According to Vincent Ruggiero's Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking, the term logical fallacies refer to the concept of, "making errors that impairs reasoning and thinking," (87). The concept of recognizing when one is making errors in thinking may be difficult or unclear to see, so it is common for some to make the mistake of committing logical fallacies. An example of illogical reasoning and thinking is present in William Shakespeare's play, Othello, where Iago, who is Othello's most trusted advisor, plans and acts out his revenge on Othello, who is the good and noble general, because he is jealous over a promotion he did not get. Iago helps initiate Othello to commit logical fallacies and think uncritically by making unwarranted assumptions, automatically rejecting others, and making hasty conclusions when presented with the issue of his, "cheating wife," Desdemona. Due to Othello's unwillingness to recognize his illogical reasoning and errors in thinking, for he lets his emotions cloud his judgment and becomes vulnerable to manipulation and corruption, which then ultimately leads to his downfall.
Firstly, one of the logical fallacies that led to Othello's downfall is the error of unwarranted assumptions. Ruggiero defines the fallacy of unwarranted assumptions as, "ideas that are merely taken for granted too much rather than produced by conscious thought," (99). In Othello's case, he makes an unwarranted assumption when he presses and trusts Iago for answers about what he thinks about Cassio, his lieutenant, and Desdemona, his wife, meeting and talking together: .
I heard thee say but now, thou lik'dst not that,.
When Cassio left my wife; what didst not like?.
And when I told thee he was in my counsel.
In my whole course of wooing, thou criedst, 'Indeed!' (3.3.109-112).
Although the reader knows it that Iago is playing and tricking Othello into believing his claims, Othello trusts Iago's word of this situation, and which begins his doubt of Desdemona as a loyal wife.
Repeated Image Clusters of Love and Magic in Othello Arthur David Hash Western World Literature In Othello love is made to be deceitful and evil, spawned from magic. ... Enraged, Branbanzio lashes out against Othello. ... Maybe if he says what he thinks out load then it will make the fact of his daughter betraying him a fallacy. ... It made Othello's mother lovable. ... She gave it to Othello with the same magic. ...
"A fallacy is defined as a kind of error in reasoning," (Axelrod and Cooper 621). ... An argument or situation commits a fallacy when the reasons that are offered do not support the conclusion. ... Fallacies affect the outcome of our everyday decision-making processes, and people can see examples of each fallacy such as hasty generalizations, overreliance on authority, and begging the question. ... Similarly, fallacies such as begging the question is that the conclusion is already assumed and not proven. ... Fallacies are a part of everyday life and surround us in different forms an...
We all know that every way that Iago presents himself is a fallacy. ... Racial issues and themes are at the core of Othello's story. ... Iago would later manipulate Othello's insecurity about himself into pure paranoia, resulting in Othello's demise. ... The thought of Othello having sex with Emilia has incensed Iago. ... Othello's vulnerability lies in the fact that he loves Desdemona so fiercely when this love is threatened Othello immediately jumps to conclusions. ...
As in Oedipus the King, a major theme in Othello is man's inability to reliably distinguish between what seems to be and what; however, this shared theme of "uncertain vision" is treated somewhat differently in Othello than it is in Oedipus the King. ... In Othello however the reason both for the tragedy and the "uncertain vision" has a name, Iago. ... It is therefore quite logical to conclude that Oedipus was as stubborn in continuing the investigation just as Othello was stubborn in believing rumours and circumstantial evidence instead of investigating himself. ... Furthermore in Oth...
Heilman centers his argument on how critics have long called Othello's personality "simple," when it really is complex. He uses the murder scene in great context of Othello's personality. ... "(7) These are all the major reasons for Othello's anxiety about his blackness which lead to his downfall. According to Bradley, Othello is the "most painfully exciting and the most terrible" play of Shakespeare's. ... "(2) which led to Othello murdering his wife. ...
Was Othello a Good Man? In the play "Othello" by William Shakespeare, Othello had both some positive aspects and some negative aspects about him. ... Othello trusted Iago, an ensign to Othello. ... Othello's flaw was his trusting nature. ... One of Othello's negative aspects was that of jealousy. ...
The character of Othello plays the role of both the protagonist and the hero in the play of Othello. ... We see Othello regain composure during his speech in Act 5. ... Othello easily fits this definition as he is the General of Venice. ... In Act I, Scene Two, Othello and Brabantio have a brawl, yet we see Othello remain calm and collected in reaction to Brabantio's speech. ... This line displays the astonishing power of Othello's words. ...
Othello starts the play on top of the world. ... Othello is proved to be an extremely gullible person, as Iago never offers Othello legitimate proof of the affair. ... In the last few acts of Othello, the evil side of Othello's character is finally unleashed. ... Did the pressures of society get into Othello's head? Or was Othello really just good on the outside? ...
This is set up in Othello by long monologues by Othello's antagonist outlining his evil plan to ruin Othello. ... Othello's tragic flaw comes out first when the evil antagonist Iago says he will frame as lovers Othello's wife and Cassius, whom Othello has just stripped of lieutenant. ... Ironically, around Othello, Iago seems to do the opposite- for example, Iago tells Othello, "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!... Iago points out to Othello every time his wife and Cassius have a conversation, and provokes Othello's wife to plead the issue of Othello stripping Cassius of ...
