LEGAL LOGIC SUMMARY REVIEWER
Based on the Book: Legal Logic (Aquino)
Legal Logic Summary Reviewer
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
Logic – is the study of principles and methods of good reasoning. It is by means of logic that we clarify our ideas, assess the acceptability of the claims and beliefs we encounter, defend and justify our assertions and statements, and make rational and sound decisions.
Legal Reasoning – what we use when we apply laws, rules and regulations to particular facts and cases; what we use when we interpret statures, when we evaluate evidence and render judgements.
Legal Reasoning is expressed through Arguments – it is a claim put forward and defended with reasons. Lawyers become more persuasive and convincing if they develop the habit of speaking in arguments and not just making assertions or claims that something is true, but support their assertions by providing justification.
Two Basis Elements of an Argument:
1. Premises
2. Conclusion
“therefore” is a word indicator for a conclusion, some arguments don’t contain indicators, i.e:
“MMDA’s campaign to get rid of sidewalk vendors is right. The proliferations of these sidewalk vendors slows down the movement of vehicles causing heavy traffic.”
(in here the 1st statement is the conclusion and the 2nd statement serves as the premise)
Note: An argument always has a conclusion and a premise. Without one, a bunch of words is not an argument.
Explanation vs Argument:
1. Explanation – tries to show why something is the case, to show why a thing came to exist, i.e
“Hubert Webb and company were acquitted by the SC because the Court found inherent inconsistencies in the evidences provided by the prosecution.”
Example of a Causal Explanation.
“the judge postpones the hearing because defendant failed to appear in court due to unstable health condition” – the failure to appear brought about the postponement of the hearing
2. Argument – tries to show that something is the case, it is intended to provide grounds to justify a claim, to show that it is plausible or true.
Unsupported belief or opinion – statements about what a speaker or writer happens to believe, such can be true or false, but they are parts of arguments only if the speaker or writer claims that they follow from, or support other claims.
“I agree with the proposed Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act being discussed at present in a bicameral conference committee of the Congress. RA 9344 must be amended. The minimum age of criminal liability must be lowered from 15 to 12.”
Conditional Statement – contains an if-then relationship, the (if clause) is the antecedent and the (then clause) is the consequent.
“If the Philippines adopts a parliamentary government, then we will not elect a President anymore.”
Components of Legal Reasoning:
1. Issue – Any matter of controversy or uncertainty; an issue is a point in dispute, in doubt, in question, or simply up for discussion or consideration
2. Rule – One must be able to cite a rule, stature or ordinance and apply it to a set of facts.
Rules have 3 parts:
a. Set of elements, collectively called a test
b. Result that occurs when all elements are present
c. Causal term that determines whether a result is mandatory, prohibitory, discretionary or declaratory
3. Fact – We look for material facts, which fit the elements of the rule.
Pp vs. Escobar – case where a decision was rendered even before all the stenographic notes were transcribed, SC said that “Every decision of a court of record shall clearly and distinctly state the facts and the law which it is based” and the lower court failed on this standard
4. Analysis – supposed to show the link between the rules and the facts we presented to establish what we are claiming in our argument.
5. Conclusion – The ultimate end of a legal argument. It is what the facts, rules and analysis of the case amount to.
Criteria used to distinguish correct from incorrect reasoning: TRUTH and LOGIC which can be explained by looking at the two processes involved in legal reasoning.
1. Presentation of facts which pertains to the question of TRUTH
2. Inference (deriving a claim of judgement from the given laws or facts) which pertains to the question of LOGIC.
Chapter 2: Fundamental Concepts in Legal Reasoning
Burden of proof – the duty of any party to present evidence to establish his claim or defense by the amount of evidence required by law, like preponderance of evidence in civil cases.
The basic rule is that the burden of proof lies upon him who asserts it.
Equipoise doctrine – When the evidence of the parties is evenly balanced or there is doubt on which side the evidence preponderates, the decision should be against the party with the burden of proof.
Evidence – the means sanctioned by the Rules of Court, of ascertaining in a judicial proceeding the truth respecting a matter of fact. Evidence is deemed admissible if it is relevant to the issue and more importantly, if it is not excluded by law or rules of court.
“best evidence rule” – applies only when the content of such document is the subject of the inquiry, where the issue is only as to whether such document was actually executed, or exists, or on the circumstances relevant to or surrounding its execution, the best evidence rule does not apply and testimonial evidence is admissible.
