INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN

Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600

PERSON
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Grade Level:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

MODULE 4 – Philo Subject Teacher:

FIRST TRIMESTER SY 2020-2021

FALLACY

 The two competing conceptions of fallacies are that they are false but popular beliefs and
that they are deceptively bad arguments.

1. Appeal to Pity (Argumentum ad misericordiam)

 It evokes a sense of sadness or sympathy.

Examples:
 Commercials that show starving children in Africa before asking for donations to feed them.
 Saying that you support a specific candidate for class president, only because he has recently
been diagnosed with cancer.
 When you did not finish an assignment on time, you tell your teacher about how your printer
was out of ink, but that you didn't want to ask your mom to go to the store because she works
nights, doesn't get much sleep, and she was sleeping.
 When a boss recommends someone for a promotion and makes the argument that the
person really needs the additional money to support his family.

2. Appeal to Ignorance (Argumentum ad ignorantiam)

 It asserts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false or a proposition is
false because it has not yet been proven true.

Examples:
 Since you haven't been able to prove your innocence, I must assume you're guilty.
 I guess I didn't get the job. They never called me back.
 She hasn't said she doesn't like you, right? So she's probably interested. Call her up.

3. Equivocation
 This is a logical chain of reasoning of a term or a word several times, but giving the particular
word or term a different meaning each time.

Examples:
 All trees have barks. Every dog barks. Therefore, every dog is a tree.
 If you’re waiting for a sign. This is it! (Flashing a sign or an ad)
 I know evolution is true because we see evolution happening all the time.

4. Against the Person Fallacy (Argumentum ad hominem)

 An ad hominem argument is one that is used to counter another argument, but it is based on
feelings or prejudice (often irrelevant to the argument), rather than facts, reason or logic. It is
often a personal attack on one’s character rather than an attempt to address the issue at
hand.

Examples:
 Relying on socioeconomic status as a means to undermine an opposing individual’s opinion –
“You wouldn’t understand since you have never had to struggle.”
 Using someone’s educational level as a means to exploit and degrade the opposer’s
argument – “You didn’t even finish high school - how could you possibly know about this?”
 Using gender as a means to devalue an argument from an opposing gender – “This is a
female issue. As a man, how can you have an opinion about this?”

5. Forcing Someone (Argumentum ad baculum)

 When force, coercion, or even a threat of force is used in place of a reason in an attempt to
justify a conclusion.
 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
PERSON
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Grade Level:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

MODULE 4 – Philo Subject Teacher:

Examples:
 Melvin: Boss, why do I have to work weekends when nobody else in the company does?
Boss: Am I sensing insubordination? I can find another employee very quickly.
 Boyet: Papa, why do I have to spend my summer at Jesus camp?
Papa: Because if you don’t, you will spend your entire summer in your room with nothing but
your Bible!

6. Appeal to the People (Argumentum ad populum)

 This is making an argument that something is the right or correct thing to do because a lot of
people agree with doing it. This type of fallacy is also called bandwagon.

Examples:
 Everyone says that it's okay to lie as long as you don't get caught.
 It might be against the law to drink when you are 18 years old, but everyone does it, so it's
okay.
 You definitely need to buy those new boots. Everyone is wearing them!

7. Post Hoc (Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc)

 A false cause fallacy occurs when one cites to sequential events as evidence that the first
caused the second.

Examples:
 Our soccer team was losing until I bought new shoes. We have not lost a game since I got my
lucky shoes!
 I sneezed at the same time the power went off. My sneeze did something to make the power
go off.
 Every day, I eat pan de sal for breakfast. One time, I had a muffin instead, and there was a
major earthquake in my city. I've eaten pan de sal ever since.

8. Hasty Generalization
 When one makes a hasty generalization, he/she applies a belief to a larger population than
he/she should based on the information that he/she has.
 It could also mean that you have not studied enough examples to draw such a conclusion.

Examples:
 Christine has a terrible experience with a boyfriend. She decides that all boys are mean.
 A driver in Baguio cuts you off in traffic. You decide that all Baguio drivers are terrible drivers.
 Mrs. Dela Cruz taught your older brother, who was the class clown. She decides to be strict
with you from the very first day of class because she thinks you will be a clown, too.

9. Begging the Question

 Begging the question is a fallacy in which a claim is made and accepted to be true, but one
must accept the premise to be true for the claim to be true.
 This is also known as circular reasoning. Essentially, one makes a claim based on evidence that
requires one to already accept that the claim is true.

Examples:
 God is real because the Bible says so, and the Bible is from God.
 Smoking cigarettes can kill you because cigarettes are deadly.
 Fruits and vegetables are part of a healthy diet. After all, a healthy eating plan includes fruits
and vegetables.
 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
PERSON
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Grade Level:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

MODULE 4 – Philo Subject Teacher:

Points to Ponder upon:

1. Why do you think people use fallacies?
2. Have you ever used fallacies to create an argument, or has someone ever used a fallacy onto
you? Kindly recall the whole experience, and identify what fallacy was used.

PHENOMENOLOGY
 Phenomenology is the study of experience and how we experience. Experience, in a
phenomenological sense, includes not only the relatively passive experiences of sensory
perception, but also imagination, thought, emotion, desire, volition, and action. The term
"phenomenology" is derived from the Greek "phainomenon", meaning "appearance". Hence,
it is the study of appearances as opposed to reality, and as such has its roots back in Plato's
Allegory of the Cave.

PLEASE WATCH: Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWOpQXTltA)

Points to Ponder upon:
1. What is an allegory?
2. What do you think is the implication of the allegory of the cave in this day and age?

NOTABLE PHENOMENOLOGISTS
Edmund Husserl
 The grandfather of Modern Phenomenology
 The Natural Attitude: The world is out there separable from our experience.
 Phenomenological Attitude: In contrast to the natural attitude, we have the
phenomenological attitude which means bracketing our experience of the natural world and
focusing our experience of reality. The constant use of epoche (bracketing) is used in
phenomenological reduction.
 Eidetic Reduction: This second type of reduction is a way of understanding the essence of an
experience. Eidetic Reduction asks the questions what makes a life life? What is the essence of
life, realizing the essential nature of consciousness?

Think about it: What is the essence of studying philosophy in your strand?

Gabriel Marcel
 His conception of freedom is the most philosophically enduring of all of his themes.
 Marcel believes that objectivity like material possessions takes away our significance in the
world. The objectification of the self through one's possessions robs them off their freedom. It
does this by separating them from their experience of living.
 Freedom, then, is always about the possibilities of the self, understood within the confines of
relationships with others. I am a being among beings.
 Think about it: Why do you think there are a lot of group work and group dynamics at school?

REFERENCES
English 9.2.4 (Logical fallacies). Quizlet. Retrieved from https://quizlet.com/236186301/english-924-
logical-fallacies-flash-cards/

Fallacies. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/fallacies/

Plato’s allegory of the cave – Alex Gendler. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWOpQXTltA

The basics of philosophy. Retrieved from

https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_phenomenology.html