Informal Logical Fallacies: A Brief Guide

by Jacob E. Van Vleet

Overview

Critical thinking is now needed more than ever. This accessible and engaging book provides the necessary tools to question and challenge the discourse that surrounds us—whether in the media, the classroom, or everyday conversation. Additionally, it offers readers a deeper understanding of the foundations of analytical thought. Informal Logical Fallacies: A Brief Guide is a systematic and concise introduction to more than fifty fallacies, from anthropomorphism and argumentum ad baculum, to reductionism and the slippery slope argument. This revised edition includes updated examples, exercises, and a new chapter on non-Western logical fallacies. With helpful definitions and relevant explanations, the author guides the reader through the realms of fallacious reasoning and deceptive rhetoric. This is an essential guide to philosophical reflection and clear thinking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761872542
Publisher:	Hamilton Books
Publication date:	01/28/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	134
Sales rank:	580,924
File size:	651 KB

About the Author

Jacob E. Van Vleet teaches philosophy at Diablo Valley College in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 Introduction
Chapter 3 Chapter One: Linguistic Fallacies
Chapter 4 Chapter Two: Fallacies of Omission
Chapter 5 Chapter Three: Fallacies of Intrusion
Chapter 6 Chapter Four: Fallacies with Built-In Assumptions
Chapter 7 Chapter Five: Casual Fallacies
Chapter 8 Appendix I: FIve Argument Forms
Chapter 9 Appendix II: Exercises
Chapter 10 Appendix III: Characteristics of Critical Thinking
Chapter 11 Glossary
Chapter 12 Recommended Reading
Chapter 13 Bibliography
Chapter 14 Index
Chapter 15 About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Informal Logical Fallacies: A Brief Guide is full of helpful information. It will be incredibly useful to anyone interested in effective communication and argumentation.

Arthur Mielke

Jacob E. Van Vleet’s book on informal fallacies is an important reminder of what is typically left out in the study of logic that all too often is confined to formal logic, to the study of rules of inference and the abstractions that proceed from the granting of those rules. Informal fallacies are psychologically persuasive and arise within the marketplace, the common world; studying them may enable us to think for ourselves amid our current blather of clichés and tweets.

David Lovekin

Jacob E. Van Vleet's book on informal fallacies is an important reminder of what is typically left out in the study of logic that all too often is confined to formal logic, to the study of rules of inference and the abstractions that proceed from the granting of those rules. Informal fallacies are psychologically persuasive and arise within the marketplace, the common world; studying them may enable us to think for ourselves amid our current blather of clichés and tweets.

From the Publisher