great thinkers, great ideas

36 An Introduction to Clearer Thinking

red line through it— all because of that misunderstood prefix.

Words like “impatient,” which means “not patient,” and words

like “impassioned,” which means “full of passion,” are typical of

the types of problems that the fallacy of parallel word construc­

tion generates.

EMOTIVE LANGUAGE When terms are used to arouse

an emotional response rather that convey definitive meaning, the
user commits the fallacy of emotive language. Of all the linguis­
tic fallacies, this one is perhaps the most frequently used. Terms
like Fascist, Communist, racist, chauvinist, are often used, not to
convey understanding of what a person stands for, or believes in,
but rather to disparage, insult, or undermine credibility.
Often the term Fascist is not used to describe a person who
believes in irrationalism, the corporate state, or the organismic
theory of the state, but is used simply to smear. If one has a
serious disagreement on a question of policy, it is easier to call
a person a racist than to convince him of the “error” of his
judgment. And so it goes with words like Communist, extremist,
chauvinist, feminist, ultra-conservative, knee-jerk liberal, bleed­
ing-heart, fanatic, etc., ad nauseam. Some of the terms described
here can be used to illuminate, some are pejorative and are used
to denigrate. We should always be on our guard to know the
difference.
It is important to note that all the fallacies discussed here have
been due to the misuse of words:
Equivocation— using the same word with two different mean­
ings.
Amphiboly— ambiguity in a phrase or sentence.
Composition and division—confusing collective and divi­
sive terms.
Accent—misplacing emphasis, especially taking words out
of context.
Parallel word construction— assuming that words which look
alike have like meaning.
Emotive language—using words which evoke an emotional
response.

NONLINGUISTIC FALLACIES

ACCIDENT This fallacy occurs when one assumes that a