Lecturer-Mr.

GeorgeNy ongesa
TheTechni calUniver
sit
yofKeny a
ScienceandTechnol ogyDepar t
ment
UCCC1102-Cr i
ti
calandCr eat
ive
Thinking(Engineer
ingCohor t
)
Telephone:0720451235

FALLACI
ES

Intr
oduct ion
Thet opicisi ntendedt ointroducet helear nertocommoner rorsinreasoning
whichi fnotsubj ect edt oscr uti
nycanpassf orproperreasoning.Theseerrors
arecommoni nthewor k-
place, poli
ti
cs, andsocialint
eracti
onsandi ncourtsof
l
aw.Theyar ecommi ttedwhenwer esor ttoselfdefensemechani sms,utt
er
populistst atement s/sent iment s,coerceot herstostandbyus, seeki
ngfav or
,or
whenemot i
onalov ercer tai
ni ssues.Gr aspingthenatureoft heseer r
ors
(fal
lacies)hel pslear nersinguar di
ngagai nstfall
i
ngv ict
imst othewhi msoft hose
whoper pet uatethem.
I
mpor
tanceofst
udy
ingf
all
aci
es(
err
orsi
nreasoni
ng)
Thest udyoffallaci
ousar gument
s,forfamili
ari
tyandunder st andinghelpsusto
avoi
dbei ngmi sledbyt hem.Therear emanypeopl earounduswhopur por
tt o
prof
ess knowl edge butwhen we subj ectt heirthinki
ng to scr uti
nyi t
s only
i
gnorancet hatcomesaf ore.Amul t
it
udeofhumanbei ngst hr i
veondecept i
on;
i
ncessant l
y beg sy mpathy and pret
ence defines theirchar act
er.Fail
uret o
understandtheki ndoff all
aci
ousargument swilldefini
tel
ypr omot ethev i
ceof
decei
tbenef i
cialt o crooked minds crooks,conmen,l iar s,propagandist
s,
mischievouspoliti
ciansetc.
 
Def
ini
ti
onofFal
lacy
Fal
laci
esareerrorsinreasoningwhichfrom t
hesur f
acevaluelooksaccur at
eand
convi
ncingbutwhensubj ect
edt origorofreasononer eali
zest hatreasonhas
beenflawed.Af all
acyisat y peofargumentt hatmayseem t obecor rectbut
whichproves,
uponexami nat
ion,nottobeso:-iti
sat y
peofi ncorrectar
gument .
 
Ki
ndsoff
all
aci
es
Fal
l
aci
esar
egener
all
ydi
vi
dedi
ntot
wobr
oadgr
oups-FORMALandI
NFORMAL.
1.Formalf all
aciesarereasoni
ngt hatdev
iatefr
om t heest
abli
shedcorr
ectform
ofreasoning( i
nductiveanddeductive)
.Anyreasoningthatdoesnotconfor
mt o
theestablishedst ruct
ureorf or
m ofcor rectreasoning def
ini
tel
ycommi t
sa
for
malf al
lacy .Todet ecttheerroronehast ocheckagai nsttheest
abli
shed
corr
ectreasoni ng.
2.I
nformalf
all
aciesontheotherhand,ar
eerr
orsinreasoni
ngi
ntowhichwemay
fal
lvi
cti
mseitherbecauseofcarel
essnessandinat
tenti
ontooursubj
ectmat
ter
 Lecturer-Mr.GeorgeNy ongesa
TheTechni calUniver
sit
yofKeny a
ScienceandTechnol ogyDepar t
ment
UCCC1102-Cr i
ti
calandCr eat
ive
Thinking(Engineer
ingCohor t
)
Telephone:0720451235

orthr
oughbei
ngmi
sledbysomeambi
gui
tyi
nthel
anguageusedt
ofor
mul
ate
ourar
gument.
 

