Rhetorical Fallacies Bond and Mekari 2019 20 Fallacy

Rhetorical Fallacies Bond and Mekari 2019 -20

Fallacy Definition: use of invalid or faulty reasoning, sometimes for the purpose of deception

Types of Rhetorical Fallacies, like rhetorical devices themselves, can be categorized according to mode of persuasion with which they correlate. Therefore, there are emotional fallacies, logical fallacies, and ethical fallacies. Sometimes the fallacies are an accidental or intentional misuse of a known rhetorical device, but not always (some fallacies are their own tactics).

Logical Fallacies – those that twist logic cherry-picking facts/statistics = misuse of facts/statistics in that what is said might be true, but this intentionally obscures the bigger picture slippery slope/weak analogy = exaggerate the consequences of something, which is a misuse of analogy (Ex: If you have one alcoholic drink before the age of 21, you will ruin your life). hasty generalization = rushed conclusion not considering all variables; can often be linked to stereotypes (Ex: Kevin's grandparents do not know how to use a computer. Kevin thinks that all older people must be computerilliterate). false equivalency = when two arguments are presented with equal weight but one is actually much more high-quality or contains far more evidence than the other (ex: climate change debate) non-sequitur = invalid conclusion from facts (Ex: People generally like to walk on the beach. Beaches have sand. Therefore, having sand floors in homes would be a great idea!)

Emotional Fallacies – those that manipulatively plays on emotion appeal to pity/guilt scare tactics (fear-mongering) demagoguery (appeal to prejudice)

Ethical Fallacies – those that distort ethics bandwagoning (everyone else is doing it, so…) dogmatism ad (because I said so) hominem (character attack) appeal to false authority

Miscellaneous Fallacies red herring/misdirection = a point that distracts from the main issue (When early settlers hunted, they would leave red herring along their trail because the strong smell would confuse wolves, which is the origin of the expression, meaning "a false trail“). apophasis = someone says they are not going to address something because they are “above” talking about that or engaging in character attack, but by saying that, they are addressing it.