Testimony of the witnesses – Personal knowledge is needed. Hearsay is not allowed except in some cases like entries in official records made in the performance of duty by a public officer.
Expert Testimony – statements made by individuals who are considered as experts in a particular field
Examination of Witnesses –
a. Direct examination by proponent – refers to examination in chief of a witness by the party representing him on the facts relevant to the issue.
b. Cross-Examination by opponent – cross-examination by the adverse party as to any matters stated in the direct examination
c. Redirect examination by proponent – After cross-examination, he may be re-examined by the party calling him to explain or supplement his answers given during the cross-examination
d. Re-cross-examination by opponent -adverse party may re-cross-examine the witness on matters stated in his re-direct examination
NOTE: After examination of a witness by both sides is conducted, witness cannot be recalled without leave of court. Moreover, witness may be impeached by the party against whom he was called by contradictory evidence that his general reputation for truth, honesty and integrity is bad.
Dependence on Precedents
“Stare Decisis et non quieta movere”
It is a general rule that, when a point has been settled by a decision, it becomes precedent which should be followed in subsequent cases before the same court. Only upon showing that circumstances attendant in a particular case override the great benefits derived by our judicial system from the doctrine of stare decisis, can the courts be justified in setting aside the same.
Chapter 3: Deductive Reasoning in Law
Deduction and Induction
1. Deductive reasoning – Each conclusion flows from its premises with logical necessity; this means that, given the premises, the conclusion could not be false.
“All misdemeanors are criminal offenses;
Driving under the influence of alcohol is a misdemeanor;
Hence, driving under the influence of alcohol is a criminal offense.”
“If quartz scratches glasses, then quarts is harder than glass;
Quartz scratches glass;
Therefore, quartz is harder than glass”
2. Inductive reasoning – simply claim that their conclusions are likely or probable given the premises offered.
“Neil, a student in a Legal Logic class, has good study habits and is always attentive in class;
He is a consistent dean’s lister and has never failed any subject he has taken in law school; and
Therefore, it is very probable that Neil will not fail in his Legal Logic class.”
Although it is a strong argument, it does not provide an absolute guarantee that Neil will not fail in his Legal Logic class.
A deductive argument moves from particular premises to a general conclusion while an inductive argument moves from general to particular.
(deductive) Three is a prime number;
Five is a prime number;
Seven is a prime number; and
Therefore, all odd numbers between two and eight are prime numbers.
(inductive) All of JK Rowling’s previous books have been bestsellers. (general premise); and
Therefore, her next book will probably be a bestseller. (particular premise)
Common indicator words for:
Deductive: certainly, definitely, it is logical to conclude that, this logically implies that, absolutely, conclusively, this entails that, it must be the case that
Inductive: probably, likely, chances are, one would expect that, it is plausible to suppose that, it is reasonable to assume that
Note: When no indicator words are present, we just have to base our judgement on the content of the premises and conclusion.
Syllogisms
Is a three-argument composed of the Major premise, Minor premise and the Conclusion.
Some deductive arguments have conclusions which do not follow necessarily from their premises. These are INVALID deductive arguments. A VALID deductive argument is an argument in which the conclusion really does follow necessarily from the premises.
Valid argument:
“Insulators are not electric conductors.
Rubbers are insulators; and
Therefore, rubbers are not electric conductors.”
Invalid argument:
“Fraud is criminal offense;
Amalilio committed a criminal offense; and
Therefore, Amalilio committed fraud.”
Types of Syllogisms: Categorical and Hypothetical
1. Categorical – composed of categorical statements alone. It directly asserts something or states a fact without any conditions. Its subject is simply affirmed by the predicate.
“Senators are elected officials.”
“The Philippines is not a communist state.”
“Some crimes are against national security.”
2. Hypothetical – includes both categorical and hypothetical statements. A compound statement which contains a proposed or tentative explanation. Usually contains a hypothetical statement in the first premise.
“If the country is in danger due to invasion or rebellion, the Pres can declare Martial Law.”
“The breach of contract is either actual or anticipatory.”
Categorical Syllogisms
Properties of a Categorical Syllogism
1. Quality – may be affirmative or negative, a statement with terms “no, not, none and never” is negative and in the absence of such then it is affirmative
Sample of an affirmative statement:
“Some crimes are punishable by imprisonment.
