The most
difficult class in my college experience was Logic. It was taught by a professor with demanding
expectations.
This morning
as I looked over some Logic notes I was gobsmacked by recognizing similarities to
Donald Trump’s diatribes and logical argument fallacies.
An argument
can either be true or false. The false
argument premises are named in Logic.
Argument
ad Populum: Everyone says it must be true; or true
because many people believe it.
Argument
ad Baculum: A threat of force or coercion; a negative consequence of holding a contrary
opinion.
Argument
ad Verecundiam: The opinion of an authority is used as
evidence.
Argument
ad Absurdum: Attempting to approve a premise by carrying
it to an absurd conclusion.
Argument
ad Ignorantian: A
premise that is true because it has not been proven false: is false because it
has not been proven true.
Argument
Misericordia: Appeal
to pity of self or others.
Argument
ad Hominem: Attack the character, motive, or some
attribute of the opponent.
Argument
ad Nauseam: If it is repeated often enough it must be
true.
Note that whenever
Trump opens his mouth one or more of these fallacious arguments will stream out.
the Ol’Buzzard
