Let the student give attention to the fallacies in meaning as well as to the fallacies in form.
1. None but those who are contented with their lot in life can justly be considered happy. But the truly wise man will always make himself contented with his lot in life, and, therefore he may justly be considered happy. Keynes.
2. Suffering is a title to an excellent inheritance; for God chastens every son whom he receives. Keynes.
3. No young man is wise; for only experience can give wisdom, and experience comes only with age. Keynes.
4. Dr. Johnson remarked that “a man who sold a penknife was not necessarily an iron-monger.” Against what logical fallacy was this remark directed? Explain. Keynes.
5. This pamphlet contains seditious doctrines, the spread of which may be dangerous to the state; hence the pamphlet must be suppressed. Keynes.
6. Good workmen do not complain of their tools: my pupils do not complain of their tools; therefore, my pupils are probably good workmen. Keynes.
7. Knowledge gives power; consequently, since power is desirable, knowledge is desirable. Keynes.
8. Some who are truly wise are not learned; but the virtuous alone are truly wise; the learned, therefore, are not always virtuous. Keynes.
9. The spread of education among the lower orders will make them unfit for their work; for it has always had that effect on those among them who happen to have acquired it in previous times. Keynes.
10. Slavery is a natural institution and therefore ought not to be abolished. Russell.
11. The yardstick of success is the dollar, and you have made your millions.
12. “All who talk well are not necessarily intelligent, and A is certainly a spell-binder.”
13. Gold and silver are the wealth of a country; consequently, the diminution of gold and silver by exportation must mean the diminution of the wealth of a country. Russell.
14. A miracle is unbelievable, because it fails to conform to known laws of nature.
15. Improbable events happen every day; now, what happens every day is a probable event; therefore, improbable events are probable events.
16. What fallacy did Columbus commit when he made the egg stand on end by breaking one end?
17. Some holder of a ticket is sure to draw the prize; and, as I am a ticket holder, I am sure to draw the prize. Russell.
18. All the members of the jury are just men, hence you may trust the foreman.
19. Select the star players of the country and you will have a team which cannot be beaten.
20. All the houses on this street present a pretty picture; this house, therefore, which is on this street, will make a fine picture.
21. What is the good of all your teaching, for every day we hear of wrong doing made possible by education.
22. You are not what I am; I am a teacher; hence you are not a teacher.
23. The student of history is compelled to admit the law of progress, for he finds that society has never stood still. Russell.
24. This bill must have been designed to bleed the people because it is supported by the grafters of the state.
25. “To close the saloons on Sunday is contrary to the wishes of the people of the city; hence those ‘farmer legislators’ should keep hands off.”
26. Success is the right man in the right place doing his best, and you are working to the limit.
27. Early to bed and early to rise, makes one healthy, wealthy and wise. It is, therefore, easy enough to get rich.
28. Honesty being the best policy, I must tell the truth to my patient, though to tell him that he cannot live will shorten his life many days.
29. A stitch in times saves nine, hence an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
30. The richest man I know used to sweep his office every morning, hence it pays to commence at the bottom.
31. Cramming is an injurious habit, since it makes the building of logical memories practically impossible.
32. A strong will means a trained will; struggle is an indication of weakness.
33. There is no such thing as a national or state conscience; therefore, no judgments can fall upon a sinful nation. Hibben.
34. The principles of justice are variable; the appointments of nature are invariable; therefore, the principles of justice are no appointment of nature. Aristotle.
35. Intelligence and not sex should be the standard; therefore, let the women have their way.
36. “War by killing off the men of the country gives the living a better opportunity to succeed because of reduced competition.”
37. Since you deem yourself a misfit, in the name of common sense, why do you not change your occupation?
38. The conquest of America by Europeans has been a good thing for the world; since no eminent historian doubts it.
The student must remember to give attention to the fallacies in meaning as well as to the fallacies in form.
