LOGICAL FALLACIES LOGICAL FALLACIES Use of invalid or

LOGICAL FALLACIES

LOGICAL FALLACIES Use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning, or "wrong moves" in the construction of an argument. A fallacious argument may be deceptive by appearing to be better than it really is.

WHY DO THEY OCCUR? • Fallacies are committed intentionally to manipulate or persuade by deception, while others are committed unintentionally due to carelessness or ignorance.

ARISTOTLE • Aristotle was the first to identify and classify logical fallacies. • 250+ logical fallacies today

AD HOMINEM • Argument or reaction directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining. • I attack the person NOT the argument. • Internet Trolls • Donald Trump • Political Debate • Can’t trust women they are too emotional. Late night shows-

BANDWAGON • Based on the assumption that the opinion of the majority is always valid: that is, everyone believes it, so you should too. • 'Everyone's doing it' is frequently appealed to as a reason why people feel morally justified in acting in less than ideal ways • • • Ok to cheat because everyone else is doing Everyone believes the taking knee during NFL games is unpatriotic All great athletes use Under Armor or improves my game. Slavery is allowed because it is popular Segregation

APPEAL TO AUTHORITY • You said that because an authority thinks something, it must therefore be true. • 1. A commercial claims that a specific brand of cereal is the best way to start the day because athlete Michael Jordan says that it is what he eats every day for breakfast. • 2. A book argues that global warming is not actually happening, and cites the research of one environmental scientist who has been studying climate change for several years. • 3. Someone argues that drinking is morally wrong and cites a sermon from her pastor at church.

BURDEN OF PROOF • Making a claim that needs justification, then demanding that the opponent justifies the opposite of the claim. • Ex. There is no proof that life doesn’t exist on Mars. Show me data that show it. • 1. A student claims that the school is overcharging students for lunch. The teacher says that she does not believe that is happening. The student asks the teacher to prove that lunch prices are fair. • 2. Iran wants nukes. You have show that. • 3. Vaccines cause autism- prove they don’t. Kimmel’s message- play first • 4. Many religions believe in a higher power, but few back up the argument with evidence of its existence. Instead, many argue that you can't prove that a higher power doesn't exist.

FALSE DICHOTOMY • Rests on the assumption that there are only two possible solutions, so disproving one solution means that other solution should be utilized. It ignores other alternative solutions. Ricky Bobby- “If you are not first, you’re last. ” • Ex: The teacher gives too many A’s and therefore must be fired because grade inflation is unfair to other students. • We either go to war or let terrorists over run us. • You either go to college or you will work at Mc. Donalds. • Ex: Take the Red pill or the blue pill

HASTY GENERALIZATION • Occurs when the proponent uses too small of a sample size to support a sweeping generalization. • Example: Sally couldn’t find any cute clothes at the boutique and neither could Maura, so the boutique doesn’t have any cute clothes.

SLIPPERY SLOPE • Works by moving from a seemingly benign premise or starting point and working through a number of small steps to an improbable extreme. • • • Gay Marriage Debate Supreme Court- Gay Marriage Drugs Most hs debate scenarios Crisis Actors

STRAWMAN FALLACY • Substituting a person's actual position or argument with a distorted, exaggerated, or misrepresented version of the position of the argument. P • Obama wants to take your guns! • Parkland youth are calling for an outright gun band

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