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42 Fallacies
 
 
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42 Fallacies [Kindle Edition]

Michael LaBossiere (Author)
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
Kindle Price: £0.77 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
* Unlike print books, digital books are subject to VAT.

Product Description

Product Description

This book presents definitions and examples of the following informal fallacies:

Ad Hominem

Ad Hominem Tu Quoque

Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief

Appeal to Authority

Appeal to Belief

Appeal to Common Practice

Appeal to Emotion

Appeal to Popularity

Appeal to Fear

Appeal to Flattery

Appeal to Novelty

Appeal to Pity

Appeal to Popularity

Appeal to Ridicule

Appeal to Spite

Appeal to Tradition

Begging the Question

Biased Generalization

Burden of Proof

Circumstantial Ad Hominem

Fallacy of Composition

Confusing Cause and Effect

Fallacy of Division

False Dilemma

Gambler’s Fallacy

Genetic Fallacy

Guilt by Association

Hasty Generalization

Ignoring a Common Cause

Middle Ground

Misleading Vividness

Peer Pressure

Personal Attack

Poisoning the Well

Post Hoc

Questionable Cause

Red Herring

Relativist Fallacy

Slippery Slope

Special Pleading

Spotlight

Straw Man

Two Wrongs Make a Right

Who is to Say?

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 148 KB
  • Print Length: 83 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B004ASOS2O
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #16,753 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

3.2 out of 5 stars
4 reviews
3.2 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Not a fallacious read 2 Feb 2011
By Den
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This does exactly what it says, cover 42 of the most common fallacious arguments that are likely to be used by or against you in the course of discussion. Laid out in an easy read style, it's like learning your vocabulary at school.

Each fallacy comes with detailed description and ample samples so that you not only absorb the epistemology of each individual fallacy, but learn it's use in everyday conversation.

Certainly a worthy read as an intellectual self-defence against flawed arguments that are often intentionally or not, used against us in the course of our day.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Primer, Worth The Money and Worth Completing 10 Feb 2012
By A. S. Frieze
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
There's no doubt that this book has been written by an expert and that it provides clear and interesting discussion of the subject of logical fallacy. As a Kindle book, costing only a few pennies, it's also good value for money.

I think the author has missed an opportunity to turn the text, which looks a little like university course notes (and refers to itself as "the programme" at some point, suggesting this further) into a full-blown reference in its own right. If I could change the book, I would deal with:

- A handful of annoying typos which mean you have to work out what the author meant to write, as what is written doesn't make sense
- The ordering of the fallacies - they're clearly related, but seem to be presented in an order that doesn't reflect that
- Duplications within the fallacies - it's unclear whether there are truly 42 distinct fallacies, or whether there are a few core ones with subtle variations on them to watch out for

In places, this book is a field guide showing how to spot these fallacies in action, it would also help if the examples were more consistent, showing the simple cases and then the more subtle cases, explaining perhaps how some of the more subtle cases are truly fallacious.

The book is close to a book of patterns, helping you to identify and deal with fallacies. It might be useful if each fallacy were described a bit more consistently, and maybe even came with some examples for how to counter-argue them. In some cases, the examples give tantalising clues on counter-argument. Conversely, fallacies can be used to unscrupulously win arguments, so it would be interesting to be shown how to apply these fallacies "under the radar".

Overall, this is a promising work on the subject, but feels very much like a hasty repackage of something that had already been written. With a little more work, this could be so much more - perhaps we'll see this in a later revision.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars 42 common logical errors found in discussions/arguments 29 July 2012
By daisycow
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a very infomative little book, which addresses all the common fallacious arguments people often use to argue or counter their case in friendly discussion or in heated debate.
Whether you know what's wrong with their case, or you can't just put a finger on it, this book will help to describe exactly what the faulty reasoning is, and why it is fallacious.
More than that, each fallacy has a common name which is widely used in debating/argumentative circles, and most people will have seen these bandied about, so if one didn't know before, it is nice to be able to put a meaning to them. e.g. 'straw man', 'post hoc', 'slippery slope', 'ad hominem', etc etc.

Each fallacy is well explained so one should be able to recognize it again one-self, and it is followed by several examples to further exemplify the meaning. This is important as some of the fallacies are commonplace and capable of misconstrual. Who knows, you may even be able to pick up a couple used by your friends! They are pretty ubiquitous.

For example the 'ad hominem' fallacy. In this fallacy Person A states claim X.
Person B attacks person A
Therefore person A's claim is false
The reason this kind of argument is a fallacy is that in general a person's character, actions etc do not (in most cases) have a bearing on the truth or falsity of the argument they are making. To add to the explanation, person B is attacking the man and not the argument.

2 examples follow which illustrate the principle of speakers being derided for their beliefs, with the intention of rendering their arguments irrelevant without actually having to be answered.

I would thoroughly recommend it if you have a general interest in following intellectual arguments on-line or attenting debates, or if you debate yourself and have not come across these things your self - you may be able to score back some points on your opponent!
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Popular Highlights

 (What's this?)
&quote;
A deductive argument is an argument such that the premises provide (or appear to provide) complete support for the conclusion. An inductive argument is an argument such that the premises provide (or appear to provide) some degree of support (but less than complete support) for the conclusion. &quote;
Highlighted by 142 Kindle users
&quote;
A fallacy is, very generally, an error in reasoning. This differs from a factual error, which is simply being wrong about the facts. To be more specific, a fallacy is an “argument” in which the premises given for the conclusion do not provide the needed degree of support. &quote;
Highlighted by 108 Kindle users
&quote;
A good deductive argument is known as a valid argument and is such that if all its premises are true, then its conclusion must be true. &quote;
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