Flashcards in Rhetorical Fallacies Deck (18)
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1
guile or trickery or a false or a mistaken idea; have the appearance of truth but are erroneous
fallacy
2
"to the man;" an argument that criticizes an idea by pointing something out about the person who holds the idea rather than directly addressing the actual merit of the idea
ad hominem argument
3
tempts us to agree with the writer's assumptions based on the authority of a famous person or entity on his/her own character (when the writers are well-known)
argument from authority/argument from false authority
4
based on assumption that whatever has not been proven false must be true (or what has not been proven true must be false)
appeal to ignorance
5
argument in which someone assumes that parts (or all) of what the person claims to be proving are proven facts; vouching for/accepting as true a concept that isn't proven
begging the question
6
a statement that does not logically relate to what comes before it
non sequitur
7
a consideration of only the two extremes when there are one or more intermediate possibilities
false dichotomy
8
suggests dire consequences from relatively minor causes; "give an inch, they take a mile"
slippery slope
9
the sometimes unintentional setting up of a cause-and-effect relationship when none exists; one event can happen after another without the first necessarily being the direct cause of the second
faulty causality
10
an oversimplification of an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack
straw man argument
11
help explain that causal arguments are often flawed because the opposite is just as plausible
reverse causation
12
a tactic that attempts to appeal to the hearts of readers so that they forget to use their minds
sentimental appeals
13
attempts to shift attention away from an important issue by introducing an issue that has no logical connection to the discussion at hand
red herring
14
used to frighten readers or listeners into agreeing with the speaker; often used when the speaker does not have logical arguments to fall back on
scare tactics
15
encourages the listener to agree with a position because everyone else does
bandwagon appeals
16
doesn't allow for the discussion because the speaker presumes that his/her beliefs are beyond question; "I'm correct because I'm correct"
dogmatism
17
telling part of the truth while deliberately hiding the entire truth; similar to lying by omission
equivocation
18
