Another method of gaining an unfair victory is that of "suggestion by prestige". This

may take the form of the use of imposing titles, or reference to one's qualifications or

years of study. While we must, as believers, render to all their due, we must resolutely

withstand any attempt to overwhelm the argument by mere prestige.  Truth is

independent of the channel through which it comes. Mere years of study may mean mere

years of bias; and even the world has the proverb, "No fool like an old fool".

We do not intend here to give all the examples of "crooked thinking" that Thouless

includes in his book; we will only add one or two more, without attempting to comment

upon them:--

(4) Making a statement in which "all" is implied, but "some" is true.

(5) Proof by selected instances, and by inconsequent arguments.

(6) The appeal to mere authority.

(7) The use of generally accepted "tabloids" of thought.

(8) Argument by imperfect and by forced analogy.

This is but a selection from a list of thirty-four dishonest or fallacious types of

argument. The last, dealing with analogy, is of great importance; and we hope to devote

several articles to its consideration.

In closing, we should like to remind the reader of an obvious but important fact. The

mere possession of a chart of physical exercises is not of any service to its owner unless

he puts them into practice. In the same way, the mere fact that fallacies in argument have

been tabulated and illustrated in this magazine will not be of much use to the reader,

unless he personally puts this knowledge into practice. The reader should therefore study

articles both from the newspaper, and from current literature (including articles in The

Berean Expositor), with a view to detecting any of the fallacies which have been

enumerated in this series.