Persuasive Techniques and Logical Fallacies

Vocabulary flashcards covering persuasive appeals, logical reasoning methods, refutation, and various logical and emotional fallacies.

Logical Appeal (Logos)

A main type of persuasion that relies on logic and reasoning, including inductive and deductive methods.

Emotional Appeal (Pathos)

A persuasive appeal designed to evoke specific feelings from the audience to move them to take action.

Ethos

An appeal based on the character or credibility of the speaker or writer.

Induction

A process of logical reasoning that moves from specific facts to a broad generalization.

Inductive Leap

The logical step an audience makes from facts to a generalization, where presenting more good facts creates a smaller, more effective leap.

Deduction

A process of logical reasoning that moves from a broad generalization to a specific conclusion.

Syllogism

A three-sentence chain of deductive reasoning composed of a broad major premise, a narrow minor premise, and a conclusion using the formula: All As are B, C is an A, therefore C is a B.

Refutation

The act of proving something to be false, used in persuasion to strengthen an argument by bringing up opposing arguments and shooting them down.

Logical Fallacies

Errors in logical reasoning that weaken an argument, though they are sometimes used intentionally for effect.

Ad Hominem

A fallacy meaning 'To the man' that involves attacking a person's character rather than addressing their actual argument.

Either-or Fallacy (Black-White Fallacy)

A fallacy that assumes there are only two sides to an issue while failing to consider possible alternatives.

Statistical Fallacy

A logical fallacy occurring because statistics mean nothing unless they are made meaningful.

Faulty Sampling

An error in reasoning where a conclusion is reached that is not representative of the group of people surveyed.

Hasty Generalization

A statement that proves to be untrue because a judgment is made too quickly.

Causal Fallacy

An error in logical reasoning involving four types: mistaking the nature of a cause, assuming a single cause for a multi-cause event, joint effect, or wrong direction.

Straw Man

A fallacy in which a person simply ignores an opponent's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated, or misrepresented version of that position to attack.

Ad Misericordiam

A material or emotional fallacy known as 'Appeal to Pity' that attempts to persuade by making the audience feel sorry for someone.

Bandwagon Fallacy

An emotional fallacy based on the flawed idea that everyone else is doing a certain thing, so you should too.

Red Herring

A fallacy that attempts to distract an audience by shifting attention away from an important topic to an irrelevant topic.

Slippery Slope

An argument that predicts enormous consequences from relatively minor causes without providing an argument for the inevitability of what will happen.