PREFACE

There are many ways to interpret the sources and effects of commonly committed, ubiquitously ignored fallacies. Philosophers like to categorize fallacies as either formal or informal, depending on the nature of the logical system they are understood to breach. However, fallacies may be most consequentially the products of linguistic habits and strategies, accompanied by chronic slipups like "missing the point." Due to the infinite number of indeterminacies our languages harbor and create, it is difficult to know whether one is getting anything right. Might illustrations clarify the enticingly cagey logic of some of our most frequently encountered, naively indulged fallacies? Perhaps. That is certainly the goal of the authors. Keep in mind, however, that one logic may condemn as fallacy what another considers a refreshing view. (Note fallacy of personification in preceding sentence.) Perhaps the most pressing issue is what can be trusted. JR