3.4 Terms

Question 1

Fallacies of presumption

Answer 1

Begging the question, complex question, false dichotomy, and suppressed evidence. These fallacies arise because the premises presume what they purport to prove. (Hurley 165)

Question 2

Begging the question

Answer 2

presumes that the premises provide adequate support for the conclusion when they don’t.

Question 3

Complex question

Answer 3

presumes that a question can be answered by a simple “yes,” “no,” when a more sophisticated answer is needed.

Question 4

False dichotomy

Answer 4

Presumes an “either . . . or . . .” statement has presented jointly exhaustive alternatives when it hasn’t.

Question 5

Suppressed evidence

Answer 5

Presumes no important evidence has been left out of the premises when it has.

Question 6

Fallacies of ambiguity

Answer 6

Includes equivocation and amphiboly. Some form of ambiguity in the premises, conclusion or both. When the conclusion of an argument depends on a shift in meaning of an ambiguous word or phrase or on the wrong interpretation of an ambiguous statement, the argument commits a fallacy of ambiguity.

Question 7

Fallacies of illicit transference

Answer 7

Includes composition and division. The incorrect transference of an attribute from the parts of something onto the whole, or from the whole onto the parts.

Question 8

Begging the question

Answer 8

The arguer creates the illusion that inadequate premises provide support for the conclusion. They leave out a possibly false (shaky) key premise, restate a possibly false premise as the conclusion, or reason in a circle. Source of support for conclusion is not apparent. The argument is said to beg the question.

Question 9

Complex question

Answer 9

Two (or more) questions are asked in the guise of a single question and a single answer is then given to both of them. Every complex question presumes the existence of a certain condition. When the respondent’s answer is added to the complex question, an argument emerges that establishes the presumed condition.

Question 10

Leading question

Answer 10

The question suggests the answer.

Question 11

False dichotomy

Answer 11

A disjunctive (“either . . . or . . .”) premise presents two unlikely alternatives as the only ones available. The arguer then eliminates the undesirable alternative, leaving the desirable one as the conclusion.

Question 12

Equivocation

Answer 12

The conclusion depends on a word or phrase being used, either explicitly or implicitly, in two different senses. Such arguments are either invalid or have a false premise, and in either case they are unsound.

Question 13

Amphiboly

Answer 13

The arguer misinterprets an ambiguous statement and then draws a conclusion based on this faulty interpretation.

Question 14

Composition

Answer 14

The conclusion depends on the erroneous transference of an attribute from the parts of something onto the whole.

Question 15

Division

Answer 15

Reverse of composition. Division goes from whole to parts. The fallacy is committed when the conclusion of an argument depends on the erroneous transference of an attribute from a whole (or a class) onto its parts (or members).