Errors of Faulty Logic / Logical Fallacies

Errors of Faulty Logic / Logical Fallacies

In addition to other propaganda techniques, logical fallacies are often used by those who seek to convince or misinform. Here are some of the logical fallacies you are likely to see in propaganda campaigns:

ACCIDENT

• Someone fails to recognize (or conceals the fact) that an argument is based on an exception to the rule.

EXAMPLE: 

• Madeleine was abducted by a stranger. (Stranger abductions are extremely rare. The vast majority of missing children were taken by family members or people known to the child.)

BEGGING THE QUESTION: 

• A person makes a claim then argues for it by advancing grounds whose meaning is simply equivalent to that of the original claim. This is also called "circular reasoning."

EXAMPLES:

To follow...

CONTRADICTION:

• Information is presented that is in direct opposition to other information within the same argument.

EXAMPLES:

• We are responsible parents. / We left the children alone in the apartments and were drinking wine with our adult friends.
• There was only a tiny window of opportunity to "abduct" Maddie. / The abductor must have sedated the twins and Maddie, picked Maddie up and tidied the bed covers while holding her, then carried her out the bedroom window or handed her to a waiting accomplice, managing not to be seen by Gerry and Jess Wilkins as they stood chatting outside the apartment.
• Kate screamed "They've taken her" when she "discovered" Madeleine was missing.  / A stranger has taken Madeleine. (The argument being that "they've" implies knowledge of the identity of the persons involved and therefore they could not have been "strangers" to Kate.)

EVADING THE ISSUE:

• An issue is sidestepped by changing the topic.

EXAMPLES:

• To follow...

ARGUING FROM IGNORANCE:

• The argument is made that a claim is justified simply because its opposite cannot be proven.

EXAMPLES:

• The McCanns argue that they could not be involved in Madeleine's disappearance because there is "no evidence" (Note: this is untrue. There is evidence of involvement, however there is not presently enough direct evidence to bring charges. The case is still open, although shelved.)
• Madeleine is alive and findable because there is "no evidence" that she has come to any harm.

COMPOSITION AND DIVISION:

• Composition involves an assertion about a whole that is true of its parts. Division is the opposite: an assertion about all of the parts that is true about the whole.

EXAMPLE:

• The McCann's spokesman has portrayed Bloggers and forum participants as being hatemongers and cruel. Using the very few examples of "inhumane" things posted about the McCanns, ALL people discussing case and disbelieving the McCann's version of events are hateful, low-lives with a need to find something to direct their innate nastiness upon. 
• Rather than accepting that some people are truly seeking justice in the case and have broader interests, ALL people questioning the McCanns on forums and blogs are hatemongers. They justify that assertion based on a tiny number of people who may have expressed hatred for the McCanns and their friends due to their parental negligence and the subsequent trauma experienced by an innocent child and the cover-up to the crime that many believe has taken place.