Debate

INFORMAL FALLACIES > Fallacies of Ambiguity

Some forms of invalid arguments originate from the imprecise use of language. An ambiguous word, phrase, or sentence is that which has two or more distinct meanings. Hence, the fallacies of ambiguity all include a confusion of two or more different senses.

Equivocation

This takes place when an ambiguous word or phrase in one of its meanings is used in one of the statements and in another of its meanings in other proposition(s).

e.g. Man is a rational being. No woman is a man. Therefore, no woman is a rational being ...

INFORMAL FALLACIES > Fallacies of Presumption

FALLACIES OF PRESUMPTION are ineffective in providing sufficing reason for their conclusion to be accepted as true. However, in cases such as these, the erroneous reasoning is the result of an inferred supposition of some further proposition, the truth of which is doubtful or still debatable.

Accident

The fallacy of accident states some principle that is generally true and errs when it applies this principle to an accidental or exceptional case. In other words, this fallacy is committed when one takes a general rule and applies it to its atypical or exceptional cases ...

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INFORMAL FALLACIES > Fallacies of Relevance

LOGICAL FALLACIES ARE ERRORS in reasoning that occur frequently enough, either alone or in combination, to deserve special attention. Fallacy is false reasoning, a bad method of argument, whether deductive or inductive ...

THE SECTION NAMED “PRELUDE” of the best-seller book Life 101 asks the intriguing question, “What if life were perfect?” Intriguingly enough, the authors surmise the most probable scenarios should we live in a perfect world:

            “What if you live in a perfect world of perfect people and perfect possessions, with everyone and everything doing the perfect thing at the perfect time?

            What if you had everything you wanted, and only what you wanted, exactly as you wanted, precisely when you wanted it?

American English, British English, and Australian English, among others, are recognized by many as patent varieties of the English language and some can even distinguish the differences among these ‘brands’ of existing English. But what about Filipino English? 

Editor’s note: This article was excerpted from the speech delivered by the author as guest speaker in the launching of a debate society of a university in Quezon City, Philippines on August 25, 2006

ACADEMIC DEBATE is very much related to Religious Debate. In fact, if you want to be a good religious debater, academic debate is a very helpful training ground in the same way Muay Thai is quite useful in Mixed Martial Arts.

... the proposition, “Patutunayan ko na ang hindi marunong magmahal sa sariling wika ay hindi higit sa hayop at hindi malansang isda,” does not only confuse the debaters on who should take the burden of proof, but also leaves everyone else guessing what the topic really is. Lesson learned: Fill the proposition with negative terms and the debate will become a stand-up comedy!