great thinkers, great ideas

Fallacies 33

is to recognize them, not use them. As with all knowledge, how
it is used is critical. Happily, after the study of fallacies, morality
will be the topic to be discussed; the juxtaposition of the two is
not without reason.

LINGUISTIC FALLACIES

EQUIVOCATION Whenever a word is used more than once

in a particular discussion or argument with more than one
meaning assigned to that word, that is the fallacy of equivoca­
tion. This problem occurs when one assumes that the connota­
tion is the same throughout the discussion. Often vaguely
defined words cause this problem. It is interesting to note that
one of the first principles of philosophical inquiry is “Define
your terms.” To do so is to guard against the fallacy of equivo­
cation. Some examples of this fallacy follow.

Every teacher is an academician.

Every mother is a teacher.

Therefore, every mother is an academician.

It is easy to see that the problem here deals with the word
teacher. In the major premise it is used in a technical sense, while
in the minor premise it is used in a general sense. Thus, the
conclusion is false.

Johnny is tall.

Tall is an adjective

Therefore, Johnny is an adjective.

This example shows how another false conclusion, as well as
a foolish one, is the result of the use of one word which has been
assigned two different meanings. Once again, the examples here
are simple and would not cause problems in most discussions,
but the subtle use of this fallacy can often confuse.

AMPHIBOLY This occurs when a sentence allows for two

interpretations. Unlike equivocation, which is limited to a single
word, amphiboly is ambiguity in a phrase or in the grammatical
construction of a sentence. The most common cause of this