I’ve just stumbled upon this excellent list of logical fallacies. Please print out this list and keep it near the TV so you can play “Spot The Person Talking Rubbish”* while watching the news.
I think that all children should be taught about logical fallacies and how to reason properly. I doubt you can get much good from democracy (or even free markets) unless people can tell valid statements from complete nonsense.
Although nowadays it’s easy to point at Bush and Blair and find horrible examples (“You are either with us or against us!”) logical fallacies are used by campaigners on every issue. I’m sorry to say that some ‘sciences’ have rather guilty pasts - the ‘dismal science’ of Economics and safety testing using animals spring to mind.
Link: The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Fallacies
- A game that really needs a better name and a scoring system
