LOGICAL FALLACIES LOGICAL FALLACY Fallacies are incorrect arguments

LOGICAL FALLACIES

LOGICAL FALLACY Fallacies are incorrect arguments in logic and rhetoric resulting in a lack of validity, or more generally, a lack of soundness; a flaw in reasoning. Logical fallacies are like tricks or illusions of thought and they’re often very sneakily used by politicians and the media to fool people.

REFUTING WITH DEFENSIVE ARGUMENTS: Ø Citing a logical fallacy 1. Explain the logical leap your opponent is making. 2. Name the fallacy 3. Explain the general rule of the fallacy 4. Impact it to the resolution 5. Refer back to the fallacy when extending the argument

HASTY GENERALIZATION • A conclusion based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence – Generalizations use words like all, every, always, and never – Use words like most, many, usually or seldom to avoid problems – “People without health care can never get needed treatment. ” – “One hundred percent of non. Mexicans are stopped by the CBP. ” Billy Strong DMR

TWO WRONGS MAKE A RIGHT – Attempting to justify a wrong by pointing to another wrong committed by someone else. The operation cost just under $500, and no one was killed, or even hurt. In that same time the Pentagon spent tens of millions of dollars and dropped tens of thousands of pounds of explosives on Viet Nam, killing or wounding thousands of human beings, causing hundreds of millions of dollars of damage. Because nothing justified their actions in our calculus, nothing could contradict the merit of ours. Source: Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers, from his memoir Fugitive Days, defending a bombing attack by the Weathermen on the Pentagon. Quoted in "Radical Chic Resurgent", by Timothy Noah, Slate, 8/22/2001.

FALSE EMOTIONAL APPEALS • Faulty play on emotions (envy, fear, hatred, pity, pride) Example: Just 50 cents a day can save abused animals.

FALSE USE OF AUTHORITY • False use of expertise or celebrity • Authority A believes that P is true. Therefore, P is true.

NON SEQUITUR – DOES NOT FOLLOW • A conclusion that does not follow logically from preceding statements • A conclusion based on irrelevant ideas -People are not satisfied with the present health care system, so we should do nationalized health care – one does not lead to the other.

FALSE ANALOGY • Assumes that because two things are alike in one respect, they must be alike in others • Analogies are not proof but visual metaphors to explain a situation • Turn the analogy or show it is false x=y because y=a

EITHER OR FALLACY • The suggestion that only two alternatives exist when in fact there are more • “You are either with us or against us. ” GWB

AD HOMINEM • “Toward the man”—attacking the person • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=IVFK 8 s. Vd. JNg

POST HOC ERGO PROCTOR HOC FALLACY • Faulty Cause and Effect reasoning – “after this, therefore because of this” – False cause and effect reasoning is terribly persuasive because it seems so logical. – "After I took office, the rate of inflation dropped to 3 percent. "

BEGGING THE QUESTION • Asking questions that go round in circles to get back to where you started from • Begging the question is a way of ducking the issue. Instead of supporting the conclusion with evidence and logic, the speaker simply restates the conclusion in different language.

AD POPULUM • “To the people” • Claiming that an idea should be accepted because of a large number of people are in favor of it is also called the bandwagon appeal

STRAW MAN FALLACY • Attack on an easy target instead of the difficult one under scrutiny. • It's a fallacy because it fails to deal with the actual arguments that have been made. • "To be an atheist, you have to believe with absolute certainty that there is no God. In order to convince yourself with absolute certainty, you must examine all the Universe and all the places where God could possibly be. Since you obviously haven't, your position is indefensible. “ • “So you believe in a minimalist state? A weak central government? So I suppose you believe people can govern themselves without any higher authority. People accused of murder should be their own judge, then, and children should raise themselves. • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=c. GZk. CPo 7 t. C 0

APPEAL TO TRADITION • Suggests tradition alone is an adequate source of validity

NATURALISTIC FALLACY • “Is” does not imply “ought” • Examples: Congress, famine, injustice and oppression exist – is does not imply it should exist. • Congress acted or the Supreme Court ruled this way does not equal that they should have acted this way. • Yes the constitution does allow us to have a right to …, but should it?

FALSE DILEMMA • A false dilemma is oversimplifying a complicated situation. • Limiting options to “either-or” • Also known as Black and White Fallacy • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=eqz 53 d-f. YL 8

SLIPPERY SLOPE FALLACY • A slippery slope fallacy is one that states that a series of events will be initiated simply because the first event in the series has occurred or will occur. • Also known as the “domino theory”

OTHER FALLACIES • Authority Fallacy: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=mgq. M 6 xe. ZHNM • No True Scotsman Fallacy: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=5 zz. Sq. L--d_I