【正文】 sympathy — Ad Misericordiam.“對(duì)，是挺可怕的,”我表示贊同地說(shuō),“但這不是理由。s no argument. The man never answered the boss39。20 Yes, it39。18 Listen closely, I said. A man applies for a job. When the boss asks him what his qualifications are, he says he has six children to feed.“聽(tīng)好了，”我說(shuō)，“有個(gè)人去申請(qǐng)工作，當(dāng)老板問(wèn)他有什么應(yīng)聘資格時(shí)，他說(shuō)他有六個(gè)孩子要撫養(yǎng)。16 Seated under the oak the next evening I said, Our first fallacy tonight is called Ad Misericordiam.第二天晚上，坐在那棵橡樹(shù)下，我說(shuō)：“今天晚上我們要談的第一個(gè)邏輯謬誤叫‘文不對(duì)題’?！?5 She seemed to have a good time. I could safely say my plan was underway. I took her home and set a date for another conversation.她似乎學(xué)得很開(kāi)心，而我也可以放心地說(shuō)我的計(jì)劃正在穩(wěn)步推進(jìn)中?！?3 Really? said Polly, amazed. Nobody?“是嗎？”波莉吃驚地說(shuō)。t speak French. Looks like nobody at this school can speak French.“接下來(lái)是‘草率結(jié)論’。”12 Next is Hasty Generalization. Selfexplanatory, right? Listen carefully: You can39。如果你有心臟病或者超級(jí)肥胖癥什么的，運(yùn)動(dòng)就變得有害而不是有益。s too simple a generalization. If you have, say, heart disease or extreme obesity, exercise is bad, not good. Therefore, you must say exercise is good for most people.我看得出她沒(méi)弄明白?！?0 She nodded in agreement.她點(diǎn)頭表示贊同。9 Dicto Simpliciter means an unqualified generalization. For example: Exercise is good. Therefore, everybody should exercise.“‘絕對(duì)判斷’是指在證據(jù)不足的情況下所作出的推斷。我們先來(lái)看看一種叫做‘絕對(duì)判斷’的邏輯謬誤。s look at the fallacy Dicto Simpliciter.“邏輯學(xué)的原理，”我說(shuō)道，“即清晰思考的主要原則?！? Cool, she said over her gum.“好酷啊，”她一邊嚼著口香糖一邊說(shuō)?！拔覀円勑┦裁矗俊彼龁?wèn)道。而這個(gè)地方能夠俯瞰燈火燦爛的城區(qū)，我覺(jué)得它會(huì)使人的心情變輕松。4 After a banner day out, I drove until we were situated under a big old oak tree on a hill off the expressway. What I had in mind was a little eccentric. I thought the venue with a perfect view of the luminous city would lighten the mood. We stayed in the car, and I turned down the stereo and took my foot off the brake pedal. What are we going to talk about? she asked.在一起外出度過(guò)了美好的一天之后，我驅(qū)車來(lái)到了高速公路旁一座小山上一棵古老的大橡樹(shù)下。3 Radiant she was already. I could dispense her enough pearls of wisdom to make her wellspoken.“光彩照人”，她已經(jīng)是了。她擁有合適的家庭背景，足以勝任一名堅(jiān)忍而睿智的律師的女友。2 But she was pretty, welloff, didn39。那一年校園里每個(gè)人都有件皮夾克，而羅伯是校足球隊(duì)員中唯一一個(gè)沒(méi)有皮夾克的，他一想到這個(gè)就受不了，于是他和我達(dá)成了一項(xiàng)協(xié)議，用他的女友換取我的夾克。t the brightest guy. Polly wasn39。t, so he made a pact that he39。unit 1 TextALove and logic: The story of a fallacy愛(ài)情與邏輯：謬誤的故事1 I had my first date with Polly after I made the trade with my roommate Rob. That year every guy on campus had a leather jacket, and Rob couldn39。t stand the idea of being the only football player who didn39。d give me his girl in exchange for my jacket. He wasn39。t too shrewd, either.在我和室友羅伯的交易成功之后，我和波莉有了第一次約會(huì)。他可不那么聰明，而他的女友波莉也不太精明。t dye her hair strange colors or wear too much makeup. She had the right background to be the girlfriend of a dogged, brilliant lawyer. If I could show the elite law firms I applied to that I had a radiant, wellspoken counterpart by my side, I just might edge past the petition.但她漂亮而且富有，也沒(méi)有把頭發(fā)染成奇怪的顏色或是化很濃的妝。如果我能夠讓我所申請(qǐng)的頂尖律師事務(wù)所看到我身邊伴隨著一位光彩照人、談吐優(yōu)雅的另一半，我就很有可能在競(jìng)聘中以微弱優(yōu)勢(shì)獲勝。而我也能施予她足夠多的“智慧之珠”，讓她變得“談吐優(yōu)雅”。我的想法有些怪異。我們呆在車子里，我調(diào)低了音響并把腳從剎車上挪開(kāi)。5 Logic.“邏輯學(xué)。7 The doctrine of logic, I said, is a staple of clear thinking. Failures in logic distort the truth, and some of them are well known. First let39。