I
nfor
malf
all
aci
es
I
nfor
malfal
laciesar
ef urtherdi
vi
dedi nt
othree:a)fal
l
aci
esofr
elev
ance,b)
f
all
aci
esofpresumpt
ion,andc)fal
laci
esofambigui
ty.
 
a)Fal
laci
esofr
elev
ance
Therearevari
oustypesofFallaciesofrel
evance.Commont oallar
gumentsthat
commi tfall
aci
es ofr elev
ance ist he f
actt hatthei
rpr emises arelogi
call
y
i
rrel
evant to,and t heref
orei ncapabl
e of establi
shing the tr
uth of thei
r
concl
usions.Thef
ollowingarejustbutexamplesoffall
aciesofrel
evance:

i
)Appeal
tot
hemasses
Thef al
lacyiscommi t
tedi ndi r
ectinganemot i
onalappealt ot hepeopl eortothe
masseswi t
hav iewt owi nningt heirassenttoaconcl usionunsuppor tedbygood
evidence.I tisanat t
emptt owi npopul arassentt oaconcl usionbyar ousingthe
feelingsandent husiasmsoft hemul t
it
ude.Thi sfall
acyi safav ouri
tedev i
cewi t
h
propagandi sts,pol i
ti
cians, st
reetpr eachers,demagogues, andadv erti
sersamong
other s.Facedwi ththet askofmobi li
singpubl icsent imentf ororagai nsta
particularmeasur e,t
hepr opagandi storpoli
tici
anav oidst helabori
ouspr ocessof
collecti
ngandpr esentingev idenceandr ati
onalar gumentandi nsteadchooset o
uset heshor t-cutmet hodsofar gument um adpopul um.Forexampl e,where
politici
ansi nvolvedincor rupti
onmobi li
zet heirt
ribear guingt hattheirarr
estor
prosecut ionisanat t
ackont heircommuni ty.
 
i
i
)Appeal
toaut
hor
it
y
Thisfall
acyr ef erstotheappealtoauthori
tyt
owi nassentt oaconcl usion-that
i
s,appealt ot hef eel
i
ngofr espectpeoplehavef ortheinstit
utionorper sonin
authori
ty.Thi smet hodofar gumenti snotal waysst ri
ctl
yf al
laci
ous,f orthe
ref
erencet oanadmi t
tedauthori
tyi
nthespecialfi
eldofhis/hercompet encemay
carrygreatwei ghtandconstit
uterel
evantevi
dence.Iflaymenar edisputingover
somequest ionofphy si
calsci
enceandoneappeal st othetestimonyofEi nst
ein
ont hemat ter ,thattesti
monyi sveryrel
evant.Althoughitdoesnotpr ovethe
point,
itcertainlytendstosupportit
. 
 Lecturer-Mr.GeorgeNy ongesa
TheTechni calUniver
sit
yofKeny a
ScienceandTechnol ogyDepar t
ment
UCCC1102-Cr i
ti
calandCr eat
ive
Thinking(Engineer
ingCohor t
)
Telephone:0720451235

Butwhen an aut hori

tyisappeal ed t
of ortestimonyi n mattersoutsidet he
provi
nceofhi sspeci
alfi
eld,theappealcommi t
st hefal
lacyofappeal t
oaut hori
ty.
Ifinanar gumentoverreli
giononeoft hedisput ant
sappealst otheopi ni
onsof
Darwin,theappealisfall
acious.Adverti
singtestimonialsarefrequentinstances
ofthisfall
acy.Wear eurgedt osmoket hi
sort hatbrandofci garet
tebecausea
championswi mmerorf ootballst
araffi
rmst heirsuperi
orit
y.

 
i
i
i)Ar
gumentf
rom i
gnor
ance
Thisfal
lacyisil
lustr
atedbytheargumentthatsomet hi
ngi struebecausenoone
hasev erprovedt hatitisnot,forexamplet heargumentt hatt heremustbe
ghostsbecausenoonehasev erbeenabletoprovethattherear en’tanycommi ts
thi
sfall
acy.I
tiscommi t
tedwheneveriti
sarguedthatapr opositionistruesimply
onthebasisthatithasnotbeenpr ov
edf al
se,ort
hatiti
sf alsebecausei thasnot
beenprovedt r
ue.
Argumentsofthisnat
urearefall
aciousbecauseourignoranceofhowtopr oveor
disprov
eapr oposi
ti
onclearl
ydoesnotest abli
shei
therthet r
uthorfal
sehoodof
thatproposi
ti
on.Thisfall
acyof t
enar i
sesinconnect i
onwi t
hsuchmat t
ersas
psychicphenomena,tel
epathy,wherether
eisnocl ear-
cutevidenceei
therforor
against
.

