GROUP MEMBERS :

NOOR SYAFURA ZAINUDIN ROHANEM ISHAK WAN DAYANGKU DIANAH AWANG SITI ZULAIKHA ANUAR ZAKI

DEFINITION: The relation between cause and effect is reversed.

Simple example:The increase in AIDS was caused by more sex education. (In fact, the increase in sex education was caused by the spread of AIDS.)

Cancer causes smoking.

This fallacy is committed when:-

1. A person assumes that one event must cause another just because the events occur together

2. Causal conclusion is being made without adequate justification

It will be evident that the fallacy is being committed . The fallacy is not always evident.

For example: a person might claim that an illness was caused by a person getting a fever, but It would be quite clear that the fever was caused by illness For example, a problem child might be the cause of the parents being short tempered or the short temper of the parents might be the cause of the child being problematic.

Determine the actual cause and the actual effect:

In some cases, it can be difficult because people often have very different conceptions of cause and, in some cases, the issues are clouded by emotions and ideologies

It can be quite easy

For example, people often claim violence on TV and in movies causes people to like violence. Other people claim that there is violence on TV and in movies because people like violence

Many errors can be avoided with:

Careful attention to the temporal sequence of event

Due care

Careful testing procedures

The arguer tries to use the lack of evidence as support for a positive claim about the truth of a conclusion/vice-versa Example: people have been trying for centuries to prove that God exists. But no one has yet been able to prove it. Therefore, God does not exist. Tip: look closely at arguments where you point out a lack of evidence and then draw a conclusion from that lack of evidence.

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

A formal fallacy that occurs when a syllogism has
more than three terms

A formal fallacy is an error in logic that can be seen in

the arguments form without an understanding of the argument's content

SYLLOGISM
Arguments that take several parts, typically with two
statements which are assumed to be true

(or premises) that lead to a conclusion This takes the general form: Major premise Minor premise Conclusion : A general statement. : A specific statement. : Based on the two premises

SYLLOGISM
There are 3 major types of Syllogisms
Conditional : If A is true then B is true (If A then B)

Categorical : If A is in C then B is in C
Disjunctive : If A is true, then B is false (A or B)

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

Syllogisms always have

three terms

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

Major premise Minor premise Conclusion : All fish have fins. : All goldfish are fish. : All goldfish have fins.

Here, the three terms are: Goldfish Fish Fins The object being described, fish, occurs in both premises and therefore logically links both premises

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

Using four terms

invalidates the syllogism

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

Major premise Minor premise Conclusion : All fish have fins. : All goldfish are fish. : All humans have fins.

Here, there are four terms which are: Goldfish Fish Fins Humans

The object being described, fish, occurs in both premises and therefore logically links both premises

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

The premises don't connect "humans" with "fins", so
the reasoning is invalid.

Two premises aren't enough to connect four different

terms, since in order to establish connection, there must be one term common to both premises

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

In everyday reasoning, the fallacy of four terms
occurs most frequently by EQUIVOCATION

Equivocation is also a fallacy

It is the misleading use of a term with more than one meaning

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

Major premise Minor premise Conclusion

: A feather is light. : What is light cannot be dark. : Therefore, a feather cannot be dark.

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

The above looks like it only has three terms: Feather Light Dark However, the term light is being used in two different ways: LIGHT Opposite of HEAVY LIGHT Synonym of BRIGHT

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

Sometimes a syllogism that is apparently fallacious
because it is stated with more than three terms can be

translated into an equivalent, valid three term syllogism.

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

Major premise Minor premise Conclusion : No humans are immortal. : All Greeks are people. : All Greeks are mortal.

This syllogism apparently has five terms: Humans Greeks People Immortal Mortal

FOUR TERMS FALLACY

However, it can be rewritten as a valid syllogism by: Substituting the synonymous term HUMANS for PEOPLE Reducing the complementary term IMMORTAL Major premise Minor premise Conclusion : All humans are mortal. : All Greeks are humans. : All Greeks are mortal.