Critique of an epistemic account of fallacies

An epistemic account of fallacies is one which takes it as a necessary condition for a fallacy that it has a tendency to produce false or unwarranted beliefs. The most sophisticated form of this account occurs in an article by Robert J. Fogelin and Timothy J. Duggan (Fallacies,Argumentation 1, 1987, pp. 255–262). I criticize the Fogelin and Duggan proposal, in particular, and epistemic accounts, more generally. Though an epistemic approach is attractive, it enlarges the class of fallacies, beyond what would be permitted by traditional accounts. I also question thenecessity of fallacies leading to unwarranted beliefs. Some fallacies are fallacious due to their expected harm to argument practices. This position touches on a theme in the work of Van Eemeren and Grootendorst, though I criticize their notion of rules of argument as too broad.     

Historical Origins of Argumentum ad Consequentiam

What are the historical origins of the argumentum ad consequentiam, the argument from (or literally, to) consequences, sometimes featured as an informal fallacy in logic textbooks? As shown in this paper, knowledge of the argument can be traced back to Aristotle (who did not treat it as a fallacy, but as a reasonable argument). And this type of argument shows a spotty history of recognition in logic texts and manuals over the centuries. But how it got into the modern logic textbooks as a fallacy remains somewhat obscure. Its modern genesis is traced to the logic text of James McCosh (1879).     

Many questions Begs the Question (but questions do not Beg the Question)

The fallacy of many questions or the complex question, popularized by the sophism ‘Have you stopped beating your spouse?’ (when a yes-or-no answer is required), is similar to the fallacy of begging the question orpetitio principii. Douglas N. Walton inBegging the Question has recently argued that the two forms are alike in trying unfairly to elicit an admission from a dialectical opponent without meeting burden of proof, but distinct because of the circularity of question-begging argument and noncircularity of many questions. I offer a reconstruction of the many questions fallacy according to which it is just as circular as begging the question, concluding that many questions begs the question. The same analysis contradicts Walton's claim that questions can beg the question, drawing a distinction between questions as the instruments of question-begging, and as vehicles for categorical noninterrogative presuppositions that beg the question.     

Giving Science a Bad Name: Politically and Commercially Motivated Fallacies in BSE Inquiry

It is a feature of scientific inquiry that it proceeds alongside a multitude of non-scientific interests. This statement is as true of the scientific inquiries of previous centuries, many of which brought scientists into conflict with institutionalised religious thinking, as it is true of the scientific inquiries of today, which are conducted increasingly within commercial and political contexts. However, while the fact of the coexistence of scientific and non-scientific interests has changed little over time, what has changed with time is the effect of this coexistence on scientific inquiry itself. While scientists may no longer construct their theories with various religious dictates in mind, growing commercial and political interests in science have served to distort the interpretation of science. Using the U.K.’s recent crisis with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) as my context, I examine two ways in which this distortion has occurred – the interpretation of the science of BSE by politicians and by commercial parties for the purposes of justifying policy decisions and informing the public of risk, respectively. Fallacious reasoning, I contend, is the manifestation of this distortion in these contexts. In demonstration of this claim, I examine how politicians and commercial parties alike have employed two fallacies in their assessments of the science of BSE. These fallacies extend in novel ways the set of so-called traditional informal fallacies. The interpretation of science, I conclude, is a rich context in which to conduct a study of fallacious reasoning; moreover, such a study can contribute in significant ways, I argue, to the public understanding of science.     

Naturalizing Ethics: the Biology and Psychology of Moral Agency

Moral agency is a central feature of both religious and secular conceptions of human beings. In this paper I outline a scientific naturalistic model of moral agency making use of current findings and theories in sociobiology,developmental psychology, and social cognitive theory. The model provides answers to four central questions about moral agency: (1) what it is, (2) how it is acquired, (3) how it is put to work, and (4) how it is justified. I suggest that this model can provide religious and secular moral theories with a basis for a common understanding of moral agency.     

