Name: John Andre Bonghanoy Date: September 20, 2023

Course & Year level: BSEd-Math 1A Score:

LOVE IS A FALLACY: A REFLECTION PAPER

Fallacy, a mistaken belief or to deceive. Fallacy is very often when it comes to argument. Some
commit fallacies just to win over an argument knowing that they are deceiving someone throught
words. Even that, there are still people that are brilliant enough to distinguish which is a fallacy
and which is not. Regardless of the type of fallacy, fallacy is a fallacy and once you have
commited a fallacy, you have just deceived a person through words. We all do know being in
love can make us do deceptive things. Now the question is, Is love a fallacy?

The short story "Love is a fallacy" by Max Shulman is a story based on knowledge and of
emotions. The main character is wise when it comes to choosing the right partner. As for him, his
future partner should meet his standards and with that, it led to his downfall. Though the main
character had the main point that there’s no room for romantical things when it comes to
developing one person and thus, he believed that through educating processes, he can make the
girl as his standard wife and by that, the girl attained knowledge and is more logical than before
but yet, she still settled for Petey. Polly, the girl, settled for Petey because of her ‘logical reason’
that Petey owns one of the famous ‘racoon coat’. For me, settling to that kind of perspective of
love is some kind of idiotism. As per the main character said, aiming to get a thing because it is
famous is kind of idiotism. As for me, Polly’s attained knowledge is pointless if he will just settle
for that low perspective about love. Love contains needs such open mindedness for you and your
partner to become better as individuals and as one.

Being open minded can lead you to better understanding of love itself. All throughout our
journey, we’ll get to know more about love. Well in my case, I’m not that knowledgeable enough
about love since I’ve got a lot of things to prior rather than love. For me, love doesn’t need to be
rushed. Love for me should be taken step by step. Mostly, as I’ve observed, many people are in
desperate of love. Well I can’t argue with them about that since it’s their desire to have someone
to be in love with. As what other says, “don’t go to the market when you are hungry, you will
grab the wrong food. Same as love, don’t look for someone when you are in desperate of love,
you’ll get the wrong person.”

Being knowledgeable is more advantageous when it comes to “Love”. Having such knowledge
can let you foresee anything not just ‘love’ but to everything. Love can be established anywhere,
yet knowledge can’t. Knowledge can be rather learned or be taught. There are knowledge also
that could lead you to being an idiot. Being open minded to everything is not a must, but
necessary. Once you have gained much knowledge, it may lead to close your mind and with
such, ignorance can be the answer by the knowledge you have attained. Either of the two, having
such wide thinking of different perspectives, “Love” and knowledge can be attained, at the right
person and at the right time. Now to answer the question, is love really a fallacy? For me, yes it
is, but with right decisions, such fallacy can’t cease love itself.
FALLACIES IN THE SHORT STORY ‘LOVE IS A FALLACY’:

Dicto Simpliciter: Exercise is good, therefore everybody should exercise.

Hasty Generalization: You can’t speak French. I can’t speak French. I must therefore conclude
that nobody at the University can speak French

Post Hoc: “Let’s not take Bill on our picnic. Every time we take him out with us, it rains.”

Contradictory Premises: If God can do anything, can He make a stone so heavy that He won’t
be able to lift it?

False Analogy: Students should be allowed to look at their textbooks during examinations. After
all, surgeons have X-rays to guide them during the operation; lawyers have briefs to guide them
during a trial. Why then shouldn’t students be allowed to look at their textbooks during exams?

Ad Misericordiam: “A man applies for a job. When the boss asks him what his qualifications
are, he replies that he has a wife and six children at home, the wife is a helpless cripple, the
children have nothing to eat, no clothes to wear, no shoes on their feet, there are no beds in the
house, no coal in the cellar, and winter is coming.”

Hypothesis Contrary to Fact: “If Madame Curie had not happened to leave a photographic
plate in a drawer with a chunk of pitchblende, the world today would not know about radium.”

Poisoning the well: “Two men are having a debate. The first one gets up and says, ‘My
opponent is a notorious liar. You can’t believe a word that he is going to say.’”