Monthly Archives: January 2013

Misuse Of Analogy: Basing a conclusion on an analogy. Refutation: Analogies are meant to teaching or illustrate by means of comparison. The analogy does not prove anything. Example:  Abby: Bob, choosing to use contraceptives to prevent pregnancy is like choosing … Continue reading →

Misuse of Etymology: Asserting that a word has to mean what it meant at some earlier time or base the meaning of a word solely on what its constituent parts originally meant. Refutation:  the meanings of words change over time, … Continue reading →

False Identity:  Using two different terms as if they meant the same thing within the same argument . Refutation: It is rare (as with forms of words like “a” / “an”) that two different words in the same language have … Continue reading →

Reductive Fallacy:  Asserting that a complex thing is nothing more than one of its parts. Refutation: By definition, a complex entity is composed of many interconnected parts. It is illogical to claim that only one of the parts of the … Continue reading →

I read statements by some politicians that they would not be in favor of any budget deal without tax increases.  Raising income without corresponding  deep structural changes in spending limits is folly. Any other institution in society operates by the … Continue reading →

Hasty Generalization: Basing a conclusion to an inductive argument  on too small of a sample. Refutation: A generalization is just that – a statement about what is generally the case. If the sample used to draw the conclusion is relatively … Continue reading →