Fallacy Quiz

For APLAC- Definitions come from Everything's an Argument

Scare Tactics

Peddling ideas by frightening people and exaggerating possible dangers well beyond their statistical likelihood. Also used to stampede legitimate fears into panic or prejudice.

Ex. Blue-collar laborers who genuinely fear losing their jobs can be coaxed to fear immigrants who might work for less money.

Either/Or Choices AKA False Dilemmas

Well-intientioned strategies to get something accomplished but it becomes fallacious when they reduce a complicated issue to simplistic terms or when they’re designed to obscure legitimate alternatives.

Ex. “You’re either for me or against me.”

Slippery Slope

Portrays today’s tiny misstep as tomorrow’s slide into disaster. It becomes fallacious when the writer exaggerates the likely consequences of an action, normally to frighten the readers.

Ex. “If I don't pass tomorrow's exam, this might affect my GPA, which in turn might impact my chances of going to a good college.”

Overly Sentimental Appeals

Use tender emotions excessively to distract readers from facts. They are normally very personal and focus attention on heartwarming or heart-trending situations that make the reader feel guilty if they challenge an idea, a policy, or a proposal.

Ex. Your sibling trying to convince you to let them eat the last piece; “Can I have the last piece of cake? You know how much I love it, and it's been a tough day for me. I've had such a bad day, and this cake would just make me feel so much better…”

Bandwagon Appeals

Urging people to follow the same path everyone else is taking. They push people to take the easier path rather than think independently about what choices to make.

Ex, A kid whining about their parent going on a school trip as a chaperone; “Everyone else is going camping without chaperones.”

Appeals to False Authority

Occurs when writers offer themselves or other authorities as sufficient warrant for believing a claim.

X is true because Y says so; What Y says must be true

Ex. US pundits and politicians are fond of citing the Constitution and its Bill of Rights.

Dogmatism

A writer who asserts or assumes that a particular position is the only one that is conceivably acceptable. The writer implies that no arguments are necessary, the truth is self-evident and needs no support.

Ex. "I've always believed that dinosaurs never existed, so there's no need to look at the scientific evidence."

Ad Hominem Arguments

Attacking the character of a person instead of their claims; destroying the credibility of your opponents in order to destroy their ability to present reasonable appeals or distract from the successful arguments they may be offering.

Ex. “Who is going to vote for a person who looks like this?”

Stacking the Deck

Only serving the audience with one side of information, typically what the audience wants to hear. Also emphasis on omitting information that serves the other side so the audience only hears the one side and not the other.

Ex. Companies showing only why their product or services are better than the competition and not where the products faults are at.

Hasty Generalization

An inference drawn from insufficient evidence. Also forms the basis for most stereotypes about people or institutions.

Ex. Because a few people in a large group are observed to act in a certain way, all members of that group are inferred to behave similarly.

Faulty Causality AKA post hoc, ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this)

The assumption that because one event or action follows another, the first causes the second.

Ex. Believing that wearing your lucky jersey will help your team win.

Begging the Question

A claim that is made on groups that can’t be accepted as true because those groups themselves are in question.

Ex. I can’t be guilty of accepting such bribes; Im an honest person.

Equivocation

Half truths or arguments that give lies an honest appearance. They are usually based on tricks of language.

Ex. In the first premise ("All men are created equal"), "men" refers to the entire human race; In the second premise ("Women are not men"), "men" refers to the male gender.

By switching the meaning of "men" in the argument, the conclusion is made to appear valid, when in reality it is not.

Non Sequitur

An argument whose claims, reasons, or warrants don’t connect logically. When a writer omits steps in an otherwise logical chain of reasoning.

Ex. “You don’t love me or you’d buy me a new bike.”

Straw Man

Attacking arguments that no one is really making or portray opponents’ positions as more extreme or far less coherent than they actually are. The writer steps up an argument that is conveniently easy to knock down.

Ex. 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.

Red Herring

Changes the subject abruptly or intorduces an irrelevant claim or fact to throw readers or listeners off the trail.

Ex. A student is asked why they didn't complete their homework. Instead of answering, they start talking about how busy they've been with extracurricular activities.

Faulty Analogy

Inaccurate, inconsequential comparisons between objects or concepts.

Ex. "People who have to have a cup of coffee every morning before they can function have no less a problem than alcoholics who have to have their alcohol each day to sustain them."

While both caffeine and alcohol can lead to dependence, the comparison is weak because the severity and potential consequences of dependence on alcohol are far greater than those of caffeine.

Paralipsis AKA occultatio (gossip’s trope)

When writers say they will not talk about something, thus doing the very thing they’re not going to do.

Ex. “I’m not going to bring up rumors of my opponent’s infidelities because I think it would be unfair…”