We have seen that the logical strength of an argument is
the degree of support that its premises confer on its conclusion.
Now we are going to continue our study of logical strength by
examining fallacies.
A fallacy is a counterfeit argument: The propositions offered as
premises appear to support the conclusion, but in fact do not
provide any support at all.
We are going to examine a general class of fallacies that one
encounters frequently in everyday discussion and debate.
These fallacies have a certain surface plausibility. The premises may seem relevant to the conclusion at first. That is why fallacies are committed with some frequency.