i
v)Appeal
topi
ty
Thisisaf al
lacycommi tt
edwhenpi tyisappealedtof ort hesakeofget ti
nga
concl
usionaccept ed.Thisargumenti sfrequentl
yencount eredincourtsoflaw,
when,forexampl eadef enseat tor
neydisregar
dsthef actsoft hecaseandseek
towinhiscli
entsacqui t
talbyar ousi
ngpityinthepresi
dingj udge.Forexample,a
youthbeingt ri
edf orapar t
icularbrut
alcr i
me,themur derofhi sf at
herand
mother.Confrontedwithov erwhelmingproofofhi sguilt
,hepl eadsforleni
ency
onthegroundt hatheisanORPHANmeet sthecrit
eri
aofappeal topi
ty.
 

v
)Appeal
tof
orce
Thisisafall
acycommitt
edwhenoneappealstoforceorthet
hreatoffor
ceto
causeacceptanceofaconcl
usion.Iti
susual
l
yr esul
tedtowhenev i
denceor
rat
ionalar
gumentsfai
l
.Iti
sepi
tomizedi
nthesayi
ngmi ghti
sri
ght.Theuseand
 Lecturer-Mr.GeorgeNy ongesa
TheTechni calUniver
sit
yofKeny a
ScienceandTechnol ogyDepar t
ment
UCCC1102-Cr i
ti
calandCr eat
ive
Thinking(Engineer
ingCohor t
)
Telephone:0720451235

threatofstr
ong- ar
m met hodstocoer cepolit
icalopponentsprovidesagood
contemporaryexampl eofthisfall
acy.Ontheint er
nati
onalscal
e,theappealto
forcemeanswarort het
hreatofwarbysuper i
orpower stosil
encetheweakeror
growingnati
ons.Forexampl e,
threatsbysuperpower st
oinvadegrowingnat
ions
overcertai
ni ssuessuchashar bour
ing t
err
orism asanexcusear eagood
exampleofappeal tofor
ce.

v
i)Abusi
ve 
Thisf allacy translates lit
erall
y as ar gumentdi rected tot he person.I tis
suscept i
bletot woi nterpretat
ions,fi
rst,asabusi vev ar
iety
. I
tiscommi t
tedwhen,
i
nsteadoft r
y i
ngt odi sprovethet r
uthofwhati sasser t
ed,oneat t
ackst heper son
whomadet heasser tion.Forexampl e,wheni ti sar guedt hattri
beXi nKeny ais
naturall
yoft hievessi nceanumberoft hepeopl ef rom itareimplicat
edwi t
ht heft
i
st ocommi tf all
acyofabuse.  Thear gumenti sf allaci
ousbecauset heper sonal
characterofpar t
icularindivi
dualsislogicall
yirrelevantt othecollect
ivenat ureof
ethnicgroupX.  
Toar guet hatpr oposal sarebadorasser t
ionsf alsebecauset heyar eproposed
orasser tedbyapar ticularcommuni tyorindividuali stoar guefall
aciouslyandt o
begui lt
yofcommi tti
ngf all
acyofabuse.Thi ski ndofar gumenti ssomet i
mes
saidtocommi tt hegenet icfall
acy,forobv iousr easons.Thewayi nwhi cht hi
s
i
rrelevantar gumentmaysomet i
mes per suade i st hrough the psy chological
processoft ransferenceespeci al
lywher eanat tit
udeofdi sapprovalt owardsa
personi sevoked.  
v
ii
)Appeal
toci
rcumst
ance
Thisistheot heri
nterpretati
onoft hefal
lacyofabuse.Thi svariet
yper tainstot he
rel
ati
onshipbet weenaper son’sbel i
efsandhi scir
cumst ances. 
Whent woper sonsar edi sputi
ng,onemayi gnorethequest i
onofwhet herhi s
owncont entionistr
ueorf alseandseeki nsteadtoprovet hathisopponentought
toaccepti tbecauseofhi sopponent sspeci alcir
cumst ances. Forexampl e,if
onesadv ersaryisacl ergyman, onemayar guethatacer taincontent i
onmustbe
acceptedbecausei tsdeni alisincompat i
bl ewiththescripturesand/ orfaith.This
i
snott opr oveittrue,butt our geitsaccept ancebyt hatpar t
iculari ndivi
dual
becauseofhi sspecial ci
rcumst ances-int hiscasehisreli
giousaf fi
l
iation.
Suchargumentsarenotr
eal
lytothepoi
nt;
theydonotpr esentgoodgr oundsf
or
the t
rut
h oft hei
rconcl
usi
ons butareintended onl
yt o wi n assentt othe
concl
usion f
rom onesopponentbecauseofhi sspecialcircumst ances.The
connect
ionbetweentheabusiv
eandt hecircumst
anti
alv ari
etiesoff al
l
acyof
 Lecturer-Mr.GeorgeNy ongesa
TheTechni calUniver
sit
yofKeny a
ScienceandTechnol ogyDepar t
ment
UCCC1102-Cr i
ti
calandCr eat
ive
Thinking(Engineer
ingCohor t
)
Telephone:0720451235

