AP Lang & Comp Critical Thinking Vocab

Ethos

Credibility, authority, reliability

Appeal to ethics, trusting the character of the speaker

does not rely on morality

what is trustworthy to the community

Logos

Logic, reason, rationality

good reasoning, cold hard data to prove points, consistency

Pathos

Emotion, imagination, sympathy

Advertising, inspiring yet understandable, emotions, humor, appeals, rhetoric

Deductive reasoning

Reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.)

generalizations! If it is true, conclusions are true

Inductive reasoning

A type of logic in which generalizations are based on a large number of specific observations.

how we normally come up with beliefs

everytime x has happened, y followed

therefore y will probably happen

Syllogism

A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.

An apple is a fruit. All fruit is good. Therefore apples are good.

Toulmin Model

An approach to analyzing and constructing arguments:

Because (evidence as support), therefore (claim), since (warrant or assumption), on account of (backing), unless (reservation).

Why does the fact that they have the best defense in the league lead you to believe that the team with the best defense will win? Warrant: The team with the best defense usually wins.

Conclusion

A summary based on evidence or facts

Conclusion: what are you trying to prove

Premise

An assumption; the basis for a conclusion

premise: claims you to prove and support (reasoning,evidence)

Circular reasoning

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

President of the United States is a good leader (claim), because they are the leader of this country (supporting evidence)”.

Relevant

Closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand

Fallacy

A mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument

Fallacy of relevance

A fallacy in which the premises are irrelevant to the conclusion.

The majority of our countrymen think we should have military operations overseas; therefore, it's the right thing to do.

Ad hominem

A fallacy that attacks the person rather than dealing with the real issue in dispute

“before you listen to her, I should remind you that she has been charged with embezzlement.”

Tu quoque

Dismissing someone's viewpoint on an issue because he himself is inconsistent in that very thing.

accusing someone to be a hypocrite

he judges me of smoking even though hes an avid smoker

Genetic fallacy

Arguments that state that an idea should be discounted simply because of its source or origin.

apple is great because steve jobs made it

Bandwagon

A fallacy which assumes that because something is popular, it is therefore good, correct, or desirable.

everyone loves one direction, therefore its the best band ever

False authority

A fallacy that offers the speaker/writer's authority as the sole reason for believing a claim

financial advisor is giving advise about oil sales

Straw man fallacy

When a speaker ignores the actual position of an opponent and substitutes it with a distorted and exaggerated position

if someone says they love the color blue and someone else argues that red is better, asserting that the first person obviously hates the color red

Faulty analogy

A fallacy that occurs when an analogy compares two things that are not comparable

Snow is white. That bird is white. Because these things are alike, that bird is also cold like snow.

Red herring fallacy

A statement that responds to an argument by introducing an irrelevant detail to divert attention from the point of the argument

When you don’t have a specific thing to say - you are just trusting th crowd - bringing in irrelevant info

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."

Correlation

A mutual relationship or connection between two or more things

when x increases y does too

Causation

A cause and effect relationship in which one variable controls the changes in another variable.

one thing makes the other thing happen

Post hoc fallacy

This fallacy of logic occurs when the writer assumes that an incident that precedes another is the cause of the second incident

Gatorade helps me win games because i drank one everytime ive won a game

Slippery slope

A fallacy that assumes that taking a first step will lead to subsequent steps that cannot be prevented

there will be a casual chain when there wont be

if you don’t do homework today, you will end up being homeless

Dichotomy

Two opposite parts of one whole

war and peace, or love and hate

False dichotomy

Consists of a consideration of only the two extremes when there are one or more intermediate possibilities

you can either marry me or die alone! not true!

Fallacy of composition

The erroneous belief that what is true for a part is necessarily true for the whole.

arises when an individual assumes something is true of the whole just because it is true of some part of the whole.

Fallacy of division

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

x is apart of the best band ever therefore he is the best musician ever

Gambler's fallacy

The belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn't occurred recently when it wont

flip coined tails x5 = heads is next

Equivocation

When a writer uses the same term in two different senses in an argument.

repeating

I have the right to watch "The Real World." Therefore it's right for me to watch the show.

Neccesary

A is needed for B

Sufficient

neccesary does not equal sufficient

not needed

instricinctally good

good = benefitting, positive outcome, has reasoning

instrumentally good

good because it is!

incompetent

not good at self evaluation

overestimates own abilities

your brain is judgmental

confirmation bias, first impression = important

alief

automatically believing a habitual lie, even though you know the truth

knowing you are safe but still being nervous

ikea effect

harder the work/pain the more you hold love and respect oveer something you made

ppl have diff opinions - you think yours is the best

anchor fallacy

The anchoring effect is a psychological phenomenon in which an individual's judgments or decisions are influenced by a reference point or "anchor" which can be completely irrelevant. Both numeric and non-numeric anchoring have been reported in research.

Dunning–Kruger effect

cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities.