Hatrack River Forum: Hatrack 101

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Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :

I'm taking Introduction to Logic (Philosophy 105) as an accelerated Summer course. The class has been fun so far, but last week I had a sort of "whoa" moment. We started talking about informal fallacies and the professor asked offhand if anyone knew what the different types were, and I didn't, until she started naming off "straw man" and "ad hominem" and more. A smile crept across my face and I raised my hand to explain what those were, and when she asked me where, if not the textbook, I'd experienced them, I laughed and shook my head.

So thank you Hatrack, for an informal education in argumentation and logic. I originally wanted to take the class for two reasons: 1. It counts as my math credit. 2. I thought it'd be great experience for law school. But now I'm adding a third: 3. It's like taking Hatrack 101.

Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :

Same thing happened in my Philosophy 2020 class, "Ethics and Values." The professor had a list of things from "Slippery Slope" to "Ad hominem" and I was able to nail almost every single one purely because I had spent time on hatrack.

My wife and I once had a long conversation where I explained all the logical fallacies I could and she has started identifying which ones I stumble into when we have conversations. It's strangely attractive to have your spouse correctly accuse you of committing a logical fallacy.

Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :

I explained 'false dichotomy' to my roommate today when he pulled out one.

Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :

On a related note, have you read "Love Is a Fallacy," by Max Shulman?

Posted by Dobbie (Member # 3881) on :

Who's Max Shulman?

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Shmuel:
On a related note, have you read "Love Is a Fallacy," by Max Shulman?

(Only next time, give a girl a clue. I was very confused when GR couldn't find anything by that title.)

Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :

fitin' the good fite means being able to tackle fallacy. are you a bad enough dude to tackle fallacy?

easy stuff: generic strawman, 'ad hominem,' false dilemma, post hoc, petitio principii, false compromose, etc

mid-level stuff: tu quoque, negative proof fallacies, moving the goalposts, etc

hard stuff: conjunction fallacies, denying the antecedent, argumentum verbosium, etc

Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :

quote:
Originally posted by rivka:
(Only next time, give a girl a clue. I was very confused when GR couldn't find anything by that title.)

Sorry, good point. As you've probably figured out, it's a short story, published as part of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. There are copies around the Web, though I have doubts about their legality. (On the other hand, the book appears to be out of print, and good luck finding a copy...)

I first read this in 12th-grade English and loved it. [Smile]

[ May 19, 2009, 11:07 PM: Message edited by: Shmuel ]

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

I found it several places online, but didn't link because I agree with your doubts.

I think I may have read it in HS English too; it seems familiar. But as has been pointed out to me several times in the last couple weeks, HS English was a Very Long Time Ago. >_<

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Shmuel:
(On the other hand, the book appears to be out of print, and good luck finding a copy...)

Easy enough, if you're willing to spend $45+. [Razz]

Library has it; maybe my kids will pick it up for me.

Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :

Concerning the "harder" fallacies:
is-ought fallacy is a very common one
appeal to nature
intensional is extensional (I'm not actually sure of the name of this one, though a specific type is the "intensional fallacy" which concerns how it affects leibniz' law, but I doubt that's one of the more common types) fallacy in one way or another

Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :

quote:
Originally posted by rivka:
Easy enough, if you're willing to spend $45+.

Library has it; maybe my kids will pick it up for me.

The Brooklyn Public Library (my local system) doesn't have it; the New York Public Library system has one reference copy in offsite storage. The City University of New York library system doesn't have a copy, either. Considering that the book was used as the jumping-off point for a movie and a television series that lasted four seasons, this surprises me.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

It's a conspiracy. The used booksellers have finally united! [Angst]