The accused denied the charges against him.”
Sample of a negative statement:
“No one is above the law.
The accused is not guilty of the crime.”
2. Quantity – Either universal or particular. The statement is universal when what is being affirmed or denied of the subject term is its whole extension; the statement is particular when what is being affirmed is just a part of its extension.
For universal statements we usually have: all, every, no, none, each
For particular statements: some, most, several, few, almost all, not all, many
Examples of universal statements:
“All law students are holders of a bachelor’s degree.”
“No statutes that are in conflict with the Constitution are valid.
Examples of particular statements:
“Some acts of vigilantism are justified.”
“Some criminal offenses are heinous crimes.”
Note: The Predicate of a negative statement is always universal.
Parts of a Categorical Syllogism
1. Minor Term(S) – the subject of conclusion
2. Major Term(P) – predicate of conclusion
3. Middle Term(M) – term found in both premises
Three kinds of statements in a categorical syllogism:
1. Minor premise
2. Major premise
3. Conclusion
Samples:
“All torts (M) are civil wrongs (P). (major prem)
Negligence (S) is a tort (M). (minor prem)
Therefore, negligence (S) is a civil wrong (P)
(conclusion).”
“All contracts with vague terms (P) are void (M).
(major prem)
This contract (S) is not void (M). (minor prem)
Therefore, this contract (S) does not contain vague terms (P). (conclusion)”
Rules for Validity of Categorical Syllogisms
Rule 1: The syllogism must not contain 2 negative premises.
Rule 2: There must be three pairs of univocal terms.
-The terms in the syllogism must have exactly the same meaning and must be used exactly the same way in each occurrence.
Sample:
“What is natural is good.
To make a mistake is natural.
Therefore, the Congress can abolish the law of supply and demand.” (Invalid)
The term natural is used with two different meanings, the first is something pure while the second is means as something normal or usual.
“Selling cigars to a person below 18 years is unlawful.
That store sold cigars to a student below 18 years.
Therefore, the store has violated the law.” (Valid)
This is valid since the terms “below 18 years” was used in the same sense.
Note: Violation of this rule is referred to as the Fallacy of Equivocation
Rule 3: The middle term must be universal at least once.
Rule 4: If the term in the conclusion is universal, the same term in the premise must be also universal.
Samples:
-“All lawyers read the Philippine Daily inquirer.
All lawyers are literate.
Therefore, all who read the Philippine Daily Inquirer are literate.” (Invalid)
The minor term “those who read the Philippine Daily Inquirer” is universal in the conclusion but particular in the premise. This is called the fallacy of illicit minor.
- “Felonies are criminal offenses.
Misdemeanors are not felonies.
Therefore, misdemeanors are not criminal offenses.” (Invalid)
The major term “criminal offenses” is universal in the conclusion but particular in the premise. This is called the fallacy of illicit major.
- “All acts that inflict more harm than good are unjust.
All terrorist acts inflict more harm than good.
Therefore, all terrorist acts are unjust.” (Valid)
Hypothetical Syllogisms – contains a hypothetical statement as one of its premises. There are three kinds: (conditional, disjunctive and conjunctive)
Conditional Syllogism – (if-then relationship) but can also be expressed in a wide variety of different sentences such as:
“Being a teenager these days means. . .”
“The fact that she. . . implies that.”
“Anyone who. . . must be a. . . .”
“Unless you are. . .you will not. . .”
“Whenever heavy rains pour, España is flooded.”
“In case. . . you will. . .”
If you write these statements in if-then forms, their meaning will be the same.
Conditional Syllogism can be symbolized by:
A – antecedent
C – consequent
~ - negation of the statement
> - implies
- for therefore
Rules for Conditional Syllogisms
1. When the minor premise affirms the antecedent, conclusion must affirm the consequent. (modus ponens)
“If it rains, then the ground will be wet. A>C
It rained. A
Therefore, the ground is wet. C
2. When minor premise denies the consequent, conclusion must deny the antecedent. (modus Tollens)
“If it rains, then the ground will be wet. A>C
The ground is not wet. ~C
Therefore, it did not rain. ~A
3. A conditional syllogism is invalid if the minor premise denies the antecedent. (fallacy of denying the antecedent)
“If it rains, then the ground will be wet. A>C
The ground is wet. C
Therefore, it rained. A
Enthymemes -An argument that can be founded on a syllogism although not all parts of the syllogism are expressed. This kind of argument is stated incompletely, part being understood, or only in the mind, is called such.
