2. Confusing Necessary Conditions with Sufficient Conditions.
A is necessary for B means B cannot occur without A. A is sufficient for B means A causes B to occur, but B can still occur without A. For example, a small tax base is sufficient to cause a budget deficit, but excessive spending can cause a deficit even with a large tax base. A common fallacy is to assume that a necessary condition is sufficient to cause a situation. For example, to win a modern war it is necessary to have modern, high-tech equipment, but it is not sufficient, as Iraq discovered in the Persian Gulf War.
SEVEN COMMON FALLACIES
Contradiction
A Contradiction is committed when two opposing statements are simultaneously asserted. For example, saying it is raining and it is not raining is a contradiction. Typically, however, the arguer obscures the contradiction to the point that the argument can be quite compelling. Take, for instance, the following argument:
We cannot know anything, because we intuitively realize that our thoughts are unreliable.
This argument has an air of reasonableness to it. But intuitively realize means to know. Thus the arguer is in essence saying that we know that we dont know anything. This is self-contradictory.
Equivocation
Equivocation is the use of a word in more than one sense during an argument.
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