环境光照对情绪的影响及其作用机制

环境光照作为重要的授时因子, 对多种生理和心理功能存在广泛影响, 其对情绪的非视觉作用尤其引起研究者们的关注。研究发现, 环境光照的照度、色温和波长均是影响情绪的重要物理因素; 短光周期、夜间人工光以及持续光照/黑暗等异常光照模式则会导致情绪障碍; 光照的情绪效应还受到光照时长、时间点、个体特征、主观偏好及基因类型等的调节。光照作用于情绪的路径主要包括两个方面, 一方面视网膜中的内在光敏感神经节细胞将光信号投射至情绪调节相关脑区直接影响情绪; 另一方面光信号通过同步内部生理节律及其调节下的激素分泌、神经传递和睡眠间接影响情绪。未来研究考察短时光照的视觉功效时需要采用更客观多样化的情绪测量技术, 综合非视觉与视觉作用路径深入对比健康与情绪障碍群体的差异性。     

Aging-related cocontraction effects during ankle strategy balance recovery following tether release in women

Increased antagonistic muscle activation during balance recovery has been documented during proprioceptive reliant responses in older adults. The authors examined ankle muscle cocontraction levels in young and older adults during balance recovery from a tether-release-induced, vestibular-input-reliant perturbation. Nine healthy young adult and 9 older women without history of falls performed maximum isometric plantar flexion and dorsiflexion trials followed by balance recovery trials using the ankle strategy. Surface electromyography data normalized to isometric conditions were analyzed during the 100 ms prior to release, the 50 ms immediately after release, and the 100-ms epochs from 100-400 ms following release. No differences existed in gastrocnemius and soleus activity levels (p > .05), though antagonistic tibialis anterior activity was greater in the older adults during the 300-400 ms epoch (young: 23.5 ± 5.8%, older: 38.7 ± 9.4%; p = .001). Vestibular-dominated perturbations may increase antagonistic activity during the recovery phase in older adults, inhibiting efficient balance recovery during proprioceptive and vestibular reliant perturbations.     

Highly fluorescent silver nanofluids with ferroelectric molecules

Highly fluorescent silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), soluble in a ferroelectric host of polymer molecules such as poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVF₂), have been created in the form of nanofluids. The content of Ag-NPs (flocculates) is varied in steps 0.1–0.2 wt% up to a value of 5.0 wt% in tailoring a broad green emission band over 520–620 nm out of a hybrid percolation Ag–PVF₂ composite. A maximum intensity arises in this band at as small a percolation threshold as ～0.1 wt% Ag-NPs. It contains three distinct bands of peak values 541, 565, and 582 nm in an Ag-NPs tunable response of the localized surface plasmons. The emission-dependent anti-Stokes excitation spectrum contains a similar group of three bands 348, 401, and 421 nm. For Ag-contents above 0.1 wt%, interdependent intensities in the emission and excitation bands drop rapidly by as much as five times, conferring a metal–polymer percolation network. The results open wide applications for biological labels and light emitters using such nanofluids.     

Perception of randomness and predicting uncertain events

Using randomly generated sequences of binary events we asked participants to make predictions about the next event. It turned out that while predicting uncertain events, people do not behave unsystematically. Our research identifies four types of relatively consistent strategies for predicting uncertain binary events: a strategy immune to short-run sequential dependencies consisting of the persistent prediction of long-run majority events, hereafter called the long-run momentum strategy; a strategy immune to short-run sequential dependencies consisting of the persistent prediction of long-run minority events, called the long-run contrarian strategy; a strategy sensitive to short-run sequential dependencies consisting of the prediction of short-run majority events, called the short-run momentum strategy; and a strategy sensitive to short-run sequential dependencies consisting of the prediction of short-run minority events, called the short-run contrarian strategy. When the character of events remains unknown, the most common strategy is the short-run momentum strategy. With the increase of a perceived randomness of the situation, people tend more often to use the short-run contrarian strategy. People differ in their general beliefs about the continuation or reversal of a trend in various natural and social processes. Trend believers, when facing sequences of binary events commonly perceived as random, tend to use momentum strategies, whereas those who believe in the trend's reversal tend to use contrarian strategies.