Logical Fallacies

studied byStudied by 43 people
5.0(1)
learn
LearnA personalized and smart learning plan
exam
Practice TestTake a test on your terms and definitions
spaced repetition
Spaced RepetitionScientifically backed study method
heart puzzle
Matching GameHow quick can you match all your cards?
flashcards
FlashcardsStudy terms and definitions

1 / 43

flashcard set

Earn XP

Description and Tags

English

44 Terms

1
What is a logical fallacy?
roughly, an error of reasoning
New cards
2
Formal Fallacies (Deductive Fallacies)
not a valid deductive argument
New cards
3
Detuctive argument
to be “valid” it must be absolutely impossible for both its premises to be true and its conclusion to be false.
New cards
4
inductive arguments
lend support to their conclusions, but even if their
premises are true then that doesn’t establish with 100% certainty that their conclusions are
true
-All inductive arguments, even good ones, are therefore
deductively invalid, and so “fallacious”
in the strictest sense.
New cards
5
fallacies of relevance
rely on premises that aren’t relevant to the truth
of the conclusion
New cards
6
fallacies of ambiguity
manipulate language in misleading ways
New cards
7
fallacies of presumption
contain false premises, and so fail to
establish their conclusion
New cards
8
Ad Hominem (Personal Attack)
focus not on the evidence for a view but on the character of the person advancing it; they seek to discredit positions by discrediting those who hold them
New cards
9
Bandwagon Fallacy
committed by arguments that appeal to the growing popularity of an
idea as a reason for accepting it as true. They take the mere fact that an idea suddenly attracting adherents as a reason for us to join in with the trend and become adherents of the idea ourselves
New cards
10
Fallacist’s Fallacy
involves rejecting an idea as false simply because the argument offered for it is fallacious
New cards
11
Fallacy of Composition
the fallacy of inferring from the fact that every part of a whole
has a given property that the whole also has that property
New cards
12
Fallacy of Division
It is committed by inferences from the fact that a whole has a property to the conclusion that a part of the whole also has that property
New cards
13
Gambler’s Fallacy
the fallacy of assuming that short-term deviations from probability will be corrected in the short-term
New cards
14
Genetic Fallacy
committed when an idea is either accepted or rejected because of its source, rather than its merit.
New cards
15
Irrelevant Appeals
attempt to sway the listener with information that, though persuasive, is irrelevant to the matter at hand
New cards
16
Appeal to Antiquity / Tradition
assume that older ideas are better, that the fact that an idea has been around for a while implies that it
is true
New cards
17
Appeal to Authority
an argument from the fact that a person judged to be an authority
affirms a proposition to the claim that the proposition is true
New cards
18
Appeal to Consequences
an attempt to motivate belief with an appeal either to the good
consequences of believing or the bad consequences of disbelieving
New cards
19
Appeal to Force / argumentum ad
baculum
an attempt to persuade using threats
New cards
20
Appeal to Novelty
assume that the newness of an idea is evidence of its truth
New cards
21
Appeal to Pity
attempts to persuade using emotion—specifically, sympathy—rather than evidence
New cards
22
Appeal to Popularity
suggest that an idea must be true simply because it is widely held
New cards
23
Appeal to Poverty
committed when it is assumed that a position is correct
because it is held by the poor
New cards
24
Appeal to Wealth
committed by any argument that assumes that someone or
something is better simply because they are wealthier or more expensive
New cards
25
Moralistic Fallacy
moves from statements about how things
ought to be to statements about how things are; it assumes that the world is as it should be
New cards
26
Naturalistic Fallacy
moves from descriptions of how things are to statements of how things ought to be
New cards
27
Red Herring
is a fallacy of distraction, and is committed when a listener attempts to divert an arguer from his argument by introducing another topic
New cards
28
Weak analogy
rest on a comparison. Their logical structure is this:
(1) A and B are similar.
(2) A has a certain characteristic.
Therefore:
(3) B must have that characteristic too.
New cards
29
Accent Fallacies
fallacies that depend on where the stress is placed in a word or sentence
New cards
30
Equivocation Fallacy
committed when a term is used in two or more different senses
within a single argument
New cards
31
Straw Man Fallacy
misrepresents a position in order to make it appear weaker
than it actually is, refutes this misrepresentation of the position, and then concludes that the real position has been refuted.
New cards
32
Affirming the Consequent
(1) If A then B
(2) B
Therefore:
(3) A
New cards
33
Arguing from Ignorance
infer that a proposition is true from the fact that it is not known to
be false.
New cards
34
Begging the Question / Circular Reasoning
its conclusion is among its premises, if it assumes (either explicitly
or not) what it is trying to prove.
New cards
35
Complex Question Fallacy
committed when a question is asked (a) that rests on a
questionable assumption, and (b) to which all answers appear to endorse that assumption.
New cards
36
Cum Hoc Fallacy
committed when it is assumed that because two things occur together, they must be causally related. This, however, does not follow; correlation is possible without causation.
New cards
37
False Dilemma / Bifurcation Fallacy
when someone is asked to choose between two options when there is at least one other option available.
New cards
38
Hasty Generalisation Fallacy
draws a general rule from a single, perhaps atypical, case.
New cards
39
‘No True Scotsman’ Fallacy
a way of reinterpreting evidence in order to prevent the
refutation of one’s position. Proposed counter-examples to a theory are dismissed as irrelevant solely because they are counter examples, but purportedly because they are not
what the theory is about.
New cards
40
Post Hoc Fallacy
committed when it is assumed that because one thing occurred
after another, it must have occurred as a result of it. Mere temporal succession, however, does not entail causal succession. Just because one thing follows another does not mean that it was caused by it.
New cards
41
Slippery Slope Fallacy
falsely assume that one thing must lead to another. They begin by
suggesting that if we do one thing then that will lead to another, and before we know it we’ll be
doing something that we don’t want to do. They conclude that we therefore shouldn’t do the
first thing. The problem with these arguments is that it is possible to do the first thing that they
mention without going on to do the other things; restraint is possible.
New cards
42
Sweeping Generalisation Fallacy
applies a general statement too broadly.
New cards
43
Subjectivist Fallacy
is committed when someone resists the conclusion of an argument not by questioning whether the argument’s premises support its conclusion, but by treating the conclusion as subjective when it is in fact objective.
New cards
44
Tu Quoque Fallacy
committed when it is assumed that because someone else has done a thing there is nothing wrong with doing it.
New cards

