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  • Essay / Understanding the meaning of errors

    Errors can be present in several ways: verbal, formal and material. Also, it can be positive, negative or emotional. When an opponent uses personal attacks to attack their opponents rather than discussing the issues, it is considered lying. If a debtor cannot defend his position with evidence, facts or reasons, he may attack his opponent through a "straw man", an equivocation, a circular argument, a question asked or an argumentum ad baculum. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “The Straw Man” is a verbal fallacy. One way to increase the strength of the argument is to anticipate possible thoughts and then launch a preemptive attack. The “straw man” fallacy consists of first transforming the other's point of view into an easily subverted version, then refuting it; however, it's like a scarecrow trying to scare a bird. Since the impact is limited; therefore, the impact of defeating an opponent's distorted opinion is equally limited. An example would be, according to the theory of evolution, humans evolved from apes. But what the theory of evolution really wants to express is that humans and apes have the same ancestor. A circular argument is a verbal fallacy that states a proposition that must be confirmed. An example would be: God exists because he is recorded in the Bible; the Bible exists because it is inspired by God. The problem with this error is that by saying that the Bible exists because of God, it unconsciously applies the proposition: God exists. Additionally, an argumentum ad baculum could occur after this if the opponent disagrees with the previous idea. These errors are based on fear or threat. For example, if someone does not believe in God, he will be burned in hell. Asking the question is a different kind of mistake. An example would be: we must encourage young people to worship God in order to instill moral behavior in them. Does religion and worship of God really generate moral behavior? Not necessary. Additionally, some people say they know God exists because the Bible says so, and the Bible won't lie because it was written by God. This forces the reader to accept the conclusion directly without providing any real evidence; the argument is based either on the same argument as the conclusion or by omitting an important assumption on which the argument was based. In the reading “Help those who help themselves, do not harm themselves,” the author states that the homeless “are content to beg and survive on the generosity of others…squirrels wait patiently for a return of food… the best correlation to the homeless that I have witnessed are the gray squirrels on Capitol Hill.” Here the author is basically saying that a homeless person begs and survives on the generosity of others, just like squirrels. So the homeless are squirrels; which is not true. This is an example of the fallacy of equivocation. Where A is equal to B, B is equal to C; therefore, A equals C. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In general, the fallacy, as a whole, is a literally illogical and unrealistic way of thinking. It’s about questioning logical reasoning. People unconsciously say it all the time because we want others to believe our views through hook or crook. Although it is sometimes difficult to instantly identify different errors; but it is useful to better..