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Logical Fallacies in Philosophy

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What Are Logical Fallacies?

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What Are Logical Fallacies?

There are two different kinds of reasoning in philosophy. One uses the logical synthesis of two or more true statements, it is called deductive reasoning. The other generalizes by observing a number of specific examples, it is called inductive reasoning. (Carroll, 2000) Both deductive and inductive reasoning requires us to use sound logic to reach valid conclusions. Without the use of this logic errors can occur, which in philosophy are called logical fallacies.

Mere Assertion

The first logical fallacy I am going to define is mere assertion. This is an argument of opinion. There is no guarantee that what you say will be expected. But all opinions whether they are believed to be true or not must be supported by evidence.

Here is an example of a mere assertion fallacy. My cats love me because they sleep on my bed. Also when I open their cat food they come running, so they must love me. Both of these statements are not supported by evidence. They are just statements of opinion that I believe to be truth.

Circular Reasoning

The second logical fallacy I am going to define is circular reasoning. This is an argument where your conclusion and premise are the same. It is an argument that asks you to simply accept the conclusion without real evidence. Also it can be an argument that simply ignores an important assumption. So to avoid this fallacy you cannot just assume or use as evidence that very thing you are trying to prove.

Here is an example of a circular reasoning fallacy. When people murder they do it because they are ignorant. So this means only ignorant people murder. This argument only shows that you have restated it using different wording. It does not give us any reasons why we feel people murder.

Ad Hominem

The

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