abusiveisthat 
thecircumstant
ialvari
etymayber egar
dedasaspeci alcaseof
abusive.Itchar
gesaper sonwhodi sputesy ourconclusi
onwithinconsistency
whichmayber egardedasaki ndofr epr
oachorabuse.  Thehomininechar ges
the adversar
ywi th being so pr
ejudiced t
hathi s al
l
eged reasons are mer e
rat
ionali
sati
onsofconcl usi
onsdictatedbysel f
-i
nter
est.Andthatiscer t
ainlyto
abusehim

v
ii
i)I
rr
elev
antconcl
usi
on 
Thisfallacyiscommi ttedwhenanar gumentpurporti
ngtoestabli
shapar t
icul
ar
conclusionisdi rectedt oprovi
ngadi ff
erentconclusi
on.Forexampl e,whena
part
icularpr oposalf orhousinglegi
slat
ionisunderconsi der
ati
on,al egi
slat
or
mayr iset ospeaki nf avouroft
hebil
landar guethatonlydecenthousingforall
thepeopl eisdesirable.
Hisremar ksar ethenl ogicall
yirr
elevantt othepoi ntati ssue,f ort hequest ion
concernst hepar t
icularmeasur eathand- thatonhousi ngl egi sl
ati
onandnoton
the natur
e ofhousest o be bui l
t.Pr esumabl yev er
yone agr ees t hatdecent
housingforal lthepeopl ei sdesir
able( ev enf orthosewhowi l
lpretendt oagr ee
butdonotr eall
ythinkso) .Thequest i
oni s:wi llthispart
icularmeasur epr ovideit
,
andi fso,wi lli
tpr ovidei tbetterthananypr acti
calalternat i
ve?Thespeaker s
argumenti sf all
acious,f oritcommi t
st hef allacyofirrelev antconcl usion.An
argumentcommi t
st hisf al
lacyifi
tspr emi sesar edi
rectedt owar dsaconcl usion
dif
ferentf
rom t heonet hatissupposedt obeest abli
shedbyt hem.  

i
x)Fal
l
acyofCompl
exQuest
ion
I
tisobviousthatt
herei
ssomethingfunnyaboutquest
ionsli
kehaveyougivenup
yourevilways?orhaveyoust oppedbeati
ngy ourwife?Thesearenotsimple
quest
ionstowhi chast r
aight
forwardyesornoansweri sappropri
ate.Such
quest
ionspresupposet
hatadef i
nit
iveanswerhasalr
eadybeengiventoapr i
or
quest
ionthatwasnotevenasked.Thisi
sacompl exquesti
on.
Complexquestionsarenotconfi
nedt
oobviousjokesl
i
kethoseabove.I
ncross-
examinat
ional awyermayaskcompl exquesti
onsofawi t
nesstoconfuseor
eventoincri
minatehim.Hemayask,Wheredi dyouhidet
heevidence?Orwhy
didyoustealf
rom hi
m?ort hel
ike.
 
