Four Main Questions

Throughout the course, students are encouraged to ask 4 main questions when they are encountering an argument that they suspect may be fallacious in some way:

1. What is the issue at hand? Often a person will abandon the presenting issue when he suspects his argument is in trouble. Let’s be clear on the issue and argue about that.
2. Is the argument I am hearing relevant to the issue at hand? If not, scan for a possible fallacy of relevance.
3. Is the argument I am hearing assuming something illegitimate? If so, scan for a possible fallacy of presumption.
4. Is the argument I am hearing unclear? If so, scan for a possible fallacy of clarity.

As you can see, these questions are aligned with the three master categories of fallacies that we present in AA:

• Fallacies of relevance
• Fallacies of presumption
• Fallacies of clarity