chapter 15

Persuasion

A legitimate, essential tool of democratic deliberation.

Demagoguery

Subverts reasoned deliberation with charismatic and emotional appeals.

A good argument

A good argument is complete and reasonable and meets certain tests of reasoning and evidence.

Claims

Debatable assertions about fact, value, or policy that we put forward in a persuasive speech.

Evidence

Provides support for our claims and should meet certain tests of quantitative and qualitative sufficiency.

Warrants

General assumptions, principles, or rules that connect our evidence to our claims.

Burden of proof

The level of proof necessary to warrant serious consideration of an argument.

Reasoning

The process of drawing inferences from known facts.

Inductive reasoning

Draws a general conclusion from a set of specific examples.

Deductive reasoning

Draws conclusions about specific cases from a generally accepted premise or principle.

Causal reasoning

Makes inferences from cause to effect or effect to cause.

Analogical reasoning

Infers that what is true of some known case is or will be true of a similar case.

Fallacies

Errors or flaws of reasoning and evidence.

Fallacies of relevance

Include the appeal to ignorance, the appeal to popular beliefs, the disconnected conclusion (or non sequitur), the appeal to tradition, the red herring, and the straw man.

Fallacies of faulty reasoning

Include the false dilemma, begging the question, the faulty analogy, and the slippery slope.

Fallacies of inadequate evidence

Include the false cause (post hoc) and the hasty generalization.

Fallacies of personal attack

Include the attack against the person (ad hominem) and guilt by association.

Appeals to tradition

A type of fallacy of relevance.

Red herring

A type of fallacy of relevance.

Straw man fallacy

A type of fallacy of relevance.

False dilemma

A type of fallacy of faulty reasoning.

Appeal to ignorance (ad ignorantiam)

A type of fallacy of relevance.

Bandwagon appeal

A type of fallacy of relevance.

Non sequitur

A type of fallacy of relevance.

Begging the question

A type of fallacy of faulty reasoning.

Faulty analogy

A type of fallacy of faulty reasoning.

Slippery slope

A type of fallacy of faulty reasoning.

False cause

A type of fallacy of inadequate evidence.

Hasty generalization

A type of fallacy of inadequate evidence.

Ad hominem fallacy

A type of fallacy of personal attack.

Guilt-by-association fallacy

A type of fallacy of personal attack.

Qualifier

Uses words like 'usually, probably, maybe, in most cases, and most likely' to temper the claim, making it less absolute.

Reservation

Image exception to a claim ('unless, if').