5 Common Mistakes in Evaluating Premises

One section that I thought was interesting was Section D in Chapter 5 which talked about typical mistakes that can be found when evaluating ideas. The first common mistake is arguing backwards. This means that when presented with an argument, the listener believes that the argument sounds rational which leads to the conclusion being rational as well. On the contrary, an argument is supposed to sway us to think that the conclusion is plausible, not that the idea is not true at all. The second common mistake is confusing a possibility with plausibility. Simply enough, individuals tend to confuse the difference between a possible argument and a plausible argument which are two completely different things. A possible argument has the chances that it could be false while a plausible argument is credible and rings true. The third mistake is bad appeals to authority. This means that because people see others accepting a particular idea, they automatically accept it as well without thinking the argument through. The fourth mistake is mistaking the person for the claim. In other words, an individual disregards an idea simply because it came from a person who they might not see as reliable. Finally, the fifth common mistake is mistaking the person for the argument. This mistake is similar to the fourth common mistake, however, instead of rejecting the claim, individuals reject the argument that the unreliable individual makes.