PHL 214 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Ad Hominem, Fallacy, False Dilemma
25 May 2016
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We can divide fallacies into two broad categories. Irrelevant premises have no bearing on the truth of the conclusion. Unacceptable premises are relevant to the conclusion but are nonetheless dubious in some way. Consists of arguing that a claim is true/false solely because of its origin. In most cases, the source of an idea is irrelevant to its truth. Good ideas can come from questionable sources; bad ideas can come from impeccable sources. To reject a claim by criticizing the person who makes it rather than the claim itself. They attempt to discredit a claim by appealing to something that"s almost always irrelevant to it, such as a person"s character, motives, or personal circumstances. We are never justified in rejecting a claim because of a person"s faults unless we can show how a person"s faults translate into faults in the claim, and this is almost never the case.
