https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo8BPAUzIo8
“To know what you know, and to know what you do not know. That is true knowledge.”
-Confucius
Logic was invented in ancient Greece circa 300 B.C. as a systematic method by which free Greeks could identify deliberate deception and/or errors in reasoning. Neither the Greeks nor, later, the Romans considered it wise to teach logic to common slaves, for obvious reasons. The teaching of classical logic was removed from the US public school system over 150 years ago for exactly the same reasons (check out John Gatto’s book “Dumbing US Down”, his “Ultimate History Lesson” on youtube, and “The Lost Tools of Learning” by Dorothy Sayers, google). The following is the essence of that ancient system of reasoning.
Cogent (logical) reasoning, reasoning designed to strongly appeal to the intellect rather than the emotions, should meet three conditions:
1. It should begin with justified premises (true propositions supported by solid evidence).
2. It should contain all of the relevant information (the suppression of relevant counterargument/evidence can be a very effective method of deception).
3. It should come to a valid conclusion (a conclusion which necessarily follows from the premises, is free of contradiction, and consistent with the facts).
When an argument meets all three of these conditions it is said to be both valid and sound (both properly constructed and, having true premises, very likely to be true). When an argument does not meet these conditions it is said to be fallacious (faulty/deceptive reasoning).
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”
-George Bernard Shaw
Now, on to a bit of rhetoric with the logical fallacy.
Professor Madsen Pirie most aptly defines a logical fallacy as anything one can say or do that breaks down or subverts reason. The ancient Greeks identified over 200 different logical fallacies. Here are a few examples:
1. Argumentum ad hominem is the appeal to ridicule.
2. Argumentum ad misericordiam is the appeal to pity.
3. Argumentum ad verecundiam is the appeal to authority.
4. Argumentum ad baculum is the appeal to force/threats.
5. Argumentum ad populum is the appeal to the passions/prejudices of the people.
6. Argumentum ad ignorantiam is the appeal to the ignorance of the audience.
Etc.
Therefore, when testing any argument one should ask if the three conditions of cogent reasoning have been met and if logical fallacies have been used.?