flaws Flashcards
(18 cards)
“Presupposes what it purports to establish”
Circular reasoning
The argument is assuming the conclusion is true in order to prove the conclusion is true
“Mistakenly reasons that just because something has the capacity to perform an action, that it actually performs that action”
The argument assumes that just because you COULD do something, you are ACTUALLY DOING it.
“Treats a failure to prove a claim as constituting proof of the denial of that claim”
The argument believed that because the claim can’t be proven to be true, then that claim is false.
“Advances premises that are inconsistent”
One point of premise supports the argument, and then the following doesn’t support
“Equivocates with respect to a central concept”
Ambiguity in term/phrase
“Lisa was quite clever in her paper on the history of Barbie. So Lisa is a clever person.”
Overgeneralization
Premise: [adjective] + thing (i.e. cold rooms)
Conclusion: thing (i.e. rooms)
Overgeneralization
Premise: One category member (Arial font)
Conclusion: All category members (Any other font)
Overgeneralization
Possible flaws on survey stimulus
- Biased sample (Only male samples on favorite American movie)
- Biased question (Good people like blue better. Do you like blue?)
- Other contradictory surveys
- Survey liars (Lied about not using drugs when the scientist is a police)
- Small sample size
Argument “responds” to an opp by “mishearing” what was said to them.
Straw man
“It assumes what it seeks to establish”
Circular reasoning
“It takes for granted the very claim that it sets out to establish”
circular reasoning
“Taking the nonexistence of something as evidence that a necessary precondition for that thing also did not exist”
Mistaken negation
“Mistakes being sufficient to justify punishment for being required to justify it”
Mistaken reversal
“Mistakes the observation that one thing happens after another for proof that the second thing is the result of the first”
Assuming a causal relationship on the basis of the sequence of events
“Mistakes a temporal relationship for a causal relationship”
Mistakes casual relationship when only correlation exist
“Draws a conclusion that is broader in scope than is warranted by the evidence advanced”
Lack of evidence for conclusion
“Bases a conclusion on claims that are inconsistent with each other”
Contradiction when an author makes conflicting statements
