Fallacy of Reification: Ambiguous Key Terms - Essay Sample

Introduction

It occurs when a key term in an argument used in an ambiguous way, where there is a particular meaning in one portion and another in the other part. For instance: "A small elephant is a small animal" (Arp et al., 2018). In this scenario, the word small means that an elephant being a small animal, but in the real sense, a little elephant is still a large animal.

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The Fallacy of Reification

The fallacy occurs when the argument relies on abstract as if it was a real fact; when a situation is referred to or treated as a real thing. For instance: the phrase. "You cannot fool mother nature," the phrase treats Mother Nature as a real person, although it is not (Arp et al., 2018). Another example is "Fighting for justice. " this implies putting a lot of time and effort to ensure a situation is just and right; however, it misinterprets to mean a person named justice.

The Fallacy of Hasty Generalization

It means getting a conclusion based on a small sample size instead of looking for the truth that is more in line with the normal situation. For instance, "My mother cooks the best Loussonia in the world. Therefore Loussonia is the best food in the world" (Arp et al., 2018). It is incredibly unreasonable that one cannot draw a universal conclusion about the best food by the case study of a single woman.

The Fallacy of Bifurcation

People commit a fallacy of bifurcation when they claim that there are only two possibilities to a sure thing, when, in fact, there is a third possibility. An example:" Either the traffic light on the road is red, or it is green" (Arp et al., 2018). It is fallacious, for the fire could be yellow.

The Fallacy of Begging the Question

In this fallacy, the claim is made based on evidence that requires someone to accept the request already is accurate. One must take the situation to be true for the invitation to be valid. For instance:" Vegetables and fruits are a healthy diet" (Arp et al., 2018). .After all good and healthy eating plan includes both fruits and vegetables.

The Fallacy of Complex Question

A complex question fallacy is one that is wrong not because the conclusion given does not follow, but the premise includes many presuppositions not demonstrated. For instance: "Did Norman stop beating his wife?" (Arp et al., 2018). It is either a yes or no question, which would imply the Norman beat his wife, which may not be the case. The problem should split into two: First, did Norman ever beat his wife? Second question, if so, did he stop doing this?

The Fallacy of Analogy

It happened when a comparison made between an object and an idea that have similar characteristics, but their comparison is different. The features of the two differ in the area of contrast. For instance:" People who cannot go to work without their coffee in the morning are no better than alcoholics" (Arp et al., 2018). The aftermath effects of an alcoholic and a person taking coffee every morning affect them differently.

The Fallacy of Ignorance

It occurs when someone mistakenly believes something to be right when it is not. It is because he/she does not have evidence about the subject or know anything about the subject. An example: "If he were elected, Sylvester would take away medical and social security benefits."

The Fallacy of Straw Man

A straw man fallacy happens when a person takes another person's point distorts it enormously and then attacks the distortion as if that is the claim the first person made. For instance:" I think pollution form humans gives rise to climate change." Then person two responds and says, "So you think humans are responsible for extreme weather, like droughts? If so, maybe we need to go to the Southeast and perform a rain dance" (Arp et al., 2018).

The Fallacy of Fault Appeal

It happens when someone uses alleged authority as evidence when the power is not an authority on facts relevant to the argument. For example: "My sixth-grade teacher told me that girls would go crazy for boys if the boys learn how to swim" (Arp et al., 2018). The teacher's belief about makes girls go mad for boys is speculative.

Reference

Arp, R., Barbone, S., & Bruce, M. (2018). Bad Arguments: 100 of the Most Important Fallacies in Western Philosophy. John Wiley & Sons.