Fallacies Flashcards
(37 cards)
Fallacy
FALSE; The use of fallacy logic or reasoning, often based on unsound arguments or created with intentions to mislead audiences
Where are fallacies?
Everywhere- in advertising, in conversation, in political discourse
Critical thinking requires you to…
Identify and dispute what’s false
Are fallacies innocent?
They’re “innocent” errors in reasoning, not intentional deceptions (or are they?)
Illogical fallacy
Makes an argument problematic, open to attack, and weak
Academically logical fallacies are….
FAILURES; Avoid them if the reasoning is flawed
Appeal to authority
A testimonial statement from a person who is an authority in a field is relevant, but if it comes from a person who is famous in another field, it is irrelevant
Appeal to pity
An appeal for sympathy to avoid the actual argument. Defendants do this a lot.
Bandwagon appeal
An argument based on the assertion that the argument is valid simply because everyone else believes in the argument
Personal attack
An irrelevant attack on an opponent rather than the opponent’s evidence or argument. This attack may be either abusive or circumstantial
poisoning the well
A subtype of ad hominem presenting adverse information about a target person to discredit everything that the target person says
Appeal to force
The threat of force or use or use of force as a means to irrelevantly sway a person’s opinion
Argument from ignorance
Arguing that the failure to find evidence supporting a claim proves that claim false. Using the lack of evidence as a premise does not make something true: lack of evidence is not proof
Hypothesis contrary to fact
Assuming that history would have been different in a specific way if the facts of history had changed
Hasty generalization
Accepting an argument based on relevant but insufficient information or evidence. A variation of this fallacy is a small sample, concluding a population based on a sample that is too small to be a reliable measure of the population. We will label both as a hasty generalization
Dicto simpliciter
This fallacy begins with the generalization that is widely accepted as true. Then the speaker misapplies the generalization in a way that produces the fallacy by distorting the original statement
False cause
This fallacy takes two forms. Post hoc ergo propter hoc means “after this, therefore because of this.” This form of false cause assumes that when one event happens after another event, the earlier event is the cause of the second, even though the two may be logically unconnected
Straw man
An argument based on misinterpretation or overstating of an opponent’s position in order to defeat your own
False analogy
Drawing an analytical conclusion when the cases compared are not relevant alike. A true analogy is an exact comparison. In an analogy, each part of the comparison must fit. The keywords in a false analogy are “like” and “as”, but sometimes the comparison is implied, and the words “like” and “as” are not used. in a false analogy, two things that are not alike are compared as if they were the same
Slippery slope
Objecting to an action because once it is taken, it will lead to similar but less desirable actions until some horror is reached down the road
Guilt by association
A variation of ad hominem attack, in which we judge someone guilty based on the company that person keeps.
Non-sequitur
Coming to a conclusion that does not logically follow from a premise of premises
Red herring
A speaker attempts to distract an audience by deviation from the topic at hand and introducing a separate argument that the speaker believes is easier to speak to. An argument is given in response to another argument, which is irrelevant and draws attention away from the subject of the argument
You’re another (Tu quoque)
An abusive or circumstance personal attack that is a response to a personal attack, abusive or circumstantial
