Crimes Against Logic: Exposing the Bogus Arguments of Politicians, Priests, Journalists, and Other Serial Offenders | 
 enlarge | Author: Jamie Whyte
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Category: Book
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Rating:  104 reviews
Sales Rank: 4877
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 176
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 5 x 0.5
ISBN: 0071446435
Dewey Decimal Number: 160
UPC: 639785416821
EAN: 9780071446433
Publication Date: September 12, 2004
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Product Description
Uncover the truth under all the BS In the daily battle for our hearts and minds--not to mention our hard-earned cash--the truth is usually the first casualty. It's time we learned how to see through the rhetoric, faulty reasoning, and misinformation that we're subjected to from morning to night by talk-radio hosts, op-ed columnists, advertisers, self-help gurus, business "thinkers," and, of course, politicians. And no one is better equipped to show us how than award-winning philosopher Jamie Whyte. In Crimes Against Logic Whyte take us on a fast-paced, ruthlessly funny romp through the mulligan stew of can, folderol, and bogus logic served up in the media, at the office, and even in your own home. Applying his laserlike wit to dozens of timely examples, Whyte cuts through the haze of facts, figures, and double-talk and gets at the real truth behind what they're telling us. "An incisive philosopher."
--Sunday Telegraph
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| Customer Reviews: Read 99 more reviews...
 Wish I'd written it January 10, 2006
Daniel H. Bigelow (Cathlamet, WA USA)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
Crimes Against Logic follows in the tradition of Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots, & Leaves: it is another British book that is short, humorous, strongly written, and emphasizes being correct over being trendy or popular. But while Truss wrote in favor of being a stickler for punctuation so as to be better understood, Jamie Whyte writes in support of being a stickler for logic so as to better understand. In a dozen brief chapters, he discusses different errors in thinking that he thinks are the most common in modern discourse -- errors like the ad hominem fallacy (though he does not use its technical name), shifting definitions of terms in the middle of an argument, and various misuses of statistics. In doing so, and in the examples he uses, Whyte manages to get across a complete manifesto in favor of logic as the best tool for discovering the truth, and in favor of using the truth (rather than emotions, faith, or wishful thinking) as a basis for deciding what to believe and what to do.
Whyte's arguments are simple, his writing is emphatic, and, in many cases, his examples are original, so I will find it useful the next time I need ammunition to make one of the points he deals with. And I enjoyed Whyte's humorous style. However, like me when I get into the mood Whyte clearly was in when he wrote this book, Crimes Against Logic sometimes comes across as arrogant and condescending. This has its amusement value for people like me who already buy what Whyte has to say, but probably hurts his educational mission.
Whyte may be a bit smug, but he's got a lot to be smug about. Crimes Against Logic is the best rationalist book I have read yet -- the sort of book that makes me daydream about buying copies for friends and enemies alike, sending copies to libraries, even running for school board to make it required reading. The people who don't know what Whyte is teaching in Crimes Against Logic desperately need to know, and the people who already try to practice what Whyte preaches will enjoy this witty refresher course.
This should be required reading for everyone. July 25, 2005
M. Strong (Milwaukee, WI USA)
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
Jamie Whyte is a kindred spirit for me; someone who is bothered by nothing so much as gaps in logic. He isn't bothered by peoples' arguments so much as he is by the irrational way people argue. He doesn't mind their statements, but he is driven nuts by the inconsistent thinking their statements expose. This book lays out the most common flaws of logic and gives plenty of examples so you can identify gaps in logic on your own in the future.
Whyte's presentation is funny while insightful and instructive. You come away from reading this book as a more savvy consumer of the information that comes at us from all sides in modern society. Never again will you read or listen to the statements of journalists or politicians with the same eyes and ears. Instead you will be a more skeptical, insightful, and harder-to-deceive information consumer.
Highly recommended for anyone who is driven nuts by illogic or for people who want to become smarter consumers of information.
The Value of Critical Thinking November 19, 2005
Robert Carlberg (Seattle)
20 out of 23 found this review helpful
This little tome exposes the habits of lazy thinking that have become ubiquitous. Everything from the common confusion between correlation and causation, to the faulty logic of Argument by Popularity (50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong). Politicians and priests take the biggest lumps, but even everyday prejudices (like only buying tickets for the really big Lotto) also come in for punishment.
It's a startling dope-slap of a book, concise and unbelaboured, exhibiting clarity and alacrity with no small measure of good humour and self-effacing wit. The amateur logician will find much to gird himself in the battle against the decline of mathematical literacy and common sense in our oh-so-modern yet oh-so-superstitious world.
A valuable and readable little book. December 15, 2005
gjc (Sydney, Australia)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
For people unfamiliar with logical fallacies "Crimes Against Logic" provides a good basic introduction. It is the kind of book that undergraduate or high school students could understand, which may encourage them to pursue more in-depth and formal texts on logic and reasoning at some point in the future. As well as examining strictly logical fallacies, i.e., fallacies in the construction of arguments, the book also examines some illogical conclusions drawn from statistics. Throughout, information is presented in the context of real-life examples - concrete examples usually make any idea more understandable.
"Crimes Against Logic" is excellent, and it reminds me of another recent book, so I'll draw a quick comparison. Pedants will love "Crimes Against Logic". In the same way that many pedants have loved Lynne Truss's "Eats Shoots and Leaves: A Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation". Neither of these books makes a particularly-good instructional manual: in logic and punctuation respectively. This is not because they are in any significant sense wrong, but because these books are written in a way that invites reading for enjoyment. Yes, you "could" stick post-it notes on every page that contains useful observations or summary points, but you need not. The most important function that both these books perform is in increasing awareness that being accurate matters.
There are a few places in the book, at least in the version I have read (purchased in Australia), where there are attempts to reconcile British and American examples. In places this was a little awkward. Nonetheless, an intelligent reader should have no problems in seeing that most of the examples of bad logic in action presented in the book can be universally applied.
Easy to read and understand June 25, 2006
A reader (Midwest)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
I'm an average American reading this book. It was easy to understand, It is a quick read. I think the points in this book are very important to understand as you read the paper, listen to politicians, or watch the evening news. It will help you in your conversations with others. It's a good book to educate the general public. The author discusses controvercial topics: abortion, homosexualtiy, crime, race, etc.
and the really big one...religion.
Be prepared before you read this, if you are a religious person, that the author does argue against the things that are taught by all religions. According to the author, the only logical conclusions are those drawn by athiests. There is discussion, for example, of how the trinity is not logically possible and that the "mystery" used to explain it is also not logical. If you are religious, just a heads up.
Overall I thought there were some really important things to think about from this book and next time I read the paper or watch the news I will be a lot more savvy in questioning the things I hear/read.
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