Insuchcasest
heintel
l
igentpr
ocedurei
st ot
reatt
hecomplexquest
ionnotasa
simpl
eone,buttoanalyseiti
ntoit
scomponentpart
s.Otherki
ndsofcomplex
questi
ons-amothermayaskheryoungsteri
fhewantst
obeagoodboyandgo
 Lecturer-Mr.GeorgeNy ongesa
TheTechni calUniver
sit
yofKeny a
ScienceandTechnol ogyDepar t
ment
UCCC1102-Cr i
ti
calandCr eat
ive
Thinking(Engineer
ingCohor t
)
Telephone:0720451235

tobed.Therearetwoquest
ionsinvolv
ed;onedoesnotpr esupposeaparti
cul
ar
answertotheother
.Whati
swr onghereisthesuggest
ionthatoneandthesame
answermustbegi vent
obothoft hequesti
ons;andthisi
st hefol
ly
,afal
lacyof
complexquest
ionhasbeencommi tt
ed 

x)Fal
l
acyofAcci
dent
Thef all
acyofacci dentconsi stsi nappl y
ingagener alrulet oapar t
icularcase
whoseacci dentalci rcumst ancesr endertherulei napplicable.InPl at
osRepubl i
c,
forexampl e,anexcept i
oni sf oundt othegener alrulethatoneshoul dpayones
debt.
Exampl e:supposet hataf ri
endwheni nhi srightmi ndhasdeposi t
edweapons
withmeandheaskf orthem whenhei snoti nhi srightmi nd,oughtIt ogiv ethem
backt ohim?Noonewoul dsayt hatIoughtort hatIshoul dber ightindoi ngso
whati st r
ue,ingener almaynotbet rueuni versall
yandwi thoutqual i
ficati
on,
becauseci r
cumst ancesal tercases.  
Manygener al
isationsknownorsuspect edtohav eexcept ionsar estatedwi thout
qualif
icati
on,eitherbecauset heexactcondi ti
onsr estri
cti
ngt heirapplicabil
ityare
not known or because t he acci dentalci rcumst ances t hat render t hem
i
nappl i
cable occurso sel dom as t o be pr acticall
ynegl i
gible.When such a
generaliz
ationisappeal edt oinar guingaboutapar ti
cularcasewhoseacci dental
cir
cumst ancespr eventt hegener alpropositi
onf rom appl y
ing,thear gumenti s
saidtocommi tthef all
acyofacci dent .
 
Apr acti
calexampl eoft hisfallacyis;
Pr
emi
se1:
whaty
ouboughty
est
erdayy
oueatt
oday
; 
Pr
emi
se2:
youboughtr
awmeaty
est
erday
; 
Ther
efor
e,y
oueatr
awmeatt
oday
.(Concl
usi
on)
I
nt hi
sar gument,t
hepremisewhaty ouboughtyester
day,youeattodayappli
es
generall
yonlytothesubst
anceofwhati sbought,r
atherthant
oitscondit
ion.It
i
snoti ntendedt
ocovereveryacci
dental
cir
cumstance,suchastherawconditi
on
ofthemeat .

xi
)Fal
l
acyofConv
erseacci
dent(
hast
ygener
ali
zat
ion)
I
nseekingtounder standandchar acteri
zeallcasesofcer t
ainkind,onecan
usual
l
ypayattenti
ontoonl ysomeoft hem.Butthoseexaminedshouldbetypi
cal
rat
herthan atypi
cal.I fone considers onl
y except
ionalcases and hasti
ly
gener
ali
sestoar ulet hatfi
tsthem alone,thefall
acyofconv er
seaccidentis
 Lecturer-Mr.GeorgeNy ongesa
TheTechni calUniver
sit
yofKeny a
ScienceandTechnol ogyDepar t
ment
UCCC1102-Cr i
ti
calandCr eat
ive
Thinking(Engineer
ingCohor t
)
Telephone:0720451235

commi t
ted.
 
Forexampleconsider
ingtheef f
ectofalcoholonlyont hosewhoindulgeini
tto
excess,onemayconcludethatalll
iquori
shar mfulandurgethati
tssaleanduse
should be f
orbi
dden byl aw,ort hatthe eat
ing oft oo much red meatis
detr
imentalt
oonesheal t
h,andoneconcl udest hatthesaleandeatingofred
meatshouldbebanned.Suchr easoningi
serroneous. 

xi
i
)Fal
l
acyofFal
seCause 
Thisfal
lacyi
scommi t
tedini
nstanceswhereonemistakeswhati snott hecause
ofagi veneffectforit
srealcause.Themer efactofcoi nci
denceort empor al
successiondoesnotest abl
i
shanycausalconnect i
on.[Cer t
ainl
ywer ejectthe
cl
aimt hatbeatingthedrumsi sthecauseoft hesunsr eappear anceaf teran
ecli
pse,eventhoughonecanof f
erast heevi
denceoft hef actthatev erytime
drumshav ebeenbeatenduri
nganecl i
pse,t
hesunhasr eappeared.]

