Critical thinking is now needed more than ever. This accessible and engaging book provides the necessary tools to question and challenge the discourse that surrounds us-whether in the media, the classroom, or everyday conversation. Additionally, it offers readers a deeper understanding of the foundations of analytical thought. Informal Logical Fallacies: A Brief Guide is a systematic and concise introduction to more than fifty fallacies, from anthropomorphism and argumentum ad baculum, to reductionism and the slippery slope argument. This revised edition includes updated examples, exercises, and a new chapter on non-Western logical fallacies. With helpful definitions and relevant explanations, the author guides the reader through the realms of fallacious reasoning and deceptive rhetoric. This is an essential guide to philosophical reflection and clear thinking.
Critical thinking is now needed more than ever. This accessible and engaging book provides the necessary tools to question and challenge the discourse that surrounds us-whether in the media, the classroom, or everyday conversation. Additionally, it offers readers a deeper understanding of the foundations of analytical thought. Informal Logical Fallacies: A Brief Guide is a systematic and concise introduction to more than fifty fallacies, from anthropomorphism and argumentum ad baculum, to reductionism and the slippery slope argument. This revised edition includes updated examples, exercises, and a new chapter on non-Western logical fallacies. With helpful definitions and relevant explanations, the author guides the reader through the realms of fallacious reasoning and deceptive rhetoric. This is an essential guide to philosophical reflection and clear thinking.
Preface
Introduction
Chapter One: Linguistic Fallacies
Chapter Two: Fallacies of Omission
Chapter Three: Fallacies of Intrusion
Chapter Four: Fallacies with Built-In Assumptions
Chapter Five: Causal Fallacies
Chapter Six: Some Non-Western Fallacies
Chapter Seven: Valid and Invalid Argument Forms
Appendix I: Exercises
Appendix II: Aristotle on the Law of Non-Contradiction
Appendix III: Bertrand Russell on Truth and Falsehood
Glossary
Recommended Reading
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Jacob E. Van Vleet is professor of philosophy at Diablo Valley College.
Jacob E. Van Vleet’s book on informal fallacies is an important
reminder of what is typically left out in the study of logic that
all too often is confined to formal logic, to the study of rules of
inference and the abstractions that proceed from the granting of
those rules. Informal fallacies are psychologically persuasive and
arise within the marketplace, the common world; studying them may
enable us to think for ourselves amid our current blather of
clichés and tweets.
*David Lovekin, Hastings College*
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