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Although fallacies have been common since Aristotle, until recently little attention has been devoted to identifying and definingthem. Furthermore, the concept of fallacy itself has lacked a sufficientlyclear meaning to make it a useful tool for evaluating arguments. DouglasWalton takes a new analytical look at the concept of fallacy and presentsan up-to-date analysis of its usefulness for argumentation studies. Waltonuses case studies illustrating familiar arguments and tricky deceptionsin everyday conversation where the charge of fallaciousness is at issue.The numerous case studies show in concrete terms many practical aspectsof how to use textual evidence to identify and analyze fallacies and toevaluate arguments as fallacious. Walton looks at how an argument is usedin the context of conversation. He defines a fallacy as a conversationalmove, or sequence of moves, that is supposed to be an argument that contributesto the purpose of the conversation but in reality interferes with it. Theview is a pragmatic one, based on the assumption that when people argue, they do so in a context of dialogue, a conventionalized normative frameworkthat is goal-directed. Such a contextual framework is shown to be crucialin determining whether an argument has been used correctly. Walton alsoshows how examples of fallacies given in the logic textbooks characteristicallyturn out to be variants of reasonable, even if defeasible or questionablearguments, based on presumptive reasoning. This is the essence of the evaluationproblem. A key thesis of the book, which must not be taken for grantedas previous textbooks have so often done, is that you can spot a fallacyfrom how it was used in a context of dialogue. This is an innovative andeven, as Walton notes, a radical and controversial theoryof fallacy.