b)Fal
l
aci
esofAmbi
gui
ty
Some oft he Informalf al
lacies hav etradi
ti
onall
y been cal
led fal
laci
es of
ambi guit
yorfallaciesofclearness. Theyoccuri
nargumentswhosef ormulati
ons
containambi guouswor dsorphr ases,andwhosemeani ngsshif
tandchange
mor e orl ess subt l
yi nthe cour se ofthe argumentand thus renderthem
fal
lacious.Thesei nclude:

i
)Fal
l
acyofAccent
Thi
siscommi t
tedinanargumentwhosedecepti
vebutinval
i
dnaturedepends
uponachangeorashifti
nmeaning.Thewayinwhichmeaningshif
tsdepends
uponwhatpartofitmaybeemphasi sedoraccent
ed.Somestatement
shav e
qui
tedi
ff
erentmeani
ngswhendif
fer
entwordsarestr
essed.

i
i
)Fal
l
acyofAmphi
bol
y
Thisfall
acyoccursi nargui
ngf r
om premiseswhosef or
mulati
onsar eambi
guous
becauseoftheirgr ammat i
calconstr
uct
ion.Ast atementi samphibolouswheni
ts
meaningi sindeterminatebecauseoft hel ooseorawkwar dwayi nwhichi
ts
words ar e combi ned.An amphi bol
ous st atement may be t r
ue on one
i
nterpret
ati
onandf al
seonanot her.Wheni tisst atedast hepremi sewit
hthe
i
nterpret
ati
onwhi chmakesi ttr
ue,andaconcl usionisdrawnf r
om itonthe
i
nterpret
ati
onwhi chmakesi tfalse,t
hent hef al
lacyofamphi bolyhasbeen
 Lecturer-Mr.GeorgeNy ongesa
TheTechni calUniver
sit
yofKeny a
ScienceandTechnol ogyDepar t
ment
UCCC1102-Cr i
ti
calandCr eat
ive
Thinking(Engineer
ingCohor t
)
Telephone:0720451235

committed.Examplesofamphiboloussentencesar ewarti
mepost ersur
gingus
tosavet hef oodandwastepaper ,orthedef ini
ti
onofant hropol
ogyast he
sci
enceofmanembr aci
ngwoman.Amphi bol
yi softenexhibi
tedbynewspaper
headi
ngsandbr i
efit
ems,asin,themanbl ew hi
sheadof fondi scover
yofhis
wif
esdisloyal
ty

i
i
i)Fal
l
acyofEqui
vocat
ion
Mostwor dshav emor et hanonel it
eralmeani ng,ast hewor d[ pen]whi chmay
denoteei therani nstrumentf orwr i
ti
ngoranencl osur ef orani mal s.Whenwe
keept heset womeani ngsapar t,nodi ffi
cultarises.Butwhenweconf uset he
dif
ferentmeani ngsasi ngl ewor dorphr asemayhav e,usingi tindifferentsenses
i
nt hesamecont ext,wear eusi ngitequi vocall
y. At radi t
ionalexampl eoft hi
s
fal
lacyis: 
Theendofat hingi sitsperfectionDeat hist heendofl ifeTher efore,
deathist heper fect i
onofl ife.Thi sargumenti sf all
aciousbecauset wodi ff
erent
sensesoft hewor dendar econf usedi nit.Thewor dendmaymeanei t
hergoalor
l
astev ent.Bot hmeani ngsar eofcour selegiti
mat e.Butwhati sill
egi t
imat eist o
confuset het wo,asi nt hisar gument .Thepr emi sesar epl ausibleonl ywhent he
wor dendi si nt
er preteddi f
fer entl
yi neachoft hem,as:t hegoalofat hingi si t
s
perfect
ion,anddeat hist hel astev entofl i
fe.Aspeci alki ndofequi vocat ionhas
todowi thr elat
ivet erms, whi chhav edifferentmeani ngsindi f
ferentcont ext s.For
exampl ethewor dt alli
sar elativewor d;at al
lmanandat allbuildi
ngar ei nqui t
e
dif
ferentcat egories.

i
v)Fal
l
acyofComposi
ti
on
Fallacy ofcomposi ti
on is appl i
ed t ot wo cl oselyr elat
ed t y
pes ofi nvali
d
argument .
 
