LEGAL TECHNIQUES AND LOGIC

Examples of statements of fallacies

I. Fallacy of Relevance
a. Appeal to Emotion/Ad Populum
A child abuse awareness advertisement shows kids getting beaten with
extreme corporal punishment to implore the public to vote for a local politician
who promises to protect the rights of children.
b. Red Herring
The defendant could not have possibly committed adultery since he is a
devout and religious man, and as a religious man believes that adultery is a sin,
he also believes that adulterers will go to hell. Do you think a religious man
deserves hell?
c. Straw Man
If God created a man and a woman strictly to be lovers and partners to
procreate in this world, why would he allow a man to feel love for another man
or a woman to feel for another woman? Why would such feelings and emotions
be liberally provided if the relationship was already strictly intended for
opposite-sex only?
d. Argumentum Ad Hominem
Ms. Prosty, why were you present at the place and time when the
vehicular accident took place? Was it because you were looking for someone to
hook up with as your work describes?
e. Appeal to Force/ Argumentum Ad Baculum
Mr. Prosecutor, you must proceed with the trial and claim that the
accused is innocent or else, a case will be filed against you.
f. Missing the Point/Ignoratio Elenchi
The evidence showed that the bullet was shot through from the victim’s
right chest. The accused would not have been able to shoot the victim in that
case since he is left-handed and the shot was on the right.
II. Fallacy of Defective Induction
a. Appeal to Ignorance
The victim was found alone in his apartment bathed in blood and the
toom was found to have no forced entry. The blood trail started at the foot of the
wall of the bathroom. A ghost must have brought a gun and shot the victim
since only ghosts can cross through walls.

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 b. Appeal to Inappropriate Authority
My client beat his wife because he is a true believer of Mahatma Gandhi,
and Gandhi says that, “It is better to be violent if there is violence in our hearts
than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence.”
c. False Cause
The victim was killed because he sang the song “My Way”, and the
neighbor’s wife did not like his off-pitch voice.
d. Hasty Generalization
The new strain of Coronavirus came from China, therefore all viruses
must come from China.
III. Fallacy of Presumption
a. Accident
Suppose that a friend in his right mind has deposited arms with me and
asks for them when he is not in his right mind. Ought I to give the weapons
back to him? Of course: everyone agrees that you should give back what you
borrow.
b. Complex Question
Have you stopped buying dangerous drugs? Have you ever had to pick
them up from a dealer or have them delivered to your hideout?
c. Begging the Question/Petitio Principii
Finding love is easy, just be yourself. If you haven’t found it yet, it goes to
show that you never really were yourself anyway.
IV. Fallacy of Ambiguity
a. Equivocation
Criminal acts are heinous and must be punished by death. Theft is a
criminal act. Therefore, theft is heinous and must be punished by death.
b. Amphiboly
The defendant called the doctor and her friend before they even reach the
house and found the body.
c. Accent
You always display yourself as decent.
d. Composition

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 XYZ Bank owns properties in the barangays of Murcia. Reign is a
shareholder of XYZ Bank, therefore, she owns the properties in the barangays
of Murcia.
e. Division
The victim identified her captor to have spoken the Waray dialect during
her capture. Quintin is one of the suspects in the kidnapping, therefore,
Quintin speaks Waray.

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