CRITICAL THINKING - Fallacies: Equivocation [HD]

Joseph Wu (University of Cambridge) explains the fallacy of equivocation, the fallacy that occurs when the same term is used with different meanings in an argument. Along the way, he discusses whether Miley Cyrus is an exploding ball of gas.

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[WhiteTigerShiro]

Depends on what she had for dinner last night...

[assalane]

My favorite:
-A theory is a guess
-Biological Evolution is a theory
-therefore Biological Evolution is a guess

[jeff_costello]

A/ Nothing is brighter than the sun
B/A candle is brigther than nothing
C/Therefore a candle is brighter than the sun

[Aberusugi]

"Organic foods are better for the environment."

I get that it's an example, but this made my eyes roll since that is not established and the assertion is totally arbitrary. The absurdity of the assertion is almost worse in my mind than the obvious flaw in logic.

Maybe a better example should have been selected because the assertion that "organic foods are better for the environment" is not true, and the overwhelming majority of agricultural scientists scoff at the hectare inefficiencies of organic farming and the more toxic organic approved pesticides and herbicides.

Usually you are supposed to pick something that is apparently true from an intuitive position to most people. The organic example you provide is a controversial one and contrary to recent science.

"Organic food is better for the environment" is a scientific claim as well, not a cultural one.

I know this seems like nitpicking, but it's the reason why philosophers often pick less controversial examples when demonstrating concepts like this for analogy's sake.

[yinYangMountain]

If A = B; and, B = C; then, A = C.

Example:

If God is love; and, love is blind; then, God is Stevie Wonder.

[reynardki]

"The statement, organic foods are better for the environment is true..." According to whom? If you rely on the evidence, that statement is not necessarily true and borders on committing the logical fallacy, Appeal to Nature.

[travisapplebaum]

Good talk. What program did you use for the visuals?

[theultimatereductionist]

The most common form of Equivocation Fallacy is in the ambiguity of the word "is".
Using the word "is" to mean "equal to".
And in other contexts, using "is" to mean "subset of".
This form of EF is harder to spot.

[TheParanoidAndroid]

As a great philosopher once said "...sometimes words have two meanings.

[phabelgreene]

See: Communism vs. Communism, Socialism vs. Socialism, Capitalism vs. Capitalism

[William-ou]

here is mine

P1 : all men are stronger than women
P2 : my mom told me to be strong and dont give up in any situation (assume im a woman)
C : therefore i should be like a man and act like a man
storng in p1 = strong physically, strong in p2 - strong emotionally

[sofia.eris.bauhaus]

this would solve 90% of all discussions of "socialism" and "capitalism".

[DrDonF]

Clear. memorable examples. excellent use of video technique. somewhere, someday, I hope you take this enthusiasm to your professorship in philosophy. students of all majors will benefit from what is destined to be a very popular course.

[larsongrimm]

Great video and crystal clear. Will be keeping an eye out for more.

[wesselbindt]

"A product is organic if it's made with organic ingredients." Great definition you got there, buddy.

[zachmullin]

Great video, but what the hell was the drawing at 5:08 suppose to be!?

[davidepintus]

Motte and bayley doctrine is a pretty helpful reading to pinpoint this kind of arguments and dismantle them.

[GeneRoseberry]

Organic foods are not clearly better for the environment, due to lower yields. Just saying, might not be the best example.

[kyle_ashby]

You state that "each of the premises when considered independently is true." I disagree. One type of star is made of gas, another type of star is made of flesh. Thus "all stars are exploding balls of gas" is FALSE since all stars are NOT exploding balls of gas. Even considered independently, premise 1 is false. Tell me where I'm wrong.

[theultimatereductionist]

The statement "Organic foods are better for the environment" is not even objectively true. "Organic" is just a marketing term.