'He who cannot possibly act otherwise than he does, has neither merit nor demerit in his action; a liberal and benevolent man cannot possibly act otherwise than he does in relieving the poor; therefore such a man has neither merit nor demerit in his action.'—To 'have merit in an action' is scarcely intelligible. A man's merit is in his character, and his actions are effects and signs of character.
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'All the fish that the net inclosed were an indiscriminate mixture of various kinds; those that were set aside and saved as valuable were fish that the net inclosed; therefore those that were set aside and saved as valuable were an indiscriminate mixture of various kinds.'
An instance of the fallacy of division: what is true of the whole contents of the net is not necessarily true of a portion of the contents.
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'A desire to gain by another's loss is a violation of the tenth commandment; all gaming, therefore, since it implies a desire to profit at the expense of another, involves a breach of the tenth commandment.'—A valid argument in inherence.
| All desire to gain by, &c. | violates |
| Gaming involves this kind of desire | it violates |
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'He that destroys a man who usurps despotic power in a free country, deserves well of his countrymen; Brutus destroyed Caesar, who usurped despotic power in Rome; therefore he deserved well of the Romans.'—If Rome was 'a free country' the conclusion is valid.