2.10 Flaws and fallacies 77
Summary
• An argument is flawed if the reason
or reasons given are untrue, or give
inadequate support to the conclusion.
• Some common flaws are:
• arguing from a particular case to a
general conclusion
• relying too heavily on anecdotal
evidence, or past experience
• mistaking a correlation for a cause.There are many more flaws and fallacies
than these. In many flawed arguments you
will find that there is more than one way to
name or describe the fault.C It has been found that companies
that try to make their employees
happy are not always financially
rewarded for their efforts.
2 The famous author Farrah Lavallier died
at the age of 98, just before finishing the
35th book of her distinguished literary
career. Critics were in almost unanimous
agreement that it was as sharp and witty as
any she had written. Clearly she had all her
faculties right up to her last days. She also
left a diary that revealed, amongst other
things, that she had never done a stroke
of physical exercise in her entire life. She
was fond of joking that if she walked once
round her study, she needed to sit down
for a rest. So, if a long and productive life
is what you want, you should forget about
jogging or joining a gym. Save your energy.
a How would you name or describe the
fallacy in the above argument?
b Which of the following, if true, helps to
expose the flaw in the reasoning, and so
challenges the argument?A Women didn’t go to gyms when
Farrah was young.
B Farrah’s grandfather lived to 104, and
her mother to 106.1 Recent research suggests that, contrary to
popular belief, the firms that are making
the most money tend to have the least
happy workers. Therefore firms which
impose conditions that make workers
less happy can expect a rise in profits.
a Which of the following, if true, identifies
the flaw in the argument above?A It assumes workers are unhappy
because of their work.
B It assumes that worker-unhappiness
is the cause of higher profits.
C It assumes that workers do not get a
share of the high profits.
D It assumes that successful managers
have to be hard on their staff.
b Which of the following, if true, would
weaken the argument above? (There
may be more than one.)
A It has been found that workers in rich
and successful companies become
resentful and disgruntled.
B It has been found that the owners
and managers of highly profitable
companies stop caring about the
welfare of employees.End-of-chapter assignments