Fallacies of Argument A Continuation EXAMPLES OF LOGICAL

Fallacies of Argument A Continuation

EXAMPLES OF LOGICAL FALLACIES OVERHEARD ON A RECENT BART RIDE “Just what you’d expect an eco-alarmist like that to say. ” “If you don’t give me an A in this class, I won’t get into medical school. ” “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. ” “No Blood for oil!” “All my friends have i. Phones. ” “ 9/11 changed EVERYTHING!”

FALLACIES OF EMOTIONAL ARGUMENTS Emotional arguments can be powerful and suitable in many circumstances, and most writers use them frequently. However, writers who pull on their reader’s heartstrings or raise their blood pressure too often can violate the good faith on which legitimate argument depends. READERS WON’T TRUST a writer who can’t make a point without frightening someone, provoking tears or stirring up hatred.

FALLACIES OF EMOTIONAL ARGUMENTS WE ALREADY KNOW! �Either…or (false dichotomy) �Appeal to pity �Bandwagon

SCARE TACTICS are common in everything ranging from ads for life insurance to threats of audits by the IRS. Politicians, advertisers, and public figures sometimes peddle their ideas by scaring people and exaggerating possible dangers well beyond their statistical likelihood. Such ploys work because it’s usually easier to imagine something terrible happening than to appreciate its statistical rarity.

SCARE TACTICS CONTINUED Scare tactics can also be used to stampede legitimate fears into panic or prejudice. People who genuinely fear losing their jobs can be persuaded to fear that immigrants might work for less money. People who are living on fixed incomes can be convinced that minor changes to entitlement programs represent dire threats to their standard of living.

WHEN SCARE TACTICS KILL While scare tactics can be effective, using them can also have the effect of closing off thinking because people who are scared often act IRRATIONALLY. Even wellintended fear campaigns—like those directed against the use of illegal drugs, smoking, or unprotected sex—can misfire if their warnings prove too shrill. People just stop listening.

AD POPULUM � This is an emotional appeal that speaks to positive (such as patriotism, religion, democracy) or negative (such as terrorism or fascism) concepts rather than the real issue at hand. Often this is an appeal that presents what most people, or a group of people think, in order to persuade one to think the same way. Getting on the bandwagon is one such instance of an ad populum appeal. � Example: If you were a true American you would support the rights of people to choose whatever vehicle they want. � In this example, the author equates being a "true American, " a concept that people want to be associated with, particularly in a time of war, with allowing people to buy any vehicle they want even though there is no inherent connection between the

AD POPULUM � What type of logical fallacy does this remind you of? � Another type of ad populum is “snob appeal” Instead of implying that something is correct because everybody believe that it is, one can suggest that something is correct or worthy because only an exclusive class of people are doing “it” or believe “it” to be correct. � Example: Only a true foodie would know that this is the best restaurant in the Bay area.

FALLACIES OF ETHICAL ARGUMENTS Not surprisingly, readers give their closest attention to authors whom they respect or trust. So writers usually want to present themselves as honest, well informed, likable, or sympathetic in some way. But TRUST ME is a scary warrant. Not all the devices that writers use to gain the attention and confidence of readers are admirable.

FALLACIES OF ETHICAL ARGUMENTS WE ALREADY KNOW �Ad hominin �Appeal to (false) authority

Dogmatism A writer who asserts or assumes that a particular position is the only one that is conceivably acceptable within a community is expressing dogmatism. Indeed, dogmatism is a fallacy of character because the tactic undermines the trust that must exist between those who make and listen to arguments. When people speak or write dogmatically, they imply that no arguments are necessary: the truth is self-evident.

FALLACIES OF LOGICAL ARGUMENTS You encounter a problem in any argument when the claims, warrants, or pieces of evidence in it are invalid, insufficient, or disconnected. Logical fallacies pose a challenge to civil argument because they often seem reasonable and natural, especially when they appeal to people’s selfinterests.

FALLACIES OF LOGICAL ARGUMENTS WE ALREADY KNOW �Hasty Generalization �Begging the question �Missing the point �Red Herring �Post Hoc �Slippery Slope �False Analogy �Bandwagon

Non Sequitur A Non Sequitur is an argument in which claims, reasons, or warrants fail to connect logically; one point doesn’t follow from another. Example: You don’t love me or you’d buy me that bicycle. Claim: You must not love me… Reason: … because you haven’t bought me that bicycle. Warrant: Buying bicycles for children is essential to loving them.

Non Sequitur Continued Non Sequiturs occur when writers omit a step in an otherwise logical chain of reasoning, assuming that readers agree with what may be a highly contestable claim. For example, it’s a nonsequitur simply to argue that the comparatively poor performance of American students on international math exams means that the country should spend more money o math education. Such a conclusion might be justified if a correlation were known or found to exist between math ability and money spent on education.

Red Herring Fun Fact This fallacy gets its name from the “sport” of fox hunting. Back in the day, a dried, smoked herring was dragged across the trail of the fox to throw the hounds in pursuit off the scent. Example of a red herring fallacy: You shouldn’t give us homework—it’s raining and it’s supposed to be a bad storm.

Genetic Fallacy �The genetic fallacy is the claim that an idea, product, or person must be untrustworthy because of its racial, geographic, or ethnic origin. �Example: I don’t read Californian newspapers. Californians are a bunch of dope-smoking hippies who are late to everything. Therefore they don’t know how to produce a decent newspaper. �What logical fallacy does this remind you have?

Stacking the Deck � In this fallacy, the speaker "stacks the deck" in her favor by ignoring examples that disprove the point and listing only those examples that support her case. � Example: Guns are safe because in Switzerland, everyone owns a gun and they have one of the lowest rates of murder in the world. � In the example, evidence of gun violence is completely ignored, giving an incomplete data set to come to this conclusion. One could say that this fallacy is closely related to the fallacy of hasty generalization.

Stacking the Deck (cont. ) � One type of this fallacy is called “Not a True Scotsman”. This type of fallacy defines terms in such a narrow or unrealistic manner as to exclude or omit relevant examples from a sample. � Example: For instance, suppose speaker #1 asserts, “The Scottish national character is brave and patriotic. No Scottish soldier has ever fled the field of battle in the face of the enemy. ” Speaker #2 objects, “Ah, but what about Lucas Mac. Durgan? He fled from German troops in World War I. ” Speaker #1 retorts, “Well, obviously he doesn’t count as a true Scotsman because he did not live up to Scottish ideals, thus he forfeited his Scottish identity. ” � By this fallacious reasoning, any individual who would serve as evidence contradicting the first speaker’s assertion is conveniently and automatically dismissed from consideration.

Moral Equivalence � This fallacies lumps minor misdeeds together with major atrocities, even if one action is far more heinous than the other. (Basically, almost every argument that relies on Hitler or the Nazis as a point of comparison) � Example: The meter maid that gave me a ticket is as bad as Hitler! � This logical fallacy relies on the tactic of guilty by association. It tries to implant wrongdoing in the reader’s mind by lumping a minor issue with something that is universally thought of as awful.

The Bare Assertion To close a debate with a simple declaration that it’s over simply because you say so. Example: Son: Dad, can I have the car tonight? Dad: Nope. Son: Why not? Dad: Because I said so Phrases that indicate a bare assertion is being made include: 1. Because I said so; 2) That’s just the way it is; 3) That’s all there is to it; 4) Trust me.