phil- logical fallacies

Aristotle

Explanation for why motion/change exists in the universe

St. Anselms prof of gods existence

Argument: based on reason not truth

Type of proof: logical & deductive

Argument from motion

Everything must be moved by something else

Argument from cause

Everything has a cause nothing can cause itself

Argument from contingency

Everything comes and goes

Argument from degree/ perfection

Everything has varying degrees of goodness, truth and beauty

Argument from design

Universe shows order and purpose

General properties of arguments: deductive

• general → specific

• Certain conclusions

• If premises are true, conclusion must be true

General properties of argument: inductive

• Specific → general

• Aim to give probable conclusions not certain ones

• Based on observation/ experience

Slippery slope

Event occurring will cause a more extreme result

Bandwagon

Claim that a proposition is true

Ad hominem

Insulting the person making it or attacking their unrelated beliefs or personal characteristics

Post hoc ergo prompter hoc

One event happens after another which means that the earlier event didn’t cause the other

Hasty generalization

Whole class of people/items must be a certain way from a small sample

Begging the question

Someone avoids the question being asked

Gamblers fallacy/ inductive fallacy

Assuming a pattern will continue into the future based on past results

Texas sharpshooter/ cherry picking

Making an argument based on carefully selected evidence while ignoring other relevant arguments/ data that contradicts your arguments

Red herring

Making an argument based on irrelevant or distracting matter

Tu quoque

An argument must be false because the person making it does not act according to the conclusion or premises

No true Scotsman

Arguing a class of people/ items has certain characteristics, and then when someone finds an example that does not follow the characteristic redefine the class to exclude examples

False dichotomy

An argument based on the assumption that someone has only two choices or two sides when the other options or sides exist

Strawman

Creating a weak argument on the opposite side of yours in order to knock it down easily so as to make your argument appear strong

Appeal to authority

Making an argument based on claims that it is true because someone or something in authority supports the argument

Arguments from ignorance

Arguing that something is false because there is not evidence to support it