AP Lang - Logical Fallacies

Ad Hominem

Instead of focusing on the argument, the speaker makes judgments or personal attacks.

-in Latin, means “to the man”

—ex: Senator Smith’s vote on the tax policy vote is wrong because he drinks excessively

—while Senator Smith’s behavior may be frowned upon, his tax policy vote is indepdenet of his behavior.

Ad Populim

Just because many people believe something does not make it true and does’t make it sound reasoning for an argument.

-means “to the people” aka “bandwagon” effect

-here, the speaker argues that if something is popular and people believe it, it must be true

-people want to belong and Ap Populism acts on this desire by pressuring individuals to conform without thinking critically about what they are conforming to

—ex: You should vote to elect Rachel Johnson—she has a strong lead in the polls!

—-polling does not necessary mean Senator Johnson the best candidate, it only means that she is the most popular

Appeal to False Authority

Arguments often depend on the knowledge of experts but there are appropriate and inappropriate experts depending on the argument.

—ex: when celebrities endorse medical products, it is an appeal to false authority because celebrities are not doctors and do not truly know why a medicine can be considered good

Argument

A persuasive discourse resulting in a coherent and considered movement from claim to a conclusion.

Assumption

A thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof.

Assertion

An assertion consists of simply stating a debatable idea as a fact, with no explanation or justification.

-often an assertion will be supported by “facts” that are not necessarily true

-it relies on the premise that people are essentially gullible and like to believe what they are told

-for this reason, assertion is the simplest form of propaganda and it is a quick/easy way to gain a foothold in people’s minds in political matters

-assertion can be applied to many terms

—-compared to hasty generalization, assertion is used deliberately instead of by ignorance

—compared to assumption, an assertion is more concrete and confident

—-ex: women are always bad drivers

—-ex: Dogs that eat Nutri-Chow have more energy

Begging the Question

A fallacy in which a claim is based on evidence or support that is in doubt. A conclusion is stated without any reasoning other than it is true, which begs the question of if actually being true.

—-ex: Snakes make great pets. That’s why we should get a snake.

—-there is no reasoning as to why snakes are great pets expect the fact that they are, which makes us wonder: Are snakes really good pets?

Circular Reasoning

A fallacy in which the writer repeats the claim as a way to provide evidence.

—-ex: You can’t give me a C; I’m an A student!

Claim

Also called an assertion or a proposition, a claim states the arguments main idea or position. A claim differs from a topic or subject in that a claim has to be arguable.

Either/Or Fallacy aka False Dilemma

The false dilemma is a popular technique known by many names, including "black-and-white thinking,” “false dichotomy,” and “false choice.”

Most commonly, it consists of reducing a complex argument to a small number of alternatives and concluding that only one option is appropriate. Here, it denies the existence of any neutral ground.

-for advertisements, the view or product that is being promoted is depicted positively while all competition or opposing views are specified in a negative light

-in reality, however, there are usually many possibilities that go unmentioned

-this technique is often used in political situations

—-ex: you are either with us or against us

Enthymeme

An argument in which one premise is not explicitly stated.

—ex: All humans are moral, so I am moral.

—-here, it is implied that this person is a human

Equivocation

The use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself.

—ex: I know it’s okay to steal because people do that in baseball all the time.

Euphemism

A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.

—ex: instead of “died” we say “passed away”

—ex: instead of “fired” we use “laid off”

Fallacy

A fallacy is a mistake or error in reasoning that makes an argument invalid.

Faulty Analogy

This fallacy consists in assuming that because two things are alike in one or more respects, they are necessarily alike in some other respect.

—-ex: medical student: “no one objects to a physical looking up a difficult case in medical books. why, then, shouldn’t students taking a difficult examination be permitted to use their textbook?”

—-a doctor’s job is very important in that they are in charge of someone’s life

—-so, the test must be difficult and closed-book is really see if they can have this responsibility

—a doctor usually looks up information only when a case is rare

—doctors are much higher up in their educational journey

and knowledge than an average student so it wouldn’t make sense to compare the two

—ex: to say humans are immortal is like saying a car can run forever

—humans are not cars

—humans are natural and cars aren’t, they’re man-made

Glittering Generalities

Most advertising slogans use glittering generalities. slogans must be short and to the point, advertisers frequently use vague, positive words.

-spotting glittering generalities is simply a matter of looking for general words

—this include:

—freedom, liberty, prosperity, strength, security, equality, choice, change

—this words are vague and no one knows what it really means

Hasty Generalization

A fallacy in which a faulty conclusion is reached due to inadequate evidence.

—-ex: people who wear glasses are geniuses

—-ex: progressed foods are not bad for you. my sisters ate Cheetos every day for 80 years and never had any issues with her health

Logical Fallacy

Logical fallacies are potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in an argument. They often arise from a failure to make a logical connection between the claim and evidence used to support it.

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

This fallacy involves faulty cause and effect reasoning. It involves an argument about cause and effect has to show that two things occur together and are actually connected.

-”after this, therefore because of this” aka the Chanticleer fallacy

-the reason (this followed that) does not lead to the conclusion (that caused that)

-"correlation is not causation”

—-ex: because the rooster crowed, the sun came up

—-ex: you committed a sin, that is why lightning struck your house

Red Herring

The problem may not be with proof or conclusion at all. The problem is that the rationale for the wrong argument - a distraction from the real one.

-deliberately trying to take an argument off track 

-argued changes the issues so that they are irrelevant to the argument presented 

-the rationale is for the wrong argument 

-ex: 

Son: “Wow, Dad, it’s really hard to make a living on my salary.” 

Father: “Consider yourself lucky, son. Why, when I was your age, I only made $40 a week.” 

----this doesn’t address the argument that the son brings up, it’s irrelevant

----the environment is different from the son and the father, so it would make sense that the father’s experience is different 

-ex:

Daughter: “Tommy broke up with me.”

Mother: “That should be the worst of your worries. There are starving children in Africa.” 

----diverts the attention away from the main focus of the argument 

Slippery Slope

This fallacy presents a chain of cause and effect whereby the firs cause establishes an irreversible trend, sometimes called the “domino effect.”

—-ex: if I let you skip dinner, then I’ll have to let others skip dinner

—-the proof may be okay, but it leads to the wrong conclusion

—-it’s very exaggerated

Straw Man

A fallacy that occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an idea.

—-ex: politician X proposes that we put astronauts on Mars in the nest four years. politician Y ridicules this proposal by saying that his opponent is looking for ‘little green men in outer space’