1. If I speak at length, he is bored; if I speak briefly, he is offended; therefore I will not speak at all.
2. If virtue is involuntary, vice is also involuntary; but vice is voluntary, hence virtue is also.
3. If a man cannot make progress toward perfection, he must either be a brute or a divinity; but no man is either; therefore every man is capable of such progress. Fowler.
4. If education is popular, compulsion is unnecessary; if unpopular, compulsion will not be tolerated. Fowler.
5. If you are to recover from this illness, then you will. If you are not to recover, then you will not, hence what is the use of calling in a physician?
6. If your act was right, your conscience will approve it; if wrong, your conscience will prick you. Either your act was right or wrong, so you can depend upon your conscience.
7. If he is intoxicated then he is not responsible, but he acts like a sober man.
8. If the Elixir of Life is of any value, those who take it will improve in health; now my friend who has been taking it has improved in health, and therefore the elixir is of value as a curative agent. Hyslop.
9. If you will settle down to business, you may still win out, because I am confident it is not too late for hard work to be effective.
10. If the end justifies the means then money used for any object of charity may be secured in any way.
11. If might is right then money talks, but I find that occasionally money proves ineffective.
12. If the majority of those who use public houses are prepared to close them, legislation is unnecessary, but if they are not prepared for such a measure, then to force it on them by outside pressure is both dangerous and unjust. Hyslop.
13. If the conscience is infallible in matters of right and wrong, then sin is just one thing; namely, doing that which is contrary to one’s conscience. We believe that an educated conscience is infallible.
14. If the earth were of equal density throughout, it would be about 2½ times as dense as water; but it is about 5½ times as dense; therefore the earth must be of unequal density. Hyslop.
15. The end of human life is either perfection or happiness; death is the end of human life, therefore death is either perfection or happiness. Creighton.
16. That chauffeur either lost his head or was drunk because no sane man would deliberately run down an innocent child.
17. If you argue on a subject which you do not understand, you will prove yourself a fool; for this is a mistake which fools always make. Keynes.
18. If you are a man of your word, you will live up to your agreement, or if you have any self respect, you will do the manly thing. Now your neighbors tell me that you are a man in the habit of making good your promises.
Answer ten questions. Time, 2 hours.
Set I.
1. Define and illustrate obversion and state the principle which conditions the process.
2. Give directions for making the following propositions logical:
(1) Only first class passengers may ride in parlor cars.
(2) All who claim to be pious are not pious.
(3) “Blessed are the merciful.”
3. Write a theme of 200 words on “Logic and Life.”
4. Put into syllogistic form and test the validity of this argument. “We are going to have an open winter because the hornets’ nests are near the ground.”
5. Justify the teaching of logic in an institution which offers courses in Educational Theory.
6. Correct the following definitions, stating the rules violated:
(1) A man is an organized entity whose cognitive powers function rationally.
(2) A bird is an animal that flies.
(3) A scholar is an educated man with scholarly attainments.
7. Prove that in the first figure the minor premise must be affirmative.
8. Investigate a case of habitual tardiness by making use of the canon of difference.
9. Describe with illustrations the various ways of begging the question.
10. Why should classification rather than logical division be the mode of procedure in the case of small children? Illustrate.
11. Illustrate the following:
(1) non connotative term,
(2) undistributed middle,
(3) fallacy of accident.
Set II.
Answer ten questions. Time, 2 hours.
Throw the following into the form of a syllogism and criticise, giving reasons:
1. “I do not know how to teach school as I have had no experience.”
2. “Only the honest should be in business and you are not honest.”
3. Why should all teachers study logic? Give arguments in full.
4. Describe Mill’s methods of induction and illustrate one.
5. Give and explain the rules of logical definition.
6. Explain the distribution of terms and illustrate by circles the meaning of the four logical propositions.
7. Define the following:
(1) teaching,
(2) extension of terms,
(3) obversion,
(4) hypothesis,
(5) relative term.
