ENG Q2 Lesson 7.2: Reasoning and Fallacies

Logical Fallacies

Errors in reasoning that invalidate an argument. As a critical reader, you have to identify and examine fallacies and manipulative language found in the text.

Logical Arguments

• Consist of statements

• Begin with the premise

• End with the conclusion: Therefore

Hence

In conclusion with

Statement

Proposition

Reasoning

Argument

Evidence

Premises

Claim

Conclusion

To prove the truth of the conclusion by means of the truth of its premises.

The fundamental goal of an argument

Deductive argument

Inductive argument

2 General Types of Reasoning

Deductive argument

The truth of the premise is to prove that the truth of the conclusion is certain

• Either valid or invalid

• Solely determined by the structure

Deductive argument Example

If the rain falls, then the ground is wet.

The rain falls.

Therefore, the ground is wet.

If the rain falls, then the ground is wet.

The ground is dry.

Therefore, it does not rain.

Inductive argument

• The truth of the premises is supposed to prove that the truth of the conclusion is probable.

• Either strong or weak

• It is true if the probability is above 50%

Inductive argument Example

My stomach aches when I eat spicy food.

I ate Bicol Express for lunch.

Therefore, I will have stomachache.

False Dilemma/ False Dichotomy

— Despite the presence of multiple possibilities, only two options are presented

Example: Either I continue buying online or I won't purchase at all.

Appeal to Ignorance

— Since it is not proven to be false, something is instantly concluded to be true or vice versa

Example: Mental telepathy must be accepted as a fact, since nobody has proven that it is impossible.

Slippery Slope

— When a series of increasingly superficial and unacceptable consequence is drawn

Example: If I did not teach you the logical fallacies then you will never know that these fallacies exist.

Complex Question

— The reader is expected to either accept or reject both two or more points that are rolled into one at the same time

Example: Have you stopped beating your child?

Appeal to Force (Ad Baculum)

— Instead of reasoning, a threat is used to argue

— Committed when one appeals to force, often with subtlety, to cause the acceptance of a conclusion

Example: Lend me ₱5,000.00 or else I'll tell all your secrets to your mother

Appeal to Pity (Ad Misericordiam)

— Pity is used instead of logical reasoning

— Committed when one appeals to pity cause the acceptance of a conclusion.

Example: Please don't arrest me. I have 10 children to feed and my parents are old and very sick.

Appeal to Consequences

— To show that the belief is false, there is an unpleasant consequence of believing something

Example: I don't believe that my boyfriend is seeing other girls because if he does, we would break up and I am not ready for it.

Bandwagon

— Just because it is what the majority thinks, an argument is considered to be valid

Example: In a survey conducted, 9 out of 10 say that upon using this Korean glass skin set their face become radiant.

Appeal to the Person (Ad Hominem)

— Instead of attacking the ideas of the argument, you attack the character of the person

Example: I cannot accept your idea because, unlike me, you did not have your doctorate degree in Oxford University.

Appeal to Authority

— Occurs when a person is not actually a legitimate expert on the subject matter; occurs also when you assert your own expertise

Example: The facts in my article are correct because I have been a journalist for three decades already.

Anonymous Authority

— The authority in the statement is not mentioned or named

Example: Athletes say that exercising can make you live longer.

Hasty Generalization

— The sample is not significant or enough to support a generalization about a population

Example: Lee Da Hee, the foreigner from South Korea, is very impolite. Koreans are mean and rude.

False Analogy

— Assuming that two concepts that are similar in some ways are also similar in other ways

Example: Love is like coffee. Bitter yet sweet.

Accident

— Misusing a general rule by applying it to a specific case it doesn't properly address

Example: You should not talk back to your brother no matter what; he is always right because he is older than you.

Post Hoc

— Assumes a causal relationship between two events based on chronological succession

Example: Shine said that whenever I sing it rains. Since I'm singing now then it will rain after a while..

Wrong Direction

— There is reverse in direction between cause and effect

Example: Lung cancer leads to cigarette smoking.

Complex Cause

— Even when there are other factors which also contributed to the event, the explanation is reduced to one thing

Example: We were not able to create an advertisement for our class because we were only given three days to do it. The time was too short for us

Irrelevant Conclusion

— The argument which is supposed to prove something concludes something else instead

Example: The number of positive cases in our city is rising even if we are in ECQ. Therefore, we must lift ECQ.

Straw Man

— The position of the opposition is twisted so that it is easier to refute

Example: You said that horoscope is not scientific, so why should we believe in it?

Affirming the Consequent

— If argument A is true then argument B is true

Example: If you are in a dating app that means you are looking for a partner who is a foreigner. Therefore, if you marry a foreigner that means you met him/her on a dating app.

Denying the Antecedent

— If argument A is not true then argument B is not true

Example: If you did not finish college then you will not have a successful future. If your future is not successful therefore you did not finish college

Inconsistency

— The arguments contradict one another

Example: Anna is taller than Ely. Ely is taller than Elsa. Elsa is taller than Anna.