Fallacy

The term “fallacies” is often used in everyday language to describe any kind of misinformation or error of thinking. In addition, with reference to logic, the word “fallacy” receives a more exact definition. In the theory of knowledge course, “fallacy” is often defined as an argument that uses an invalid form of reasoning. These are then divided into two different types of fallacies, which are formal and informal fallacies. Formal fallacy is the invalid reasoning found in syllogisms. These are typically errors in logic that can be seen in the argument’s form, arrangement, and/or technical structure. Contrary to this, informal fallacy is one in which the reasoning is wrong, rather than the structure (formal). Some types of fallacies are:

Ad Hominum: This is a type of fallacy, which transfers the attention from the argument itself to the person presenting the argument.

Ad Populum: This is when people justify their arguments to be true because many people believe it.

Slippery Slope: This is a type of fallacy that is often used when the a person supports and/or justifies their argument by claiming that their position must be preferred over the other because the other position will lead to a chain on events leading to undesirable consequences. In addition, most of the times, these events with negative consequences are often highly unlikely to take place.

Prior to the last lesson, I was sort of unclear as to what was meant with fallacies, and found it quite difficult to understand the ideas. However, what I found really interesting was that after learning about it, I began to realize that informal fallacies are always being used around us. A very common type of informal fallacy that is always used in school is the Ad Populum fallacy, which is when people justify their arguments to be true because many people believe it. An example of this in the daily lives of students at the Dubai American Academy is when students justify their tardiness to class by saying that “everyone comes late to class” so it is fine. After a bit of reflection, I have also come to a conclusion that I also use fallacies all the times, and now, whenever I speak with others, it is fascinating to be able to tell how and when others use fallacies.