned colleague is doubt it was Rex v. Swanson which est erning the use of coaching horns (And you can be sure that the sam also aware of the judgment in H The aforementioned schoolboy obvious, and has been widely p Why, it is obvious even to a mere long ago have been excited to inc radiation were it not for the expa

61 The audience, not wishing to be understood by children, are sup- eir doubts. Thus complex and ff unquestioned. ate of gene loss from a closed repro- simple and well-known formula. of conversation over catapults and purpose is to appeal beyond the The audience is invited to assent shame and fear of being thought child. The merits of the point are that the hapless youth is now opaedias of knowledge. There is s not know. tless aware, every schoolboy knows that tablished in 1749 the precedents gov- on the public highway. me gifted, if youthful, legal scholar is Higgins v. Matthews 1807.) y has an intuitive grasp of the praised for this ability: e child that interstellar dust clouds would candescence and be emitting black-body ansion of the universe.

62 (It is not quite clear whether the before he becomes every schoolbo few lessons.) The fallacy is a special case of t advertisement, which consists of views. Since you precede them b known to every schoolboy and o scattering roses in their path. The less effectively by opening with are by no means obvious. We hold these truths to be se (So anyone who doesn't agree m To use the fallacy effectively argument without taking half the walk. As well as the mere child need even a half-wit, albeit a v beginner should be in your posse sheer range of vision you will nee 'Everyone can see that...' (Even where no one else but you When putting across a really co well send the whole team into ac Every schoolboy knows the de a half-wit realizes that ancie turbances. A mere child could involved, so it is obvious to eve

How to Win Every Argument mere child finds this obvious even oy, or whether he picks it up after a the more general fallacy of false f advance praising of your own by the information that they are obvious to a mere child, you are e fallacy may be perpetrated no 'Obviously' contentions which elf-evident. must be really stupid.) y, you should never enter an kindergarten class along for the and every schoolboy, you will very knowledgeable one. Every e to instruct the experts, and for ed everyone. has such sharp eyes.) ontroversial point, you might as ction: escription of the visitors in Ezekiel; and even ent disasters were caused by cosmic dis- d work out that extraterrestrial forces are eryone that Earth has been under attack fo