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How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic
 
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How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic (Hardcover)

by Madsen Pirie (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 182 pages
  • Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.; Revised edition edition (30 Mar 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0826490069
  • ISBN-13: 978-0826490063
  • Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13.2 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 281,299 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  • See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

Product Description

This is the book your friends will wish you hadn't read, a witty and infectious guide to arguing successfully. Each entry deals with one fallacy, explaining what the fallacy is, giving and analysing an example, outlining when/where/why the particular fallacy tends to occur and finally showing how you can perpetrate the fallacy on other people in order to win an argument. Originally published to great acclaim in 1985 as "The Book of Fallacy", this is a classic brought up-to-date for a whole new generation.


About the Author

Madsen Pirie is President of the Adam Smith Institute and author of numerous books including Boost Your IQ and The Sherlock Holmes IQ Book. He was formerly Distinguished Visiting Professor of Philosophy and Logic at Hillsdale College, Michigan.

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
60 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Updates an invaluable guide to spotting faulty logic , 31 Jul 2006
By Marshall Lord (Whitehaven, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
We've all been in the situation where some smart-alec produces an argument, often as a joke, which everyone knows must be wrong but where nobody can quite see the mistake.

More seriously, I suspect most of us have seen debates where one side appears to have much more evidence to support their case, until someone comes along who presents the other side of the argument so much better that everyone is convinced - at least until after the superior speaker has won the vote/verdict/board or council decision, by which time it is too late.

Madsen Pirie's book is a masterly and very entertaining guide to the different tricks which people can use to make their argument sound much stronger than it really is, how to spot them, and what the holes in their logic are.

He lists the logical fallacies which, by accident or design, can lead people to support false conclusions.

Unfortunately, as Madsen Pirie points out, knowing why the argument you are listening to is wrong does not always make it easy to defeat the person advancing it. Arguments "ad baculum" (by threat of force) do not go away if you prove the person making the threat to be wrong, irrelevant humour, if it is funny enough, can carry away a valid argument on a gale of laughter, and emotional appeals can be extremely hard to stop with mere logic.

Nevertheless, to be able to understand why an argument is wrong is a useful start - if you don't know yourself you have little chance of persuading anyone else. And this book is really helpful at showing you how to see where faulty logic is in play.

This book is an updated version of a book published in the mid 1980's with the title "The Book of the fallacy - a training manual for intellectual subversives." The new text is about 95% common with the earlier version, although it has a few updated concepts such as "Thatcher's Blame."

Very sadly the new book does not include the highly amusing cartoons which illustrated the original version. That is almost the only fault I can find with it - a criticism which would be covered under the chapter of the book on "Trivial objections."
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33 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Slice through your opponents, 3 May 2006
By Philip Stevens (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Read only a few pages of this book and you will be equipped to destroy verbally anyone who stands in your way - be they a nagging spouse or the prime minister. Witty and erudite. Highly recommended.
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19 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining & informative, 5 Dec 2006
By P. C. Hackett "hagthehippie" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Little do you realise how the wool is pulled over your eyes! This book mercilessly exposes every trick in the politicians/meida/relegious book, explaining clearly what is wrong with the logic, and how you have been deceived.

When I rule the world (any time now ...) this will be required reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars how to win every argument
Love this book, its a great introduction to logic easy to read and so informative upto now its me and the book 6 wife nil! buy it read it and win!!!!
Published 1 month ago by P. J. De Maziere

3.0 out of 5 stars No doubt based on earlier books..
... I haven't even read this book; however I vaguely know Pirie, from Mensa, and have never been impressed by his smug superficiality. Between the wars (i.e. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Rerevisionist

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good collection of logic abuse
At first glance, the title will mislead you. This book should be called "The Abuse of Logic in Arguments". Read more
Published 2 months ago by L. Guta

3.0 out of 5 stars could be better
I got interested in fallacies and making valid arguments. I found lots of good material on the net, but wanted something a bit more portable and with more structure to it. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Pat

3.0 out of 5 stars NO COOKBOOK
'How To Defeat Your Nemesis In 5 Easy Steps' - if this is what you need, keep looking. What you get is a little hardbound, red book in a sexy sleeve. Inside Mr. Read more
Published 8 months ago by D. Fellner

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction, Just Don't Expect Any Depth.
Firstly, in case you don't already know, this is less a guide to winning every argument and more a guide to identifying fallacies. Read more
Published 9 months ago by MagikMonkey

3.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to logic.
This book is ideal for a young person about to go to college to study law or politics. Its coverage of the logical structure of arguments is pretty comprehensive and there are... Read more
Published 16 months ago by John Foley

1.0 out of 5 stars Mildly entertaining
I purchased this book in the hope that it was going to provide an insight into winning arguments in the business world; sadly I am disappointed. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Andrew Little

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