Thef i
rstmaybedescr ibedasr easoningf allaciouslyfrom thepr oper
tiesoft he
partsoft hewhol etothepr opertiesoft hewhol eitsel
f.
 Forexampl etoar guethat
sinceev erypartofapar ti
cularmachi neislightinwei ght,themachi neasawhol e
i
sl i
ghti nweightistocommi tthisf al
lacy.Thesecondt y peofcomposi ti
onf all
acy
i
s par alleltot he abov e.Her et he fall
acious r easoning isf rom pr operti
es
possessed byi ndivi
dualel ement sormember sofacol l
ectiont o properti
es
possessedbyt hecollecti
onort ot al
it
yoft hoseel ement s. 
Forexampl e,
itisfal
lacioustoar guet hatbecauseabususesmor egasol inethan
anaut omobi l
e,thereforeallbusesusemor egasol i
nethanal lautomobi l
es.This
turnsonconf usionbet weent hedi str
ibuti
veandcol l
ect
iveuseofgener al ter
ms.  
 Lecturer-Mr.GeorgeNy ongesa
TheTechni calUniver
sit
yofKeny a
ScienceandTechnol ogyDepar t
ment
UCCC1102-Cr i
ti
calandCr eat
ive
Thinking(Engineer
ingCohor t
)
Telephone:0720451235

v
)Fal
l
acyofDi
vi
sion
Thef all
acyofdi vi
sioni st her ev erseoft hef all
acyofcomposi ti
on.I tisoftwo
vari
etiestoo;  
thefi
rstki ndconsi stsi nar guingthatwhati strueofawhol emust
alsobet rueofi t
spar ts.Toar guet hatacer taincorporati
oni sveryimpor t
ant,
and
Dr.Mbi t
hiisanof f
icialoft hatcor poration, t
hereforeDr.Mbi thii
sv eryimport
ant,
i
st o commi tthe fallacyofdi v i
sion. The second t ype ofdi visi
on fall
acyi s
commi t
tedwhenonear guesf rom t hepr operti
esofacol lecti
onofel ementsto
theproper t
iesofelement st hemsel ves. 
To ar gue t hatsince uni versity st udent s study medi cine,law,engi neeri
ng,
denti
st r
yandar chit
ect ure,theref oreeachorev en,anyst udentatt heuniversi
ty
studi
est hesamewoul dbet ocommi tthef all
acyofdivisi
on.

c)Fal
l
aci
esofpr
esumpt
ion
Inthefal
laci
esofpresumpti
on,t
hepr
emi
sespr
esumet
hev
eryconcl
usi
ont
hey
aresupposedtopr
oveorjust
if
y.

i
) Beggi
ngt
hequest
ion
Inattempti
ngt oestabl
ishthetrut
hofapr oposi
ti
on,oneoftencastsaboutf
or
acceptabl
epr emi
sesf r
om whichtheproposi
ti
oninquesti
oncanbededucedas
conclusi
on.Ifyouassumeasapr emiseforyourargumenttheveryconcl
usi
on
youintendtoprove,
thef al
l
acycommittedi
sthatofbeggi
ngthequesti
on.
Forexamplethear hatIam becauseIam i
gumentt sacl
assi
calexampl
eof
beggi
ngthequest
ion

i
i
)Thef
all
acyoff
alsedi
chot
omy
I
tisalsocal l
edfall
acyoffalsedi
lemma.Theerr
oriscommitt
edinthemist
aken
useofdi sj
uncti
on:“ei
ther
…or…”f or
mul
ati
onofitspremi
sesi smist
akenasit
presentsonlytwoopt i
oninasituati
onwheret
hereisapossi
bil
it
yofmorethan
twoalternati
ves.
Exampl
e:
Ei
thery
oumarr
ymeorIwil
lbemi
ser
ablef
ortherestofmyl
if
e.Iknowyoudon’
t
wantmetobemiser
abl
efort
her
estofmyli
fe,soitfol
l
owsthatyouwi
llmar
ry
me.
i
i
i)Fal
l
acyofcompl
exquest
ion
 Lecturer-Mr.GeorgeNy ongesa
TheTechni calUniver
sit
yofKeny a
ScienceandTechnol ogyDepar t
ment
UCCC1102-Cr i
ti
calandCr eat
ive
Thinking(Engineer
ingCohor t
)
Telephone:0720451235