“Manuel has been seen running away from a building where a burglar alarm is ringing.
Manuel is more likely to be the burglar.”
This implies that People who flee from the scene are more likely guilty than if they did not flee.
Polysyllogism – a series of syllogisms in which the conclusion of one syllogism supplies a premise of the next syllogism. (Note: Can be lots of syllogisms in order to produce a desired conclusion.)
Chapter 4: Inductive Reasoning in Law
Inductive Generalizations – an argument that relied on characteristics of a sample population to make a claim about the population as a whole
It uses evidence about a limited number of people or things of a certain type to make a general claim about a larger group of people or things of that type.
Samples:
“All law students are required to study taxation.”
“Hearsays are not admissible in courts.”
Analogical Arguments – a comparison of things based on similarities those things share, it can sometimes be encountered in poems or songs.
“Perhaps love is like a resting place,
A shelter from the storm,
It exists to give you comfort,
It is there to keep you warm. . .”
Most of our everyday reasoning is based on analogy. Joan reasons that her new pair of shoes will be durable on the grounds that her other shoes with the same brand and make have been durable. Just like an inductive argument, there is no mathematical certainty in analogical arguments. However, the claims of these arguments may still be accepted.
Criteria’s of Analogical Arguments
-Relevance of Similarities
-Relevance of Dissimilarities
Chapter 5: Fallacies of Legal Reasoning
-Formal fallacies are those that may be identified through mere inspection of the form and structure of the argument
“All turtles are reptiles.
All frogs are not turtles.
Therefore, all frogs are not reptiles.”
Through mere inspection, one can see that the argument is illogical.
-Informal fallacies are those that can be detected only through analysis of the content of the argument.
“It’s just right to give this student a passing mark. You see, she is troubled by serious family problems at present.
Her family can’t afford her education; it’s her aunt who pays her tuition fee. If she fails in M-101, she might not be supported anymore by her aunt.”
If simplified:
“All students with serious family problems should not be given a failing mark.
Q is a student with serious family problems.
Therefore, Q should not be given a failing mark.”
In this case, one would find it valid and logical but the erroneous reasoning can be found in the content which says that – the basis in giving a passing or failing mark is his or her family situation rather than his or her performance in class.
Fallacies of Ambiguity
1. Equivocation – leading an opponent to an unwarranted conclusion by using a term in its different senses and making it appear to have only one meaning
“Gambling should be legalized because it is something we can’t avoid.
It is an integral part of human experience;
People gamble everytime they get in their cars or decide to get married.”
The first use of gambling refers to games of chances while the second use refers to the risk feature of life itself.
(Using one term and applying two meanings in a statement.)
Lambino vs COMELEC – a case regarding the initiative of changing the 1987 Constitution, such changes that would shift the present Bicameral-Presidential system to a Unicameral-Parliamentary government. The framers of the Constitution intended to adopt relevant American jurisprudence on people’s initiative, and the people must first see the full text of the proposed amendments before they sign and that people should sign on a petition containing such full text.
However, the Lambino group only gathered signatures and they theorized that the difference of amendment and revision is only one of procedure and not of substance.
Court ruled that the express intent and plain language of the Constitution contradict the Lambino group’s theory. With the language of the law being clear and plain, courts do not deviate from such intent and language.
2. Amphiboly – presenting a claim or argument whose meaning can be interpreted in two or more ways due to its grammatical construction, in equivocation the ambiguity comes from changing the meaning of the word while in amphiboly, ambiguity comes from the way the sentence is constructed
“The loot and the car were listed as stolen by the Manila Police District.”
“CHR lawyers give poor free legal advice.”
“Mayors can’t stop gambling.”
“Police help dog bite victim.”
3. Improper Accent – consists in misleading people by placing improper emphasis on a word, phrase or particular aspect of an issue or claim, can be found not only in advertisements and headlines but also in other very common forms of human discourse
This newspaper headline for example:
“President to Declare Martial Law.”
This may lead one to infer that the President has immediate plans to declare martial law but the article might simply be reporting an interview with the President which she said she might declare martial law if military officers defy the chain of command, and other probable reasons for such.
4. Vicious Abstraction – misleading the people by using vague or abstract terms.
Example.
