Review of Reasoning Fallacies, Cognitive Biases, and Moral Philosophy

Flashcards for reviewing key concepts from lecture notes.

Ad hominem

Attacking the person making the argument, rather than the argument itself.

Ad ignorantiam

Appeal to ignorance; arguing that something is true because it hasn't been proven false, or vice versa.

Ad misericordiam

Appeal to pity; trying to evoke an emotional response in place of a logical argument.

Affirming the consequent

A formal fallacy where one assumes that if the consequent is true, the antecedent must also be true.

Begging the question

Circular argument; assuming the conclusion in the premise.

Complex question

A question that contains an unwarranted assumption.

Denying the antecedent

A formal fallacy where one assumes that if the antecedent is false, the consequent must also be false.

Equivocation

Using the same term in different senses within an argument.

False dilemma

Presenting only two options when more exist.

Overgeneralizing

Hasty generalization; drawing a conclusion based on insufficient evidence.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

Assuming that because one event followed another, the first caused the second.

Red herring

Introducing an irrelevant topic to divert attention from the main issue.

Slippery slope

Arguing that one event will inevitably lead to a series of negative consequences.

Ad populum

Appeal to popularity; arguing that something is true because many people believe it.

Accident

Applying a general rule to a specific case it was not intended to cover.

Composition

Assuming that what is true of the parts is also true of the whole.

Division

Assuming that what is true of the whole is also true of the parts.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to look for confirming evidence while ignoring disconfirming evidence.

Selective attention bias

The tendency to notice evidence that supports one's beliefs and not notice conflicting evidence.

Belief bias

The tendency to rate the strength of an argument based on whether we agree with the conclusion.

Bandwagon bias

The tendency to adopt beliefs simply because many others hold them.

Stereotyping and ethnocentrism

The tendency to think one's own culture or society is superior to others.

Egocentrism and self-interest

The tendency to weigh one's own concerns more heavily than others'.

Negativity bias

Overemphasizing the importance of negative information.

Availability bias

Basing a conclusion on easily available evidence.

Anchoring bias

Occurs when an experience or belief anchors the formation of later beliefs on the subject.

System 1 mental processing

Automatic and unconscious processing that produces belief/desire combinations (aliefs).

System 2 mental processing

Deliberate and conscious processing that tends to produce beliefs.

Mind-brain identity theory

The theory that the mind is identical to the brain and mental states are identical to physical states.

Multiple realizability

The idea that mental states can be implemented by different physical states in different kinds of systems.

Mental dualism

The idea that the mind and body are distinct entities.

Natural kinds

Kinds of entities with intrinsic properties that make their inclusion into the kind necessary and sufficient.

Functional kinds

Kinds of entities defined by the role they play in a larger system.

The problem of other minds

The difficulty in knowing whether other beings have conscious experiences.

Philosophical zombie

A being that is outwardly indistinguishable from a conscious human but lacks conscious experience.

Soul theory of personal identity

The theory that personal identity is determined by the continuity of the soul.

Cultural moral relativism (MR)

The view that moral right and wrong are relative to each culture's norms.

Descriptive relativism (DR)

The factual observation that cultures differ in the norms they follow.

Moral objectivist response to MR

Distinguishing between objective moral principles and their practical application or interpretation.

Moral nihilism

The view that there are no objective moral values or facts.

Error theory

A form of moral nihilism that claims moral statements are inherently false because objective moral facts do not exist.

Expressivism

A form of moral nihilism that claims moral statements are expressions of emotions and attitudes, not descriptions of objective facts.