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Fallacy Files

The Fallacy Files contains an extensive treatment of named fallacies along with examples of fallacious arguments. The philosopher, Gary N. Curtis, devotes his spare moments to the study of logical fallacies and the development of this Web site. It is the result of twenty years of research on fallacies.

The Web site is divided into two vertical frames. The narrow left frame contains an alphabetical list of logical fallacies. Each name on the list is a link to a file devoted to that fallacy. Most expositions of fallacies contain both examples and counterexamples. Examples are seductive arguments of the form of the fallacy. Counterexamples are obviously bad arguments of the form of the fallacy. Many fallacies have more than one name. For example, the Gamblers's Fallacy is the Monte Carlo Fallacy. Hence, the listing of names is not indicative of the actual number of fallacies. The left frame displays a link to the main page on the right target frame. This provides easy navigation of the site.

The wide right frame opens with a main menu of further high level files. This right frame is also the target of all deeper files. To benefit from the resources of this Web site, the user should begin by reading three introductory files: "What are the Fallacy Files?", "How to Use the Fallacy Files", and "What is a Fallacy?".

Even more useful than the alphabetical listing of logical fallacies is the Taxonomy of Fallacies. This Taxonomy categorizes the fallacies into general fallacies and subfallacies which are specific versions of the general fallacies. For example, formal fallacies include the subcategories of fallacies of propositional logic, quantificational logic, and syllogistic logic. In turn each of these subcategories includes a list of subfallacies. Each general fallacy and subfallacy links to a separate file proper to this particular fallacy. In addition to the multitude of files for the fallacies, each logical term is linked to a glossary entry defining and explaining the term.

The quality of the presentation is exemplified by the following entry in the Gambler's File.

The Gambler's Fallacy and its twin, the Reverse Gambler's Fallacy, have two distinctions that no other fallacy has:

1. They have built a city in the desert: Las Vegas.
2. They are the economic mainstay of Monico, an entire, albeit tiny, country, from which we get the alias "Monte Carlo" fallacy.

The Main Menu contains a link to examples of fallacious reasoning entitled "Fallacy Examples", and the linked file is "Stalking the Wild Fallacy". This file is a selection of bad arguments quoted from the written media. Beneath each example of fallacious reasoning is a link to a relevant named fallacy. The Main Menu also includes links to further on line resources, reviews of textbooks on logical fallacies, and a selection of email messages from users of this Web site. Curtis encourages students of logic to help in the constant development of this site.

Although Curtis does not offer his Web site as a substitute for a good textbook on logical fallacies, it is an excellent resource tool which is more enjoyable than reading a textbook.