Fallacies in the business world can be fatal when making a decision. Fallacies can impede the critical thinking process, causing the decision maker to focus on solutions that are not the most appropriate, or confuse the issue at hand. For these reasons, it is important to understand what fallacies are out there and how they affect the critical thinking process. Only by being aware of them is a person able to circumvent their effects. This paper explores: equivocation, far-fetched hypotheses, and hasty generalizations.
Fallacies in the Business World
Fallacies in the business world can be fatal when making a decision. Fallacies can impede the critical thinking process, causing the decision maker to focus on solutions that are not the most appropriate, or confuse the issue at hand. For these reasons, it is important to understand what fallacies are out there and how they affect the critical thinking process. Only by being aware of them is a person able to circumvent their effects.
The Fallacy of Equivocation Definition:
The fallacy of equivocation occurs when someone uses a word's different meanings in an argument, implying that the word means the same thing in each instance. These definitions are often correct within the immediate context, however, the arguer performs a semantic shift, gradually changing the context of the argument, and thus creating the fallacy ("Equivocation, 2004). Equivocation occurs when the word or phrase is ambiguous in that it as multiple distinct meanings ("Fallacy files," n.d.).
The Far-Fetched Hypothesis Definition:
The far-fetched hypothesis fallacy often offers an implausible theory as the correct rationalization, rather than first ruling out a more ordinary one (Dowden, 2004). It is a fallacy of inductive reasoning that occurs when a person accepts this unreasonable theory, when there is another more reasonable...
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