Chapter 5 All A are B

All C are not A

Fallacies in Legal Reasoning
Therefore, All C are not B
Fallacy
Examples:
 Is a mistake or error in thinking and reasoning All Catholics are Christians
 If the kind of thinking or reasoning used in the passage is illogical or Catholics are not Protestants
erroneous Therefore, Protestants are not Christians
 Something that is not supported by the facts
 Error in Reasoning rather than a falsity in a statement or a claim All Adultery Cases are Crimes involving Moral Turpitude
 Illogical and Incorrect but they seem to be correct and acceptable or Evasion of Income Tax is not an Adultery
psychologically persuasive Therefore, Evasion of Income Tax is not a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude
Can be found in
All Judges and Justices are Honest and Fair Individual
 Political Speeches Police Officers are not Judges and Justices
 Commentaries Therefore, Police Officers are not Honest and Fair Individual
 Newspaper Editorials
 Legislative debates
 Advertisements Fallacy of Illicit Major- Violation of the 4 th rule for the Validity of Categorical
 TV talk shows Syllogisms which states that if the term in the Conclusion is Universal, The
 Class Discussions same Term in the Premise must also be Universal.
 Ordinary Conversations
 Informal Fallacies
-is an error in reasoning in a form which does not follow the traditional formal
Formal and Informal Fallacies structures of logic
Two main Groups in Fallacies -can be detected only through analysis of the content of the argument
-not logical because of its content
 Formal Fallacies
- is an invalid argument, an erroneous inference. All A are B
- It is an error in deductive reasoning where the conclusion does not All C are A
necessarily follow from the premises Therefore, All C are B
-can be identified through a mere inspection of the form and structure of an
argument All Lawyers are Bass Passers
-only found in deductive arguments that have identifiable forms All Lawyers are Professionals
Therefore, All Professionals are Bar Passers
 All Criminals Deserve to be Punished Fallacies of Ambiguity
All Criminals Deserve Another Chance
1. Equivocation
Therefore, All of those deserving another chance deserve to be punished
 Unwarranted Conclusion
All Criminals have Tattoos  By using a term in its different senses
Jolina has a Tattoo  Making it appear to have only one meaning
Therefore, Jolina is a Criminal  Changing Meaning of the Word

Categories of Informal Fallacies: Examples:

1. Fallacies of Ambiguity Sharon Cuneta is a Star

2. Fallacies of Irrelevant Evidence Star can be found up in the sky
3. Fallacies of Insufficient Evidence
Therefore, Sharon Cuneta can be found up in the sky
LAMBINO v. COMELEC
Fallacy of Ambiguity
 Lambino Group Commenced an initiative to change the 1987 Constitution
 Committed because of a misuse of language
 Shift from Bicameral-Presidential System to Unicameral-Parliamentary
 Contain Ambiguous or Vague Language to mislead people
Fallacy of Irrelevant Evidence Whether or Not the Initiative Petition comply with the requirements of the
Constitution
 Do not have a problem with language
 Section 2, Article XVII- Allows a people’s initiative to propose amendments
 But with the connection of the premise and conclusion
to the Constitution
 Premises are Not Logically Relevant to the Conclusion
 See the Full Text before they sign it.
Fallacy of Insufficient Evidence  Sign on a Petition Containing Full Text
 Informed of the Nature and Effect of that which is Proposed
 Do not have a problem with language
 But because the premises failed to provide evidence strong enough to support  Directly Proposed by the People in a Petition
the conclusion  A People’s Initiative to change the Constitution applies only to an amendment
 Not Sufficient and not to its revision
 Shift is beyond doubt a revision not a mere amendment
 Revision- Deliberative Body Drafts and Proposes changes to the Constitution.
Such Substantive Changes are Called Revisions. Con As/ Con com
 Amendments- Substantive Change when Proposed through an Initiative are
Called Amendments. Hindi naaalter yung basic principles of the constitution.
Sep of powers, checks and balances, structures of the Government.
 Only Congress can allow Revision.
 Carla and his Mother have Good Relationship when she is asleep
3. Improper Accent
Whether the Prop change is an amendments or revision
 Misleading People by Placing Improper Emphasis on a Word, Phrases,
What is revision and what is amendments
or Particular Aspect of an Issue or Claim
Revision- there will be a change in the basic principles of the constitution
Checks and balance
Sep of powers
Structure of the government Examples:
Amendments: Does not change the Basic Principles Authorities to arrest Individuals
Peoples Initiative

Two tests: Gongdi will be violent in his succeeding years. He said on the TV
Qualitative and Quantitative Advertisement/ Commercial “Huwag mong subukan, Masisira ang Buhay
There should be an Enabling Law- Not Self-Executory mo”

To know whether the acts are constitutional

4. Vicious Abstraction
 Vague Words are Misused
 Words are very significant in the premises used to establish a
conclusion

2. Amphiboly
Examples:
 Claim or an Argument whose meaning can be interpreted in two or
more ways due to its Grammatical Construction St. Paul said “Money is the Root of all Evil
 Ambiguity comes from the way the sentence is constructed “Love of Money is the Root of All Evil
 May be true in one interpretation and false in another
Examples:
5. Composition
All Beatles have Six Legs  What Holds true of the Individuals automatically Holds true of the
John Lenon is a Beetle Group

Therefore, John Lenon has six legs Examples:

Lebron
Westbrook
Anthony Davis

So if they team up, their team will be the NBA Champion

6. Division
 What is true in General is True in Particular