8. Give a class room illustration of the Complete Method.
9. Distinguish between
(1) distributive and collective terms,
(2) analysis and deduction,
(3) logical division and classification.
10. Illustrate the following:
(1) contradictory proposition,
(2) analogy,
(3) law of identity,
(4) singular term,
(5) univocal term.
11. Convert, if possible, the following:
(1) Some men are honest.
(2) All that glitters is not gold.
(3) All kings are fallible.
Set III.
Answer ten questions. Time, 2 hours.
1. Investigate by the Joint Method of Induction this question: “Why is John absent so often?”
2. Explain and illustrate:
(1) contradictory propositions,
(2) illicit middle,
(3) obversion,
(4) contraversion,
(5) synthesis.
3. State and exemplify the rules of logical division.
4. Write a theme of at least 150 words on one of the following:
(1) Induction as the Discoverer’s Method.
(2) A Rational View of Success.
5. Define logically:
(1) teaching,
(2) deduction,
(3) education,
(4) analysis,
(5) money.
6. Distinguish between the extension and intension of terms.
7. Exemplify:
(1) an absolute term,
(2) the complete method,
(3) non connotative terms,
(4) fallacy of accident,
(5) hypothesis.
8. “Educated among savages, he could not be expected to know the customs of polite society.” Is this valid? Reasons.
9. “The signs indicate that you are either stupid or unprepared; but the past proves that you are not the former.” Test the validity.
10. Discuss comprehensively one of the following topics:
(1) The Fallacies.
(2) Thinking.
(3) Abbreviated Arguments.
Set IV.
Answer ten questions. Time, 2 hours.
1. Exemplify:
(1) the law of variation in the extension and intension of terms,
(2) a distributed predicate.
2. Indicate with explanation the logical errors:
(1) A teacher assumes that the “bad boy of the school” is going to cause trouble in her room.
(2) All the men of the Commission are fair minded men, hence they will render a fair decision.
3. What experimental method of induction is the most positive in its conclusion? Illustrate this method.
4. State and illustrate the rules of logical definition.
5. Obvert each of the four logical propositions. Explain the principle involved.
Test the validity of the following arguments:
6. “Horses, not being human, cannot reason.”
7. “Only the industrious deserve to succeed and you have never done a hard day’s work in your life.”
8. “If you had been wise, you would have refused to stoop to the methods of the firm, but you were not wise.”
9. From this premise construct a valid syllogism: “All large cities owe their size to some commercial advantage.”
10. Define and illustrate the following: analogy, hypothesis, thinking, connotative term, relative term.
11. Distinguish between:
(1) Analysis and deduction.
(2) Logical division and classification.
(3) Relative and absolute identity.
Set V.
Answer ten questions. Time, 2 hours.
Test the validity, giving reasons:
1. All successful teachers are industrious, but you are not industrious because you are not successful.
2. John was a troublesome boy in the first and second grades, therefore he is going to make trouble for the third grade teacher.
3. Teaching is the art of imparting knowledge. Criticise, giving reasons. Define correctly, pointing out the essentials.
4. Explain the extensional and intensional use of terms and illustrate the law of variation.
5. Describe Mill’s experimental methods of induction. Symbolize the joint method.
6. Define the following: analysis, law of identity, obversion.
7. Illustrate the laws of thought.
8. Write on one of the following topics:
(1) Complete Method,
(2) Right Thinking.
9. “The science of logic never made a man reason rightly.” Discuss this question.
10. Explain and illustrate the enthymeme.
Set VI.
Answer ten questions. Time, 2 hours.
1. Exemplify the following:
(1) illicit minor,
(2) begging the question,
(3) law of excluded middle,
(4) inductive method.
2. Write a short theme on one of these topics:
(1) Thinking.
(2) Logical Terms.
Test the validity of the attending arguments, giving reasons:
3. “He who talks much usually says little and you are certainly a great talker.”
