Mastering Logical Fallacies: The Definitive Guide to Flawless Rhetoric and Bulletproof Logic by Michael Withey

Author:Michael Withey [Withey, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zephyros Press
Published: 2016-06-17T22:00:00+00:00

THE MISTAKE

The proponent’s argument looks legitimate enough: he makes a claim, and backs it up with some relevant evidence. However, he has failed to mention some other evidence, which contradicts his claim (as with the homeopathy example), or which qualifies his claim (as with the Second Amendment example). If all the evidence had been presented, his claim would be shown to be unjustified.

THE COMEBACK

The best comeback is to simply know more about the topic than your opponent. For instance, if your opponent is an NRA member quoting the Second Amendment, simply point out that your opponent is selectively quoting the text.

If you can’t do this, you can still try and deconstruct the evidence adduced. So, with the homeopathy example, you could ask about the size of the study group, and the rate of natural remission from cancer. If it turns out that one in a hundred cancer patients will undergo natural remission, then his ‘evidence’ has proven nothing: we’d expect that a hundred patients out of ten thousand would spontaneously get better anyway.

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