If one assumes that the specific meaning of the SC’s notion of “community standards” can be reduced to a formula like “whatever presently offends more than 50% of the people in the community” and then uses a highly questionable assigned meaning to the term to
draw a conclusion about the legality of an act, then one can be said to be misusing a vague expression.
“Since the act involving pornographic materials was not in accordance with community standards, then this act should be regarded as against the law.”
It would appear that perhaps no effective use of the term “community standards” could be applied to any situation without misusing a vague expression.
5. Composition – wrongly inferring that what holds true of the individuals automatically holds true of the group made up of those individuals
Example, it is fallacious to argue that,
“because a lawyer earns more than a secretary, therefore all lawyers earn more than all secretaries”
Another example:
“Roger Federer and Martina Hingis are two of the best tennis players in the world, so if these two Swiss players team up, they’d make one of the best mixed doubles teams.”
Indeed, the two players are very difficult to defeat when they play individually, but it does not follow that they will also be very difficult to defeat when they play together as a team.
6. Division – consists in wrongly assuming that what is true in general is true in particular, this is the reverse of the fallacy of composition
To argue that, since PNP is one of the most corrupt agencies, therefore these three policemen cannot be trusted, is to commit the fallacy of division.
Fallacies of Irrelevance
1. Argumentum ad Hominem (Personal Attack) – this fallacy ignores the issue by focusing on certain personal characteristics of an opponent, instead of addressing the issue presented by an opponent this argument makes the opponent the issue
Two kinds of Argumentum ad Hominem:
a. Abusive – attacks the argument based on the arguer’s reputation, personality or some personal shortcoming
“X’s statement must be wrong because X is a socialist.”
“According to this action star, he supports the death penalty because it is an effective deterrence against murder. This is nonsense. He is just an actor and knows nothing about death penalty. Besides, he likes violence as shown by his many movies which depict a lot of killings.”
These examples focuses its attention on the character of the person which is not the issue.
b. Circumstantial – consists in defending one’s position by accusing his or her critic or other people of doing the same thing
It is not logical to absolve one’s self of his or her own guilt by saying that the opponent has done the same thing.
Example.
“I don’t think the opposition party has a valid reason for criticizing the move of the present administration to privatize government-run industries.
When the opposition party was in power in the previous regime, it sold several government companies like NAPOCOR and MWSS to the private sector.”
The speaker committed tu quoque (you’re another) because he or she focused on what the opposition did when it was in power before which is not the issue in this case.
Sample cases:
In re Borromeo – Joaquin Borromeo is not a lawyer but learned a few legal principles and procedural rules. He represented himself in several court proceedings where he disrespected the SC several times.
Court declared him guilty of contempt of court. His actions as well as allegations are clearly examples of what we call as argumentum ad hominem.
Mane vs Judge Belen – Atty. Mane charged the judge for humiliating, demeaning and berating him during a hearing when he was counsel. Based on the transcript, the judge criticized the complainant that he did not graduate from UP Law.
SC declared the judge guilty of conduct unbecoming of a judge and reprimanded him for such actions. In addition, for a judge to determine the fitness or competence of a lawyer based on alma mater is a clear example of an argumentum ad hominem.
Santos vs Aranzano – Civil case praying a decree of adoption to be null and void ab initio that the
application was not signed by both adopting parents.
Petitioner claimed that CFI has no jurisdiction and contended that if the spouses were alive, they would never question the adoption because what is more important to them is the welfare of their adopted daughters.
Court granted the petition due to jurisdictional grounds but observed that the statement is an argumentum ad hominem since it attributes without basis, an attitude to someone long dead.
2. Argumentum ad Misericordiam (Appeal to Pity) – the judge is persuaded to accept an argument not for its strength but because of the counsel’s emotional appeal to pity, this fallacy convinces people by evoking feelings of compassion and sympathy when such feelings, are not logically relevant to the arguer’s conclusion
A classic example is the closing speech of Clarence Darrow when he defended Thomas Kidd.
“I appeal to you not for Thomas Kidd, but I appeal to you for the long line – the long, long line reaching back through the ages and forward to the years to come – the long line of despoiled and downtrodden people of the earth. I appeal to you for those men who rise in the morning before daylight comes and who go home at night when the light has faded from the sky and give their life, their strength, their toil to make others rich and great. I appeal to you in the name of those women who are offering up their lives to this modern god of gold, and I appeal to you in the name of those children, the living and the unborn.”