4. “You must be industrious, since only such truly succeed.”
5. Illustrate and give the characteristic marks of the joint method of induction.
6. Summarize the benefits to be derived from a study of logic.
7. State and illustrate the rules of logical definition.
8. Distinguish between
(1) extension and intension,
(2) opposite and contradictory terms,
(3) analysis and synthesis.
9. Define and illustrate hypothesis, obversion, sorites, hypothetical argument.
10. Explain and illustrate the three forms of induction.
11. Distinguish logically between a teacher and an instructor.
Aikins. The Principles of Logic. Henry Holt and Co., New York. 1905.
Bain. Logic, Inductive and Deductive. Longmans, Green and Co. 1902.
Bosanquet. The Essentials of Logic. The MacMillan Co., London. 1910.
Bradley. The Principles of Logic. London. 1886.
Creighton. Introductory Logic. The MacMillan Co., New York. 1905.
Dewey. Studies in Logical Theory. The University of Chicago Press. 1903.
Fowler. The Elements of Deductive and Inductive Logic. Oxford. 1905.
Hibben. Logic, Deductive and Inductive. Chas. Scribner’s Sons, New York. 1906.
Hyslop. Elements of Logic. Chas. Scribner’s Sons, New York. 1905.
Jevons-Hill. Elements of Logic. American Book Co., New York. 1883.
Keynes. Formal Logic. The MacMillan Co., London. 1906.
Lotze. Logic. Translated by B. Bosanquet, 2 vols. Oxford. 1888.
McCosh. Laws of Discursive Thought. Chas. Scribner’s Sons. 1906.
Mill. A System of Logic, 2 vols. Longmans, Green and Co., London. 1904.
Russell. Elementary Logic. The MacMillan Co., New York. 1908.
Ryland. Logic. George Bell and Sons, London. 1900.
Sigwart. Logic. Translated by Helen Dendy, 2 vols. The MacMillan Co. 1895.
Swinburne. Picture Logic. Longmans, Green and Co., London. 1904.
Taylor. Elementary Logic. Chas. Scribner’s Sons, New York. 1911.
Venn. The Logic of Chance. The MacMillan Co., New York.
Subject
I. THOUGHT AND ITS LAWS
⭘ Logic Defined
⭘ The Thinking Process.
⭘ Stages in Thinking
⭘ The Law of Identity
⭘ The Law of Contradiction
⭘ The Law of Excluded Middle
II. LOGICAL TERMS
⭘ All of Chapter 4
III. EXTENTSION AND INTENSION OF TERMS
⭘ All of Chapter 5
IV. DEFINITION
⭘ All of Chapter 6
V. LOGICAL DIVISION AND CLASSIFICATION
⭘ All of Chapter 7
VI. LOGICAL PROPOSITIONS
⭘ All of Chapter 8 Except Section 7
VII. IMMEDIATE INFERENCE
⭘ All of Chapter 10
VIII. MEDIATE INFERENCE
⭘ All of Chapter 11 Except Section 8
IX. FIGURES AND MOODS
⭘ The Four Figures of the Syllogism
⭘ The Moods of the Syllogism
⭘ Testing the Validity of the Moods
X. INCOMPLETE SYLLOGISMS
⭘ Enthymeme
⭘ Polysyllogisms
⭘ Sorites
XI. CATEGORICAL ARGUMENTS TESTED
⭘ All of Chapter 14
XII. HYPOTHETICAL AND DISJUNCTIVE ARGUMENTS
⭘ All of Chapter 15 except Sections 13,14, 15 and 17
XIII. LOGICAL FALLACIES
⭘ All of Chapter 16
XIV. INDUCTIVE REASONING
⭘ All of Chapter 17 Except Sections 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9
XV. MILL’S METHODS OF OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT
⭘ All of Chapter 18
XVI. OBSERVATION, EXPERIMENT AND HYPOTHESIS
⭘ All of Chapter 19