Phil 140 - Fallacies

what is a fallacy

a type of bad argument that had proven to be regularly persuasive, that somehow creates an illusion that serves to make it seem good

Ad Hominem (Against the Person)

when one person advances an argument and another person responds by directing his or her attention not to the argument but to the person who made it

criticizes the person who made the argument

3 types 

Ad Hominem - Abusive

when a respondent uses abusive language against their argumentative opponent

choosing to insult the person proposing the argument 

Ad Hominem - Circumstantial 

when a respondent uses accuses their argumentative opponent of having a personal stake in the outcome of the dispute which entails that the argument should not be taken seriously

if people accept the argument the person who proposed it will benefit 

Ad Hominem - To quoque

occurs when a respondent attempts to make their argument opponent appear to be hypocritical or arguing in bad faith

smoker advocating that smoking is dangerous

Cluster I - Appeals to Emotion; three types

1. Ad Baculum - Appeal to Force

2. Ad Misericordiam - Appeal to Pity

3. Ad Populum - Bandwagon, Appeal to People

Ad Baculum - Appeal to Force

occurs when an arguer poses a conclusion to disputant and tells that person either implicitly or explicitly that some harm will come to them if they do not accept the conclusion

Ad Misericordiam - Appeal to Pity

occurs when an arguer attempts to support a conclusion by merely evoking pity from the reader or listener

Ad Populum - Bandwagon

occurs when an arguer uses people’s desire to be loved, accepted, etc. to get listeners to accept a conclusion; appeal to the people

Cluster II - Parts and Members; 4 types 

1. Accident - Destroying the Exception

2. Hasty Generalization 

3. Composition

4. Division 

Accident - Destroying the Exception

occurs when a general rule is applied to a specific case it was not intended to cover

Hasty Generalization

occurs when a too small or unrepresentative sample of a population is used to justify a generalization about all or most members of that population

Composition

occurs when the conclusion of an argument depends on the erroneous transference of an attribute from the parts if something onto the whole

since one is, then they are all

Division

occurs when the conclusion of an argument depends on the erroneous transference of an attribute from a whole onto its parts

since the whole is, then every part is 

Cluster III - Changing the Subject; 3 types

1. Straw Person

2. Irrelevant Conclusion - Missing the Point 

3. Red Herring 

Straw Person

occurs when an arguer distorts an opponent’s argument for the purpose of more easily attacking it

Irrelevant Conclusion - Missing the Point

occurs when the premises of an argument support one conclusion but a different, often vaguely related, conclusion is drawn

Red Herring 

occurs when the arguer diverts the attention of the listener by changing the subject to a different but subtly related one

Ad Ignorantium - Appeal to Ignorance

occurs when the premises of an argument establish that a thesis of some kind has not been proven and, on that basis, it is concluded that the contrary must be correct

haven’t proven its false, therefore it must be true

Slippery Slope

occurs when the conclusion of an argument rests upon an alleged chain reaction when there is not sufficient reason to think the chain reaction will occur

chain of events that argue the claim is unlikely to have happened, the conclusion relies on the fact that the chain reaction happened

Cluster IV - Weak Induction (two types)

1. Ad Ignorantium - Appeal to Ignorance 

2. Slippery Slope 

Cluster V - Presuppositions (two types)

1. Loaded Question - Complex Question

2. False Dilemma - False Dichotomy

Loaded Question - Complex Question

occurs when a question is posed which contains a controversial presupposition, rhetorical

given a yes, no question

False Dilemma - False Dichotomy 

occurs when an either/or premise is deployed which presents two unlikely alternatives as if they were the only ones available

not A so it has to be B, both unlikely, but given as if they are the only two options

Cluster VI - Ambiguities (two types)

1. Equivocation - Semantic Ambiguity

2. Amphiboly - Syntactic Ambiguity

Equivocation - Semantic Ambiguity

occurs when the conclusion of an argument depends on the fact that a word or phrase is used in two different senses in the argument

Amphiboly - Syntactic Ambiguity 

occurs when the conclusion of an argument depends on the fact that a premise or conclusion is ambiguous between two or more grammatical structures