Explore top notes

note Note
studied byStudied by 33 people
1362 days ago
5.0(1)
note Note
studied byStudied by 16 people
124 days ago
5.0(1)
note Note
studied byStudied by 6 people
145 days ago
5.0(1)
note Note
studied byStudied by 4 people
784 days ago
5.0(1)
note Note
studied byStudied by 21 people
964 days ago
4.0(1)
note Note
studied byStudied by 6 people
889 days ago
4.0(1)
note Note
studied byStudied by 1891 people
711 days ago
5.0(13)
note Note
studied byStudied by 7363 people
707 days ago
4.8(29)

Explore top flashcards

flashcards Flashcard (95)
studied byStudied by 7 people
437 days ago
5.0(1)
flashcards Flashcard (82)
studied byStudied by 8 people
160 days ago
5.0(1)
flashcards Flashcard (108)
studied byStudied by 17 people
534 days ago
5.0(1)
flashcards Flashcard (71)
studied byStudied by 2 people
341 days ago
5.0(1)
flashcards Flashcard (40)
studied byStudied by 47 people
521 days ago
5.0(3)
flashcards Flashcard (36)
studied byStudied by 2 people
415 days ago
5.0(1)
flashcards Flashcard (40)
studied byStudied by 25 people
823 days ago
5.0(2)
flashcards Flashcard (31)
studied byStudied by 178 people
771 days ago
5.0(2)
robot