a7.

Aristotle discusses accent in (c.350 BC), On Sophistical Refutations, 166 b. Exceptions to the rule that the meaning of individual English words is unaffected by emphasis include “incense” vs. “incense” (pointed out by Charles Leonard Hamblin (1970), Fallacies, p 24). Written English also fails to distinguish between “I read quickly” (past tense) and “I read quickly” (present tense), but that is a quirk of spelling. Hamblin (p 25), and Christopher Tindale (2007), Fallacies and Argument Appraisal, conclude that accent does not merit serious consideration as a fallacy, since not only did Aristotle not consider it in a sense that applies to English, but those modern writers who do include it “have difficulty in finding plausible examples” (Tindale, pp 57–58).

David Fleming
Dr David Fleming (2 January 1940 – 29 November 2010) was a cultural historian and economist, based in London, England. He was among the first to reveal the possibility of peak oil's approach and invented the influential TEQs scheme, designed to address this and climate change. He was also a pioneer of post-growth economics, and a significant figure in the development of the UK Green Party, the Transition Towns movement and the New Economics Foundation, as well as a Chairman of the Soil Association. His wide-ranging independent analysis culminated in two critically acclaimed books, 'Lean Logic' and 'Surviving the Future', published posthumously in 2016. These in turn inspired the 2020 launches of both BAFTA-winning director Peter Armstrong's feature film about Fleming's perspective and legacy - 'The Sequel: What Will Follow Our Troubled Civilisation?' - and Sterling College's unique 'Surviving the Future: Conversations for Our Time' online courses. For more information on all of the above, including Lean Logic, click the little globe below!

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