邏輯上出現(xiàn)的問(wèn)題會(huì)歪曲事實(shí)，其中有些還很普遍?！? Great, she agreed.“好啊，”她表示同意。比方說(shuō)：運(yùn)動(dòng)是有益的，所以每個(gè)人都應(yīng)該運(yùn)動(dòng)。11 I could see she was stumped. Polly, I explained, it39?！安ɡ?，”我解釋說(shuō)，“這個(gè)推斷太過(guò)簡(jiǎn)單化了。所以你應(yīng)該說(shuō)，運(yùn)動(dòng)對(duì)大多數(shù)人來(lái)說(shuō)是有益的。t speak French. Rob can39。這似乎不言自明，對(duì)吧？仔細(xì)聽(tīng)好了：你不會(huì)說(shuō)法語(yǔ)，羅伯也不會(huì)說(shuō)法語(yǔ)，那么這所學(xué)校里好像是沒(méi)有人會(huì)說(shuō)法語(yǔ)?！皼](méi)有人嗎？”14 This is also a fallacy, I said. The generalization is reached too hastily. Too few instances support such a conclusion.“這也是一種邏輯謬誤，”我說(shuō)，“這一結(jié)論太草率了，因?yàn)槟軌蛑С诌@一結(jié)論的例證太少了。我把她送回家，并且定下了下一次約會(huì)交談的日子?！?7 She nodded with delight.她高興地點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭?！?9 Oh, this is awful, awful, she whispered in a choked voice.“哇，這太可怕了，太可怕了,”她哽咽著輕聲說(shuō)道。s awful, I agreed, but it39。s question. Instead he appealed to the boss39。這個(gè)人根本沒(méi)有回答老板的問(wèn)題，而只是在博取老板的同情，這就是‘文不對(duì)題’。22 Next, I said carefully, we will discuss False Analogy. An example, students should be allowed to look at their textbooks during exams, because surgeons have Xrays to guide them during surgery.“接下來(lái)”，我小心地說(shuō)，“我們來(lái)討論‘錯(cuò)誤類比’?！?3 I like that idea, she said.“我喜歡這個(gè)主意，”她說(shuō)。t derail the discussion. The inference is wrong. Doctors aren39。t make an analogy between them.“波莉，”我抱怨道，“別打岔，這一推論是錯(cuò)誤的。他們的情況完全不同，你不能將他們作類比。s a good idea, said Polly.“我仍然認(rèn)為這是一個(gè)好主意，”波莉說(shuō)?，F(xiàn)在應(yīng)該是時(shí)候讓我們的關(guān)系從學(xué)術(shù)向浪漫發(fā)展了。t discuss fallacies.“波莉，”當(dāng)我們又一次坐在那棵橡樹(shù)下的時(shí)候我對(duì)她說(shuō)，“今晚我們不討論邏輯謬誤了。29 Favoring her with a grin, I said, We have now spent five evenings together. We get along pretty well. We make a pretty good couple.我贊許地對(duì)她笑了笑，說(shuō):“我們?cè)谝黄鹨呀?jīng)度過(guò)了五個(gè)晚上，相互之間挺合得來(lái)，我們是蠻相配的一對(duì)。s a little premature, don39。d learned her lessons well, far surpassing my expectations. Sweetheart, I said, patting her hand in a tolerant manner, five dates is plenty. After all, you don39。s good.我被逗得笑了起來(lái)，她功課還真學(xué)得不錯(cuò)，大大超過(guò)了我的預(yù)期?！?2 False Analogy, said Polly promptly. Your premise is that dating is like eating. But you39。re a boy.“錯(cuò)誤類比，”波莉立即回應(yīng)?？赡悴皇堑案猓闶莻€(gè)男孩。d learned her lessons too well. A few more false steps would be my doom. I decided to change tactics and try flattery instead.我又笑了笑，不過(guò)不覺(jué)得那么有趣了，同時(shí)還不能表露出我害怕她學(xué)得太好了。我決定改變策略，轉(zhuǎn)而嘗試奉承她的辦法。ll go out with me. I39。請(qǐng)答應(yīng)做我的女朋友，沒(méi)有你我什么也不是。36 You certainly can discern a fallacy when you see it, I said, my hopes starting to crumble. But don39。t have anything to do with real life.“你還真是能在遇到邏輯謬誤時(shí)一一辨別它們了，”我說(shuō)，心里的希望已經(jīng)開(kāi)始動(dòng)搖。你知道，學(xué)校里學(xué)的東西和實(shí)際生活根本沒(méi)有什么聯(lián)系?！?8 I leaped to my feet, my temper flaring up. Will you or will you not go out with me?我一下跳了起來(lái)，怒火中燒，“你到底愿不愿意做我的女朋友？”39 No to your proposition, she replied.“我不愿意，”她答道。41 I39?！?2 With great effort, I said calmly, How could you give me the axe over Rob? Look at me, an ingenious student, a tremendous intellectual, a man with an assured future. Look at Rob, a muscular idiot, a guy who39。再看看羅伯，一個(gè)肌肉發(fā)達(dá)的蠢材，一個(gè)有了上頓沒(méi)下頓的家伙。ll put it in a way someone as brilliant as you can understand, retorted Polly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Full