Fallacy
of Equivocation
1)
I
went to the bank today (financial institution).
2)
Anyone
who goes to the bank has soggy shoes (river bank)
3)
Therefore,
I have soggy shoes.
1)
It
is wrong to kill innocent human beings (moral entity)
2)
Fetuses
are innocent human beings (biological entity)
3)
Therefore,
it is wrong to kill fetuses
These arguments aren’t valid, the premises don’t provide good grounds for the conclusion, as the terms bank and human beings are used differently in the two premises. This argument commits the fallacy of equivocation.
Vagueness
·
Things
are being worked out so that something can be brought into effect at the
appropriate moment.
·
Mistakes
were made.
Under
the unfair and misguided policies of the Bush Administration, our country has
lost nearly 3 million jobs — that means more moms are struggling to earn enough
to care for their children, more dads are worrying about being able to provide
for their families, young people are still waiting to start jobs out of
college, and older workers who were planning to retire must keep working— often
at jobs that waste their talents and experience.
Collateral
damage (Civilian Deaths)
Vertically Challenged (Short People)
The
reason this argument is flawed is because of the conclusion
The
premises don’t provide any grounds for the conclusion because you have to
believe the premises before you can believe the conclusion.
P1) All cats have long tails
P2) Peter is a cat
C) Therefore, Peter has a long tail
P1) Girls can get moody when they are on their period
P2) Ashleigh is a moody today
P3) Ashleigh is a girl
C) Therefore, Ashleigh is on her period
P1) Television shows are more violent than they ever have been
C)
Therefore,
children today spend too much time watching television
P1) Drug x helped lower our 5 test subject’s blood pressure.
C) Drug x will help lower the blood pressure of any individual with
high blood pressure.
P1) There is a lot of fat and calories in Pizza
P2) The price of cheese is increasing
C) Pizza is more expensive today than it was 10 years ago
P1) All people who wear expensive clothing have money
P2) All people with money are snobs
C) Therefore, all people who wear expensive clothing are snobs
P1) Saccharin
is an active ingredient in Sweet’N Low and has shown to cause cancer in rats
P2) Many people use Sweet’N Low
C) Many people have cancer
P1) Sarah has not done the dishes for a month
C) Sarah is a bad roommate
P1) Some triangles are obtuse
P2) Whatever is obtuse is ignorant
C) Therefore, some triangles are ignorant
P1) Led Zeppelin is the greatest rock and roll band of all time
P2) Every time I listen to Led Zeppelin I enjoy it more and more
C) The members of Led Zeppelin were in their early 20s when they made
it big.
P1) Children are messy
P2) Messy things are a burden to take care of
C) Therefore, children are a burden to take care of
P1) If there are clouds in the sky, then it is raining
P2) There are clouds in the sky
C) Therefore, it is raining
P1) Broccoli is bad for you
P2) Broccoli is green
C) Therefore, some green things are bad for you
P1) My dad is smarter than my mom
P2) All men are smarter than women
P1) I am a normal person
P2) Math is hard for me
C) Only weird people are good at math
P1) Saddam Hussain did bad things in Iraq
P2) The world is a better place without Saddam Hussain in power in Iraq
C) I did not distort intelligence information on Iraq
P1) I am a student at MSU
C) Therefore, I will graduate in four years
P1) Every year I receive a gift marked “from Santa Clause”
P2) My parents do not buy these gifts
C) Therefore, Santa Clause must exist
P1) Every MSU Student has an MSU e-mail account
P2) MSU officials send students email through MSU email
C) Therefore, email is important to MSU students
P1) The motto of the police department is to protect and serve
P2) A five year old child was caught in the crossfire of a shootout
between the police and some criminals.
C) The police cannot protect us from harm