English III

Ad Fontem Arguments

Latin for against the source. Distract by focusing attention on an opponent rather than the issue.

Against the source

ad fontem

Ad Hominum Abusive

insults the opponent

“against the person” rather than the argument

bob banks is the typical Washington bureaucrat, intent on sucking the taxpayers dry and funneling money to special interests

ad hominem abusive

Ad Hominum Circumstantial

Ad Hominem arguments that attempt to discredit an opponent because of his/her situation or circumstances (affiliations, etc.)

I can’t take an argument against financial regulations seriously when it come from a banker.

ad hominem circumstantial

Tu Quoque

latin for “you too”. Arguments that claim that since the opponent is flawed his argument can’t be true.

republican do the bidding of big businesses whcih finaces their campaigns

fallacious response: well democrats are in the pockets of the teachers’ unions.

tu quoque

Genetic Fallacy

arguments that dismiss opposing arguments as false by focusing attention on impersonal sources. Most common form is to dismess a belief as false due to the origin of the belief, which logically has nothing to do with the belief

the only reason ur a muslim is bc ur born in saudi arabia. if u were born in europe you would be christian or a free thinker or maybe a buddhist in asia. So if seems that your religpous beliefs are wrong.

genetic fallacy

Appeals to emotion

arguments that distract by appealing unduly to the emotions

Appeal to fear

Arguments that distract by making the audience afraid of the consequences of disagreeing with the speaker

If we put the republicans back in power there will be guns everywhere and poor children will starve

Appeal to fear

Latin name for appeal to fear

ad baculum

Appeal to pity

arguments that distract by making the audience feel sorry for the speaker or someone on behalf on whom he’s arguing

latin name for appeal to pity

ad misericordiam

a vote for me is a vote for the children. Don’t you want to help the children?

Appeal to pity

Appeal to the masses/ mob appeal

arguments that distract by appealing to the audience’s desire to be part of the crowd

laitn name for appeal to masses

ad populum

democrats and republicans appealing to the middle class

appeal to the masses

appeal to elitism/ snob appeal

arguments that distract by appealing to audience’s desire to feel a part of a special elite group of insiders

luxury brand ads

appeal to elitism

appeal to illegitimat eauthority

arguments that distract by citing a figure who is not a legitimate authority on the topic of discussion

latin for appeal to illegitimate authority

ad verecundiam

as matt Damon stated…

appeal to illegitimate authority

chronological snobbery

arguments that distract by appealig to audience’s desire to feel a part either of an old tradition or of the newest trend

who coined chronological snobbery

CS lewis

Those beliefs are positively medieval - how can you entertain them?

chronological snobbery

Red herrings

Arguments that distract by changing the topic.

Appeal to ignorance

Arguments that distract by trying to force the opponent to disprove the speaker’s claim, rather than offering evidence for the claim

burden of proof

ability to disprove

a. You haven’t give any evidence for this 9/11 theory.

b. but can you prove the theory wrong?

appeal to ignorance.

irrelevant goals or functions

arguments that distract by measuring the opponent’s plan or policy’s efficacy in doing things it wasn’t intended to do.

medicaid is a failure - there are still uninsured people out there

irrelevant goals or functions (medicaid wasn’t for universal)

irrelevant thesis

arguments that distract by making a case for something that is not relevant to topic under discussion

Q: are you too old to serve a 2nd term

Reagan: I am not going to exploit my opponent’s youth and experience

irrelevant thesis

straw man fallacy

the attempt to disprove an opponent’s position or belief by presenting them in an unfair and inaccurate manner

A. the democrats are pushing their socialist agenda

B. the republican continue to wage their war on education

straw man

Fallacies of presumption

argument that make unwise assumptions about either the data or the nature of reasonable argument

fallacies of presupposition

arguments that contain hidden assumptions that make them unreasonable

begging the question

A fallacy in which the premise of an argument presupposes the truth of its conclusion; takes for granted what it is supposed to prove. circular reasoning

petitio principii

begging the question.

lying is wrong because it is what bad people do

begging the question

bifurcation or false dilemna

An argument that frames the debate such that only two options are possible, when other possibilites may exist

All americans are either democrats or republican

bifurcation/false dilemna

moderation

An argument that assumes that the correct answer or course is always constituted by a middle ground between extremes

The Nazis say we must exterminate the Jews. You say we must protect them and let them live. There must be a compromise somewhere in the middle that would be best

moderation

Is-ought fallacy

An argument which assumes that something ought to be a certain way simply because it currently is that way

of course loading students down with tons of homework is the right thing to do. After all, it’s what we’ve always done and continue to do

is ought fallacy

division

An argument which assumes that individual parts of a collective will be like the whole in important ways

well bob was an AP student so he must be smart

division

composition

an argument which assumes that a collective whole will be like the individual parts of the collective in important ways

if we can get jeremy lin to play for our team, we will be championship material

composition

fallacies of induction

arguments that misuse empirical data or don’t follow proper methods of inductive reasoning

sweeping generalization

arguments that apply a generalization to cases that are legitimate exceptions to it

you don’t need a car. you live in NYC and new yorkers don’t need cars. You an take the subway or cab.

sweeping generalization

hasty generalization

arguments that make a generalization on the basis of too few examples

tom is a male. tom is a jerk. Therefore all males are jerks

hasty generalization

false analogy

an argument based on an analogy in which the things being compared aren’t similar enough to be analogous in the appropriate way.

One should focus on aspects important to the discussion and not on details that are dissimilar but irrelevant.

Students should be allowed to look at their textbooks during exams because surgeons have X-rays to guide them during an operation.

false analogy

Post Hoc Generalizations are also called

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

“After this, therefore because of this”

Post Hoc Generalizations

“After this, therefore because of this”

correlation does not mean causation. casual relationships should be demonstrated not assumed

lets not take bill on our picnic, every time we take him it rains

Post hoc generalizations

fake precision

arguments that use numbers in an overly precise manner, given the subject matter

In the past 5000 years men have fought 14523 wars. One out four 4 persons living during this time have been in war casualties. A nuclear war would addd 1245000000 to this list. (l

fake precision

Limits of historical record do not allow this precision

Fallacies of clarity

they contain words, phrases or syntax that distort or cloud their meaning

equivocation

arguments that fail because a key term is ambiguous and the argument uses multiple meanings of the word in order to mislead or due to the confused nature of the argument

hot dogs are better than nothing. Nothing is better than steak. Therefore hotdogs are better than steak

equivocation

distinction without a difference

arguments that depend on a distinction between two things that is only linguistic

Bob isn’t a bad student. He just refuses to study

distinction without a difference.