A Class Room Logic: Deductive and Inductive, with Special Application to the Science and Art of TeachingMcNair, George Hastings
Philosophy
A Class Room Logic: Deductive and Inductive, with Special Application to the Science and Art of Teaching
McNair, George Hastings
Logic
(c) “Wanted a piano by a young lady made of mahogany.”
(d) “You your father will punish.”
(3) _Accent._
_This fallacy springs from placing undue emphasis on some word or group
of words._ Naturally such accentuation may convey a meaning entirely
foreign to the author’s intent. Newspapers are guilty of this fallacy
when they select a few words from a speech and use them as headlines
without further explanation. A politician may quote a sentence uttered
by an opponent and fail to relate it to what preceded or followed.
A cartoonist may arouse the prejudice of public opinion by giving
ridiculous emphasis to some idiosyncracy possessed by the subject of
his attack.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF FALLACIES OF ACCENT.
(a) “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy _neighbor_.”
By giving undue emphasis to _neighbor_, the notion is clearly
conveyed that one may bear false witness against all who are
_not_ neighbors.
(b) “You must not crib when taking _my_ examinations.”
(c) _What the “Spellbinder” said._
“I may say, as a side remark, that the labor unions are guilty of
developing a nation of shirks, when they prohibit a phenomenally
efficient workman from doing his best.” “I do not wish to be
misunderstood in this.” “I believe in labor unions but in this
particular they are dead wrong.”
_What the newspaper reported._
(Headline) “The Labor Union Scored as a Training School for
Shirks.” “―――― said in his speech in ―――― Hall that the Union was
responsible for the development of a nation of shirks.” “A good
man,” said he, “is not permitted to do his best work.”
(4) _Composition._
_The fallacy of composition is committed when it is assumed that what
is true distributively is likewise true collectively._ A term is used
in a distributive sense when it is applied to _each individual_ of
the class; whereas a term is used in a collective sense when it is
applied to the class considered as _one whole_. “All” meaning _each
one considered separately_ and “all” meaning _the whole_ furnishes a
frequent pitfall for this fallacy.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE FALLACY OF COMPOSITION.
(a) “Every member of the team is a star player; hence I expect that
the entire aggregation will be a winner.”
(b) “All the men of the jury are fair minded; therefore we have good
reason for supposing that the jury’s verdict will be in accord
with the rules of justice.”
(c) “Thirteen and twenty-three are odd numbers; thirty-six is equal
to thirteen and twenty-three; hence thirty-six is an odd number.”
(d) “All the angles of a triangle are less than two right angles;
hence the angles X, Y and Z are less than two right angles.”
(e) In governmental affairs the assumption, that a law which benefits
one section will benefit all, is a fallacy of composition.
(5) _Division._
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