Informal Logic: A Handbook for Critical ArgumentThis is an introductory guide to the basic principles of constructing good arguments and criticizing bad ones. It is nontechnical in its approach, and is based on 150 key examples, each discussed and evaluated in clear, illustrative detail. The author explains how errors, fallacies, and other key failures of argument occur. He shows how correct uses of argument are based on sound argument strategies for reasoned persuasion and critical questions for responding. Among the many subjects covered are: techniques of posing, replying to, and criticizing questions, forms of valid argument, relevance, appeals to emotion, personal attack, uses and abuses of expert opinion, problems in deploying statistics, loaded terms, equivocation, and arguments from analogy. |
Contents
III | 1 |
IV | 3 |
V | 9 |
VI | 11 |
VII | 16 |
VIII | 19 |
IX | 23 |
X | 27 |
XLIV | 141 |
XLV | 149 |
XLVI | 154 |
XLVII | 159 |
XLVIII | 163 |
XLIX | 165 |
L | 168 |
LI | 172 |
XI | 28 |
XII | 31 |
XIII | 35 |
XIV | 39 |
XV | 43 |
XVI | 49 |
XVII | 52 |
XVIII | 54 |
XIX | 60 |
XX | 61 |
XXI | 64 |
XXII | 67 |
XXIII | 71 |
XXIV | 75 |
XXV | 77 |
XXVI | 82 |
XXVII | 84 |
XXVIII | 87 |
XXIX | 90 |
XXX | 93 |
XXXI | 97 |
XXXII | 101 |
XXXIII | 103 |
XXXIV | 105 |
XXXV | 110 |
XXXVI | 114 |
XXXVII | 117 |
XXXVIII | 121 |
XXXIX | 124 |
XL | 128 |
XLI | 131 |
XLII | 134 |
XLIII | 135 |
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Common terms and phrases
accept ad baculum alleged ambiguity analogy appeal to authority appeal to emotion appeal to pity argue arguer arguer's position argument from ignorance baculum basic begging the question bias burden of proof causal relationship Chapter circumstantial inconsistency cited cladists clusion committed context of dialogue controversial correlation critical questions deductively valid defender defined direct answer dispute equivocation evaluating evidence example expert fallacy fallacy of composition false form of argument given gument hominem argument ignorantiam ignoratio elenchi important inductive informal fallacies interpret issue kind logic logue means modus ponens participant particular personal attack persuasion dialogue plausible political populum post hoc practical premises are true presupposition problem prove reasonable argument reasonable dialogue refutation relevant reply respondent sample set of propositions shift the burden side slippery slope argument sonable specific spouse-beating question standards thesis threat type of argument type of dialogue type of error valid argument weak words
Popular passages
Page 282 - Sophistry, like poison, is at once detected, and nauseated, when presented to us in a concentrated form ; but a Fallacy which when stated barely, in a few sentences, would not deceive a child, may deceive half the world, if diluted in a quarto volume.