3. Argumentum ad Baculum (Appeal to Force) – persuading others to accept a position by using threat or pressure instead of presenting evidence for one’s view. The strength of this lies on the fear it creates to people which leads them to agree with the argument
Example.
“The President wants the Congress to pass this bill, I think you have to support it. Of course, you don’t want Malacañang to reduce your Priority Development Assistance Fund which will finance your infrastructure projects in your town.”
However, not all threats involve fallacies. If certain consequences are a natural outcome of an action, calling its attention would be very much appreciated.
Parent to a teen. “You must not stay late at the party. There is a lot of danger in traveling late at night. You might get raped or robbed.”
Sy vs Fineza – case where the court suspended Fineza, that his actions constituted abuse of authority
Fineza was suspended for acting with malice and bad faith when he raised the bail of an accused.
4. Petitio Principii (Begging the Question) – designed to persuade people by means of the wording of one of its premises
A. Arguing in Circle – makes use of its conclusion to serve as its premise
“Gina: This person has committed bribery.
Jeff: What reasons do you have that will convince me that your claim is true?
Gina:Because he tried to influence a public official by giving money.”
In this argument, Gina only explained what the act of bribery means. Jeff asked her for reasons for making the claim. Gina, however, gave no such reasons; she merely repeated her claim.
B. Question – Begging Language – consists in discussing an issue by means of language that assumes a position of the very question at issue, in such a way as to direct the listener to that same conclusion, this prematurely assumes that a matter that is or may be at issue has already been settled
Prosecutor to witness: “Would you tell us, Ms. Diaz, about the nature of your relationship with the rapist, Mr. Sanchez?”
The prosecutor uses language in his question that begs the very question in the courtroom. An alert defense attorney would object vigorously to the implicit argument embedded in this question-begging language.
C. Complex Question – consists in asking a question in which some presuppositions are buried in that question, another term used to this is loaded question, which suggests that more than one question is being asked in what appears to be a single question
Example. “Did you and your brother went to the mall with the victim and gave him the drug?”
A closer look at the question reveals that it involves at least 4 questions.
It asks: if the respondent went to the mall with the victim, if the respondent gave the drug to the victim, if the respondent’s brother went to the mall with the victim, if the respondent’s brother gave the drug to the victim.
D. Leading Question – directing the respondent to give a particular answer to a question at issue by the manner in which the question is asked, this usually involves asking only one question that contains an unsupported claim
Consider a lawyer who leads her client in the following manner:
“You were outside the country when the crime was committed, weren’t you?”
The defense lawyer is leading the witness by assuming a position on the very question at issue. Even though the lawyer maybe convinced that the defendant was not in the country – that is, her client is innocent – a proper procedure for getting at the truth would be to encourage the witness to explain as to his whereabouts when the crime was committed.
Fallacies of Insufficient Evidence
1. Argumentum ad Antiquum (Appeal to the Ages) – This attempts to persuade others of a certain belief by appealing to their feelings of reverence or respect for some tradition, instead of giving rational basis for such belief. This is illogical since pointing out that a particular practice has the status of a tradition sheds no light on whether it should be followed or not.
Example.
“I don’t understand why the Church allowed cremation of the dead. In our time, we have not been taught to burn the bodies of our dead loved ones. It was not done when my lolo and lola died, as well as when tatay and nanay died. We should not also do that to any of our relatives.”
The reasoning is fallacious because what was true before may not be true at present given the social, cultural and physical changes in our society and the world at large.
2. Argumentum ad Verecundiam (Appeal to Inappropriate Authority) – Consists in persuading others by appealing to people who command respect or authority but do not have legitimate authority in the matter at hand.
Example 1:
“The doctrine of biological evolution cannot be true, for it contradicts the biblical account of creation; the church fathers never accepted it and the fundamentalists explicitly condemn it.”
What is wrong in the argument above is its reliance to certain authorities who, although respected, are not the appropriate authority on this matter since the issue is about science.
-Another type of inappropriate authority is a biased one. Some people may be qualified in a particular field, yet they are vitally interested in or affected by the issue at stake that there would be good reason to treat their testimony with suspicion.
