Witch's Trial Handout - Logical Fallacies & Booby-Traps in Argumentation
Witch's Trial Handout - Logical Fallacies & Booby-Traps in Argumentation
Witch's Trial Handout - Logical Fallacies & Booby-Traps in Argumentation
Name:
Overall argument:
Breakdown of the argument: Break down the argument into the nine points provided (premises and
conclusions).
2. Look at each conclusion. Now assess the reasons (premises) being offered for that conclusion. Ask
yourselves two questions about those premises. (1) Do I have any cause to believe that the premises are
true? (2) Do the premises logically support the conclusion?
Argument #1: Line 3 – All witches are made of wood. From premises 1 & 2.
Argument #2: Line 6 – All things that weigh as much as a duck are things that are made of wood.
From premises 4 & 5.
Argument #3: Line 7 – All witches are things that weigh as much as a duck. From premises 3 & 6.
4. Assess the arguments for fallacies. Do any of the arguments make logical errors?
Argument #1: This is a valid argument. That is, conclusion 3 above really does follow logically from
premises 1 and 2. That’s not to say that it is a convincing argument because premise 2 is obviously
false. Still, if 2 were true, then the conclusion would have to be true as well. So this step is valid but
unsound.
Argument #2: This argument commits the fallacy of the undistributed middle. The structure of the
argument is:
- All A is C.
- All B is C.
- Therefore, all A is B.