Reformed Logic / A System Based on Berkeley's Philosophy with an Entirely New Method of Dialectic

by D. B. McLachlan

I.
All fools	are men
You are a man	N. C.

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'Nothing is heavier than platina; feathers are heavier than nothing; therefore feathers are heavier than platina.'—A trivial equivoque.

The following is more subtle. 'Theft is a crime; theft was encouraged by the laws of Sparta; therefore the laws of Sparta encouraged crime.'—At most the laws of Sparta encouraged one crime; but there is a fallacy of equivocation. Taking things surreptitiously from the person in whose possession they may be, is not a crime—is not theft—in a society so communistic as the Spartan. There it was encouraged as an exercise in adroitness. This example shows the necessity of knowing the matter of the argument.

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'Warm countries alone produce wine; Spain is a warm country; therefore Spain produces wine.'

V.
Wine	is p. in w. countries
Spain is a warm c.	N. C.

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'Meat and drink are necessaries of life; the revenues of Vitellius were spent in meat and drink; therefore the revenues of Vitellius were spent on the necessaries of life.'—Fallacy of composition: meat and drink in moderate quantities are necessaries of one life, but not food of every kind and in excessive quantities.