Grant Welge
October 29, 2008
Theology III

Five Common Thinking Errors
1. Non Sequitur

A non sequitur occurs when a conclusion does not follow logically from the premises used to support it.

Two examples of non sequiturs would be:

Premise: The weatherman said it would rain today.
Premise: It rained today.
Conclusion: Everything the weatherman says is true.

Premise: I have a dog.
Premise: There are no lions in my yard.
Conclusion: My dog keeps lions out of my yard.


2. False and Vague Premises

There are many instances in which conclusions do follow logically, but the premises are either vague or false, therefore the conclusion is still untrue.One or both of the preimses may by untrue, which causes the conclusion to also be untrue.

Two examples would be:

Premise: All people are Catholic.
Premise: My dog is a person.
Conclusion: My dog is a Catholic.

Premise: Catholics baptize babies becaue of their belief in Original Sin.
Premise: Original Sin means babies are born guilty of personal sins.
Conclusion: Catholics believe babies are guilty of personal sins.


3. Ad Hominem

One is guilty of ad hominem reasoning when, instead of attackin a person's argument, one attacks a certain quality in the person which is not directly related to the argument itself.

An example would be:
Premise: Mike Smith says that he knows what caused this economic depression.
Premise: He is a rich and wealthy man .
Conclusion: Mike Smith is wrong.

4. Begging the Question

A person begs the question when he tries to demonstrate that a certain point is true, but in the process already assumes his point is true.

An example of this would be if someone said that LaDainian Tomlinson is the best running back in the NFL. Someone else then asks him "How do you that LaDainian Tomlinson is the best running back in the NFL?" The person then replies "Because he is LaDainian Tomlinson."


5. Red Herrings

A red herring is when someone says something inflammatory or beside-the-point in order to distract everyone from the real issue.

For example, say for instance that a boy stole some of his brother's candy. His father asks the boy if he stole his brother's candy, and the boy replies "How 'bout those Cardinals?"

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