The Five Thinking Errors
by: Dan
Baxter
Non-sequiturs
A non-sequitur is made when a conclusion does not follow logically from the premises used to support it. This means that the premises may be valid but they cannot be connected in such to way to form the conclusion. An example from our book of a non-sequitur is as follows:
There are no tigers in my backyard.
There is a rock in my backyard.
Conclusion: The rock in my backyard keeps tigers away.
This conclusion is obviously ridiculous despite the fact that the two premises used to derive it were both true. Another example of a non-sequitur is in Monty Python and the Life of Brian in which all of Brian’s followers make the following connection:
Brian’s shoe fell off his foot.
Brian did not come back for his shoe.
Conclusion: All of Brian’s followers should take off their shoes.
This example shows how silly many non-sequiturs can be as in this case it is used for comic effect.
False and Vague Premises
False and vague premises means that the conclusion does follow logically from the premises, but the premises themselves are either too vague or untrue, thus rendering the conclusion false. In this mistake, the premises were correctly linked the problem is that they were not valid to begin with. The example our book gave of this is as follows:
Men are fools.
Albert Einstein was a man.
Conclusion: Einstein was a fool.
This conclusion is clearly ridiculous as Einstein was one of the most brilliant scientists ever to have lived. It is a result of the false premise that all men are fools. Even in this case however the two premises were logically combined to create the conclusion. Since one of them was false from the beginning the conclusion itself then became false.
Ad Hominem
An Ad Hominem is when, instead of attacking a person’s argument, one attacks a certain quality in the person which is unrelated to the argument. An example of this our book gave is as follows:
He preaches the necessity of virtues.
He is rich, anti-gay, anti-choice, ect.
Conclusion: He is wrong.
In this instance, instead of observing the persons argument, the person deriving the conclusion simply took the things that they did not like about their opponent and concluded that because they did not like the person they must be wrong. A modern example of this which we see all too often is the division in politics. Far too many people in today’s world simple side with one side, either Democrat or Republican, and instead of truly observing the issues they side with their party. Instead of observing an opponents perspective they simply assume they are wrong because they are of a different party. This is an example of an extremely Ad Hominem in today’s world which is all too common.
Begging the Question
Begging the Question means that in attempting to demonstrate one’s point is true, one already assumes his point is true. Another way to say this would be circular reasoning. The example our book gave was something a previous junior had said, “I believe God exists because he created us.” In order to have created us God would have to exist, so in assuming that God created us, the author of this statement was already assuming God exists. He might as well have said, “I believe God exists because God exists.” The simplest way for me to understand what this is leads me back to Mr. Mill’s Geometry class. In proof form this would be like saying, “aàb because bàa.”
Red Herrings
A red
herring is something inflammatory or beside the point said in order to distract
everyone from the real issue. More often
than not a red herring is thrown into a conversation by someone about to lose
an argument to distract everyone from the fact that they have lost. This shows a lack of ability to accept defeat
or to accept anyone else’s views as possibly being true and therefore is a
problem. An example our book used was a
bumper sticker which reads, “Against abortion? Don’t have one!” Instead of addressing the issue or arguing a
point, this bumper sticker tries to direct the reader’s attention away from the
actual argument. An example of a red
herring from literature can be seen in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in which Beatrice, when confronted by Margaret for being
in love with Benedick, responds by saying, “How long
have you profess’d apprehension” (3.4.62-63). In other words instead of addressing her
argument, Beatrice insults Margaret to distract from what she had said.
