ما هي المغالطات المنطقية تعرف عليها حتى لا تقع في إحداها

What are logical fallacies? Come to know them, in order to avoid falling into one of them. “If your house is three times larger than mine, surely your balcony is three times larger than my balcony.” “Smoking is not harmful to health, because my grandfather has been smoking for 60 years and is in good health.” “Eating fried eggs makes you genius because it was Einstein’s favorite meal.” Did you notice something fishy about the previous sentences? In fact, the previous sentences are clear examples of logical fallacies. It is the construction of the argument using improper thinking, and the wrong exploitation of the available information. The topic of logical fallacies has received great attention in the fields of humanities and applied studies. They represent fundamental enemy of the scientific method, which leads us to misleading results. But its importance does not stop there. We may all be guilty of using them occasionally, sometimes knowingly and other times unknowingly. Among the traditional logical fallacies, we can mention the fallacy of personalization. Ad Hominem It is criticizing an argument by attacking the alleger rather than discussing the argument he/she presents. For example: How can trust the opinion of the pediatrician regarding my son’s health, as he is man who does not know the feeling of motherhood. In this example, the mother makes no useful argument against what the doctor says but rejects what he says just because he is man. Straw Man Fallacy Straw Man Fallacy It distorts the argument of the other party in way that makes its refutation easier and puts the other party in disadvantageous position. It is like dueling straw man instead of facing his opponent head on. For instance, Ahmed said, “I think that self-driving cars are safer, and hope to see more of them in the future.” Samir replied, “I am surprised that you hate auto drivers. Why do you wish that they were all homeless and unemployed?” Appeal to Authority Appeal to Authority Also called an argument from authority. It is to cite the opinion of person of influence or scientific standing as evidence for proposition. It is used as compelling argument, especially if the two sides of the controversy agree on the importance of this reference. For example, “Fried egg is definitely the best food because Einstein loved it.” “Are you smarter than Einstein to refuse that argument?” We know it’s always important to listen to experts. But, being famous scientist doesn’t mean you can’t make mistakes. Moreover, if someone is genius in physics, that doesn’t add weight to their opinion regarding food. Fallacy of Division Fallacy of Division It is false assumption that what is true for whole must also be true of all its parts. For example, Adel lives in large building, which means that his apartment is large. Our basketball team beat the neighboring city team, meaning that all the players of our team are superior to all the players of the other team. Anecdotal Evidence Fallacy Anecdotal Evidence Fallacy It is the use of evidence based on transmitted stories between people or personal experiences without collecting evidence in systematic and scientific manner. Such as, “smoking is not harmful to health because my grandfather has been smoker for 60 years and is in good health.” Circular Thinking Fallacy Circular Thinking Fallacy It is the proof of the idea using the same idea itself, in other words, it is the use of part of the presented hypothesis as its proof. For example, Harry Potter is real character as he is mentioned in the Harry Potter books. Appeal to Ignorance Appeal to Ignorance It is relying on general ignorance about certain topic as evidence for the validity of hypothesis, as long as there is no way to disprove that assumption. It can also be used to disprove an assumption due to the lack of evidence to show whether it is true or not. to the lack of evidence to show whether it is true or not. For example, “no one has been able to disprove the existence of ghosts, so believe that they exist.” “The students did not ask any questions at the end of the lecture, meaning that they are ready for the surprise exam.” These were prominent examples among dozens of logical fallacies that we encounter daily in all aspects of practical life. they are used by politicians and some scholars to distort facts or turn every discussion into sterile debate.