FACTS ON FALLACIES

...Black or white"—must the Asian nations be with us or against us...

...Guilt by association"—is the fact that Mr...

...one is required only to look about him to discover patterns of behavior that further illustrate the fallacies...

...How about "getting personal," "cause and effect," "false analogies," "appeal to the crowd," "arguing in circles," and "self-evident truths...

...The first such statement which occurred to me was, "We hold these truths to be self-evident . . ." On the basis of what Chase has chosen to tell me about operational definitions, I find that his instruments are not entirely adequate to tell me what to do with such an expression as, ". . . endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights...

...If no operation can be performed, it is highly improbable that two human minds can get close enough to the subject to discuss it intelligently...

...Reviewed by Stanley Crockett WHAT is your reaction to tu quoque, ad verecundiam, and secundum quid...

...But do they really solve the problem at hand...

...In the office or at the shop, perhaps in the kitchen, surely you've heard one or more of these fallacies being used in an attempt to settle a question...

...Clearly written, with a wealth of pungent illustration, Guides to Straight Thinking remains an excellent beginning text for the general reader whose previous interest in logic may have been dulled by the complexity of the many textbooks in the field...

...indeed, from every conceivable source, including the models of the American democratic process, the town meeting and the courtroom...

...Now, back to the game that Chase suggests that we play as an exercise in the recognition of fallacies...

...Then try these: "you're another," "wise men can be wrong," and "overgeneralizing...

...These are Stuart Chase's translations of three of the thirteen logical fallacies whose exposure and illustrations form the greater part of his latest endeavor to alert "the busy, and sometimes uneasy, consumer of ideas" to the logic of modern philosophy...

...X has a third cousin who was once seen riding in a jitney with the brother-in-law of a rumored subversive sufficient reason to deny X the privilege of sweeping the floors of the Pentagon...

...My illustrations of three of the thirteen fallacies result from the game that Chase invites the reader to play so that he may become more familiar with the selected group of logical deceptions...

...Chase) might well have profited from devoting some space to a resolution of the problem of ethical and religious premises, pointing out that such premises are not to be equated upon the same grounds as statements concerning sensory experience...

...Maybe you've used them yourself...

...While I am willing to bury, once and for all, the question of the dancing angels and the pin, I question the advisability of dropping in the same grave some of the ethical and religious ideas I might have...

...these, too, represent the skillful insight of a mature mind...

...My discontent in this matter, however, does not detract from the overall value of the book...

...Beginning with a short survey of the development of logic from the syllogism and the laws of thought established by Aristotle to modern day operational philosophy and general semantics, Chase traces the shift in philosophical orientation from purely verbal reasoning to a stress upon experience as a foundation upon which to erect abstract reasoning...

...The operations, in science usually called experiments, must be repeatable by others...

...Figures prove"— do the statistics released by ten New York doctors solve the problems of what toothpaste to buy...

...The thirteen fallacies are richly illustrated with material drawn from personal experiences, newspapers, books on logic...

...If a statement fails to meet these requirements, operational philosophy declares it to be meaningless...

...I found, on following his suggestions, that I was successful with each fallacy until I arrived at what are called "self-evident truths...

...Operational philosophy demands that a statement must be capable of being tested through the carrying out of physical operations— for example, "Salt will make ice melt...

...Equally valuable are the chapters dealing with a question on zoning ordinances which is answered by bringing into play each of the thirteen fallacies, the presentation of a rather penetrating picture of the atmosphere of logic in the courtroom and its lamentable absence in certain Congressional hearings, and an equally penetrating chapter concerning the virus of propaganda and certain selected antidotes...

...The rules are easy to follow...