Example 2:
“Jose Javier Reyes, director of the movie
Live show, said in a press conference that MTRCB has unjustly banned the movie from being shown. According to Reyes, the movie is not pornographic since it has a very relevant plot and a well-written storyline. Since Reyes is a veteran in Philippine cinema, we can say that indeed MTRCB acted wrongly in banning the said movie.”
3. Accident – Applying a general rule to a particular case.
Example.
“Freedom of speech is a constitutionally guaranteed right.
Therefore, Leo should not be arrested for his speech that incited the riot last week.”
In this argument, the general rule is that freedom of speech is normally guaranteed, and the specific case is the speech made by Leo. Because the speech incited a riot, the rule does not apply.
Sample Cases:
TBAP vs COMELEC – Petitioners challenged the validity of BP 881 which requires broadcast companies to provide free airtime to COMELEC for the use of candidates for campaign.
Court ruled that all broadcast companies whether radio or tv are licensed by the government and the franchises granted to them are mere privileges. As regards the contention that the law singles out radio and tv stations to provide free air time rests on the fallacy that broadcast media are to be treated the same as print media.
Their plea to invalidate the said law would pave the way for rich candidates monopolizing the media giving disadvantage to candidates with less resource.
People vs Gacott – Case where judge dismissed a criminal case despite failure in checking the citations of the prosecution. SC annulled the dismissal and sanction the judge with reprimand and a fine for ignorance of the law.
The Constitution provides that the SC en banc shall have the power to discipline judges of lower courts.
However, a decision en banc is only needed when the penalty to be imposed in the dismissal of a judge is for more than 1 year or a fine exceeding 10k or both.
4. Hasty Generalization (Converse Accident) – Consists in drawing a general or universal conclusion from insufficient particular case. We take a particular case and make a general rule or truth out of that.
Example.
“A survey of the member of the MILF and their families showed that more than 85% of them favor the proposal to have a separate independent government in Mindanao, 10% disapprove and 5% are undecided.
These survey results clearly show that majority of Filipino Muslims supports the said proposal.”
The basis for claiming that majority of Filipino Muslims supports the proposal is not adequate to support this claim since it only pertains to MILF and their families which do not represent the whole Filipino Muslim population.
5. Argumentum ad Ignorantiam (Arguing from Ignorance) – Consists in assuming that a particular claim is true because its opposite cannot be proven. Using the absence of evidence against a claim as justification that it is true.
Example.
“Since science cannot prove that breathing the same air as an AIDS victim will not result in the spread of the virus, children with AIDS should not be allowed to attend public schools.”
6. False Dilemma – Arises when the premise of an argument presents us with a choice between two alternatives and assumes that they are exhaustive when in fact they are not. Being pregnant and not being pregnant are exhaustive alternatives since there is no other alternative.
Example.
“Many people are protesting the implementation of warrantless arrests. I think it is just right for that can facilitate the military’s crackdown on terrorist groups.
You surely don’t want terrorism to prevail in our country.”
The arguer here presupposes that there are only two alternatives: implement warrantless arrests to stop terrorism or not and let terrorism prevail. What is wrong here is that it overlooks the fact that there can be other ways of dealing with terrorism.
A common way to commit false dilemma is to treat contraries as if they were contradictories.
The color is either black or non-black (contradictories – a term and its negative).
The color could be neither black nor white (both extremes to be false – contraries – a term and its opposite)
CLASS NOTES
Fallacy – purpose is to deceive, taken from the word “falio” which means I deceive you.
Kinds of Fallacies:
1. Fallacy of Expression
a. Equivocation
b. Amphiboly
c. Composition
d. Division
2. Non-sequential Fallacy
a. Ignorantia elinchi
i. Argumentum ad hominem
ii. Argumentum ad misericordiam
iii. Argumentum ad baculum
3. Begging the Question
Basis of Decisions:
1. Policy
a. Effects:
i. For making the law
ii. For interpreting the law
2. Principle
3. Precedent
Laws are applied in:
1. Litigation – involves past incidents which have to be proved by evidence
2. Contracts – most of the facts are still to be established in accordance with the law and procedure
Sources of Facts:
a. Client
b. Witnesses
i. Biased
ii. Non-Biased
Art. 315 of the RPC (Estafa) vs BP 22????
In Art 315 the element of deceit is needed while with BP 22 mere issuance of a check suffices.
Valid defense for a charge under BP 22?????
Forgery:)
