Take a look at the following statements and determine which

one states fact or opinion.

1. It takes me 30 minutes to walk from my home to school.
2. Living near the school is better because we don’t have to spend much for
transportation.
3. My sister ate the last piece of pizza pie.
4. My sister is a selfish person because she ate the last piece of pizza pie and did not
share it with me.
5. The policeman firmly pushed the suspect to his knees and placed him in handcuffs.
6. The aggressive manner by which the policeman arrested the suspect is an example
of brutality that characterizes our police force.
Questions:
1. What is opinion?
2. How do you examine opinions?
3. Discuss the difference between opinion and
truth.
It takes me 30 minutes to walk Living near the school is better
from my home to school. because we don’t have to spend
much for transportation.
My sister ate the last piece of pizza My sister is a selfish person
pie. because she ate the last piece of
pizza pie and did not share it with
me.
The policeman firmly pushed the The aggressive manner by which
suspect to his knees and placed him the policeman arrested the suspect
in handcuffs. is an example of brutality that
characterizes our police force.
The first column fit into the category of facts since
they contain ideas or information that are easily
available.

Example: Verifying the number of minutes it takes

for one to walk from home to school is possible. The
second and third statements speak of actions that can
be verified by recalling an experience or proving
evidences such as eyewitness accounts.
The second column on the other hand, has statements that
could be considered opinions. These statements go
beyond facts. They also provide conclusions or
perspectives regarding situations. Some of the statements
even advance a belief about a certain thing or person.
What is Truth?
The quality or state of being true.
It is something that has been proven by facts
or sincerity.
What is Opinion?
A statement of judgement of a person about
something in the world.
It prevails personal view of a person.
Statement of judgement that are in need of
further justification.
Not all opinions, are made equal.
Some opinions are so weakly made, whereas, some
opinions are very strongly put that people
unquestioningly take them as true.
Example: The case of extrajudicial killings.
Today, many people simply take it as true that
there is no other solution to the problems of drug and
crime prevention than to decimate the perpetrators
without due process demanded by the rule of law.
This opinion can only become truth if there are
enough supporting reasons to defend it from
criticisms.

If opinions did not pass the tests of justification,

opinions will have to be defended with better
reasons to strengthen them.
How to critically examine opinions?
Clarify what an argument is.

ARGUMENT is a group of statements that serve to support a conclusion.

“There is no hope in the Philippine government.”

This is not yet an argument. It is an expression of an opinion.

“There is no hope in the Philippine government because many
officials are corrupt and Filipino voters continue to elect them.”

This is what an argument looks like. It is composed of a claim

(the conclusion of an argument) and premises (the reasons used
to support the conclusion).

Clearly, not all arguments are good arguments.

Logic – a branch of philosophy that studies and elaborates on good
argumentation.
In the discipline of philosophy of the human person, it is enough to at
least know what are genuine arguments from false ones.
We call fake arguments ‘fallacies’.
Fallacies are a group of statements that appear to be arguments, but fail
to support the conclusion.

“There is no hope in the Philippine government, because the Philippine is

a tropical country.”
Fallacies usually come in the guise of well articulated
arguments. If you are not keen and critical enough, they
can pass your tests of justification with no difficulty at
all. This is why it is important to know what these
fallacies look like. Among the many fallacies
enumerated in Logic, here are some of the most common
ones.
TYPES OF FALLACY
ARGUMENTUM AD HOMINEM (Argument against the Person)

A fallacy used when people convince others that someone’s argument should be
rejected because of the person’s personal background, his/her history, nationality,
race, socio-economic status, family, associations, religion, and other circumstances.
This argument is considered fallacious because the rightness or wrongness of a claim
should not be affected by the background of the person claiming it.
An example: Victim-blaming when it comes to rape and sexual
harassment.
A student goes to the guidance office to report that she has been
sexually harassed. She argues of course that this is a violation of her
basic right to respect and dignity. Unfortunately, many people respond
to this argument by first asking, “What were you wearing when the
incident happened, anyway?”
This question, if stated in an argument would go as follows: “If you were
wearing something revealing too much skin, then the person who
violated you should not be blamed. You have no right to argue against the
violation of your dignity if you were carrying yourself like a slut.”
Why is this argument fallacious?

It is a false argument because it seeks to blur the wrongness of

the act of sexual harassment by focusing on the personality,
gender and other circumstances of the victim.

The violation of right to dignity and respect is fundamental. It

does not change regardless of the personalities of those
involved.
Example:

Instead of addressing the policy proposals of a rival candidate,

one focuses on rumors about their personal life.
When someone tries to discredit the person making the
argument in advance, usually by making negative or
derogatory statements about them, in order to undermine their
credibility.
For example: "Don't listen to anything he says; he's a known
liar."
ARGUMENTUM AD BACULUM (Appeal to force)
An argument used by people who want to win a conflict by
issuing threats to their opponents.

Example: A student raises a critical question against his history

teacher who must have taught them an erroneous reading of an
historical event. The teacher gets upset with the question, and
insists that there is nothing wrong with what he taught, and
subtly insinuates that if students would question him further
then the whole class will be getting a harder final exam.
"If you don't work late tonight, you can say goodbye to
that promotion.“

"If you don't clean your room right now, I'll take away
your video game privileges for a week.“

"Agree with me, or I'll give you the silent treatment for
days."
Why is this argument fallacious?

It is problematic because instead of convincing the other

person that you are right by giving good reasons, you
force them to accept whatever you say. The listeners are
made to say ‘yes’ to claim even if in their right minds
they know that your argument is foolish.
ARGUMENTUM AD MISERICORDIAM (Appeal to pity)

This fallacy is also called appeal to emotion. It is an argument used

by people who want to win people over by manipulating their
emotions. This is the favorite tactic of politicians during campaign
periods.

Example: Candidate A who has been reported to be involved in

massive corruption of public funds, would pay high rates of
advertisement in the media portraying him as poor and suffering man.
Why is this wrong?

People should vote for politicians because of their

merits and capability to serve the public. When people
exercise their right to vote, it is because they understand
themselves as mature and rational to choose for
themselves what is good for them. Manipulating
people’s emotions clouds voter’s judgment.
“I know I failed the exam, but please don't give me an F. My
dog died last week, and I've been so distraught. Giving me an F
would just make things even worse for me.”

“You should not find the defendant guilty of murder, since it

would break his poor mother's heart to see him sent to jail."
ARGUMENTUM AD POPULUM (Bandwagon fallacy)

This fallacy is the favorite marketing strategy by advertising

agencies. It is used by appealing to the popular sentiment of the
public.

If they want their product to sell, they will get the most popular
personalities to model their product. This results to fans and
avid followers of those personalities buying the product.
Example: A pharmaceutical company claims that their product is
more effective than other brands through endorsement of Actor
A. Because it is this actor who endorses it, many will think that
this is a good product indeed.

Why is this argument erroneous?

The effectiveness of a product does not depend on the popularity

of the person endorsing it. It should be drawn through a validated
report of testimonies of a significant number of people who have
indeed used it.
It is important to remember then that popularity does not
equate with validity or that just because many people
believe something to be true, the argument or opinion is
indeed true.