Fallacies – R-S
Commonplace Book – 136-137
Redefinition: It is not necessarily fallacious to give a term a new meaning, but it is a logical boobytrap. There is always a danger of slipping back into using the term in its old meaning out of habit, which could cause a fallacy of equivocation.
Regression Fallacy: The result of a statistical phenomenon known as ‘regression to the mean.’ That is, the tendency of a variable characteristic in a population to move away from the extreme values towards the mean.
Scope Fallacy: A technical notion. Such as, ‘all that glitters is not gold.’ In a narrow scope, the ‘not’ can mean ‘all that glitters is non-gold.’ In a broad scope, the ‘not’ can mean ‘all that glitters is not always gold.’
Some Are / Some Are Not: The mistake of confusing logical implication and conversational implicature by thinking that ‘some are’ statements logically imply ‘some are not’ statements, when the former statements only conversationally implicate the latter.
Special Pleading: Occurs when someone argues that a case is an exception to a rule based upon an irrelevant characteristic that does not define an exception. People often apply a ‘double standard’, which makes an exception to the rule for themselves – or people like them – but applies it to others.
Straw Man Fallacy: When the arguer is attempting to refute his opponent’s position by attacking a position not held by his opponent.
Syllogistic Fallacy: Any non-validating form of categorical syllogism.
