TRUTH AND OPINION

SUB-TOPIC: OPINIONS, PARTS OF AN

ARGUMENT,FALLACIES
Lesson
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
“ALL OPINIONS ARE NOT EQUAL. SOME ARE A VERY GREAT DEAL MORE
ROBUST, SOPHISTICATED AND WELL SUPPORTED IN LOGIC AND
ARGUMENT THAN OTHERS.”
DOUGLAS ADAMS, THE SALMON OF DOUBT
HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/PARASABAYANOFFICIAL/VIDEOS/VB.935525003290897/622847021521667/?TYPE=2&THEATER
CLS ACTIVITY DIRECTION
• Each group will have 3-5 members.
• Read the comments carefully and be able to
answer the questions for the activity.
• Take turn and listen attentively to the comments of
your group .
• Assign someone to take note and report what has
transpired in your group discussion.
• You will only be given 5 minutes to do the said
activity.
RUBRICS:
Pointers Excellent(5pts) Satisfactory(3pts) Unsatisfactory(2pt
s)
Pacing .Had a well .Had some good .Ran out of time
developed answer ideas to answer before we had any
to the question the question when ideas or an answer
when the time was the time was up to the question
up
Collaboration .Everyone listened .Everyone listened .Spent time
.Combined ideas to .Asked questions arguing
make new ideas. to clarify .Some people did
.Voted on best idea not listen to others
Contributions .Everyone .Everyone .Not everyone
contributed contributed contributed
.Gave each other
support
Responsibility .Focused the entire .Most people on .Had trouble
(Wise Use of Time) time task most of the staying on task
.Everyone tried to time
find
evidence
 CLS ACTIVITY
TIME FRAME: 5 MINUTES

• Describe the interaction among the commenters

and the kind of comments they post online.
• Focus on the commenters who are actively
exchanging arguments and counter-arguments.
• Report your observations.
LET’S LOOK CLOSELY:
• Looking at the arguments you focused on,
how would you assess the strength and
soundness of their arguments?
• Are the arguments reasonable to you?
• Do you agree with these arguments?
• Do you think some arguments are foolish or
simply wrong?
• What is your criterion for saying that this
argument is a good one, and that argument
is bad?
LOOK CLOSELY AT THE
DIFFERENCE
What is an
opinion
• An opinion is a
statement of
judgment of a
person about
something in the
world.
 HOW TO CRITICALLY EXAMINE
OPINIONS
• Opinions are statements of judgments that
are in need of further justification.
• It should be defended with better reasons to
strengthen them.
• Anyone who makes an opinion must then be
able to argue for it in the most reasonable
way.
COMPOSITION OF AN ARGUMENT
“THERE IS NO HOPE IN THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE MANY OFFICIALS
ARE CORRUPT,AND FILIPINO VOTERS CONTINUE TO ELECT THEM.”

CLAIM PREMISES

• THE CONCLUSION OF AN • THE REASONS USED TO

ARGUMENT SUPPORT THE CONCLUSION
Do you think this is a good
Argument?
NOT ALL ARGUMENTS ARE GENUINE, SOME
ARE FAKE ARGUMENTS OR FALLACIES.

• There is no hope in the Philippine

government, because the
Philippines is a tropical country.
 FALLACIES

• Fallacies are a group of

statements that appear to be
arguments, but fail to support
the conclusion.
-Which of the statements from
the activity sounds fallacies?
 COMMON FALLACIES
1.Argumentum ad Hominem(Argument
against the Person)
-this fallacy is used when people convince others that
someone’s argument should be rejected because of the
person’s personal background-his history, nationality, race,
socio-economic status, family, associations, religion, and
other circumstances.
-this is considered fallacious because the rightness or
wrongness of a claim should not be affected by the
background of the person claiming it.
-Cite one argument which shows this fallacy on the activity.
 COMMON FALLACIES
• 2. Argumentum ad Baculum(Appeal to force)
-it is an argument used by people who want to win a conflict by
issuing threats to their opponents.
-it is problematic because instead of convincing the other
person that you are right by giving good reasons, you force
them to accept whatever you say. The listeners are made to say
“yes” to your claim even if in their minds they know that your
argument is foolish.

Think of an argument in your classroom where your teacher or

classmate use this type of argument.
Look for one comment on the thread which shows this type of
argument.
3. Argumentum ad
Misericordiam(Appeal to
pity)
-This fallacy is also called
appeal to emotion.
-It is an argument used
by people who want to
win people over by
manipulating their
emotions.
4. ARGUMENTUM AD
POPULUM
-it is used by
appealing to the
popular
sentiment of the
public.
-remember then that
popularity does not
equate with validity, or
that just because
many people believe
something to be
true, the argument or
 REMEMBER THIS!
• Opinions are statements of judgment of
a person about something in the world.
We should not take them immediately
as true. We should always critically
examine the opinion and its supporting
arguments. We should also be wary of
strongly but arguments but on deep
introspection are actually fallacious. To
be able to hold credence, opinions
should pass further justification.
 LET’S DO THIS!

• From the activity you made at the start of

this lesson, list down 2 examples of
comments for each of the fallacies
discussed: ad hominem, ad baculum, ad
misericordiam, ad populum. You can get
examples from other online news article
comment section. Which of the 4 fallacies
is the most common? Rank them.
Ten Points Quiz
Give two arguments and identify
which of the 4 fallacies
discussed are used. State the
reason for your answer.
 ASSIGNMENT
• Find the meaning of Philosophy and its
method.
• How do Western modern philosophers
find truth?
• How do Oriental philosophers
understand truth?