Iti
nvol
vesaski
ngmulti
plequest
ionsassi
ngl
equesti
on.Thequest
ioni
saskedi
n
suchawayi tpr
esupposesthet r
uthoftheconcl
usionwhichhasnotbeen
establ
i
shed.
Exampl
e:Hav
eyoust
oppedsmoki
ngbhang?

i
i
i)Fal
l
acyofsuppr
essedev
idence
Thisfal
lacyoccurswheneveran ar
guei nf
ersaconclusion based onsome
sel
ectedev i
denceandignor
essomeot herevi
dencet
hatout weight heone(
s)
consi
dered,butift
heyweretobeconsi
deredthenadi
ff
er entconclusi
onwould
berequi
red.
Exampl
e
Mostdogsar
ef r
iendl
yandposenothreatt
opeoplewhopetthem.Ther
efor
e,i
t
woul
dbesafetopetthel
it
tl
edogthati
sapproachi
ngr
ightnow.

St
udyQuest
ions
“Fall
aci
ousreasoningi
srepugnanttocorr
ectt
hinki
ngill
ust
rat
ethisst
atement
usingfourexamplestwofrom eachofthetwogeneralcat
egori
esofinf
ormal
fal
laci
es.

(
a)Di
sti
ngui
shbet
weenf
all
aci
esofr
elev
anceandambi
gui
ty

(b)Bywayofexampl
esdi
scusst
wof
all
aci
esofr
elev
anceandt
wof
all
aci
esof
ambigui
ty.

Discussanyt hr
eef al
l
aciesshowi
nghow t
heycanbeav
oided.I
neachcase
furni
shrel
evantexamples.

Gi
vethr
eeexamplesoffal
l
aci
esofr
elev
anceandi
neachcase,
showhowonei
s
mi
sledbyt
heargument.

Fall
aci
ousr easoni
ngi soffensi
vetocorr
ectthi
nki
ng.Il
lust
rat
ethisusi
ngf our
examples,
twof rom eachofthetwogener
alcat
egor
iesofinf
ormal
fall
aci
es.
 Lecturer-Mr.GeorgeNy ongesa
TheTechni calUniver
sit
yofKeny a
ScienceandTechnol ogyDepar t
ment
UCCC1102-Cr i
ti
calandCr eat
ive
Thinking(Engineer
ingCohor t
)
Telephone:0720451235

Givethr
eeexampl
esoff
all
aci
esandshow whyt
heyar
einst
ancesofi
ncor
rect
reasoni
ng.

Bywayofexampl
es,di
sti
ngui
shbet
weenf
all
aci
esofr
elev
anceandf
all
aci
esof
ambi
gui
ty.

Towhatextentcanthest
udyofcr
it
icalandcr
eat
ivet
hinki
nghel
ponei
nav
oidi
ng
fal
l
aci
ousreasoning?

I
dent
if
ythet
ypeoff
all
acycommi
tt
edi
neachoft
hef
oll
owi
ngst
atement
s:

“I
'
dli
ketor espondtothat,butt
aki
ngint
oaccountyourbackgr
ound,educat
ion,
andi
ntel
l
igence,Iam qui
tesuret
hatyouwoul
dnotbeabletounder
stand.
” 

“Ihaveobser vedthatthosewhodi
sagreewithmeont
henextpointt
endtobe
unsophist
icated,andthosewhoqui
cklyrecogni
zet
hev
ali
dit
yofthepointt
obe
mor eeducated.Thepointis.
..
.”
 

“Asy oumat
ureemoti
onal
ly(
orment
all
y,orspir
it
ual
ly
),y
ouwillgr
owoutofy
our
presentwayofthi
nki
ng,andyouwil
leventual
lycomearoundtomypointof
view.”
 
“Yousai
d‘f
eel’i
nsteadof‘
thi
nk’.I
fyouar
efeel
i
ngi
nst
eadoft
hinki
ng,Iwon'
tbe
ablet
oconvi
ncey ouwit
hreason.”