PHILOSOPHY 12: Fallacy

Fallacy

It is a mistake in reasoning that makes an argument invalid or weak.

• It may sound persuasive, but it does not logically prove the point.

• Philosophers, logicians, and debaters study fallacies to avoid being misled.

Ad Hominem

A fallacious argumentative strategy whereby genuine discussion of the topic at hand is avoided by attacking the character, motive, or other attribute of the person making the argument, or persons associated with the argument, rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself.

• e.g., Person A: “We need to address climate change through stronger policies.”
  Person B: “You can’t trust him; he’s a college dropout.”

Appeal to Ignorance

It occurs when someone claims that something is true because it hasn’t been proven false or false because it hasn’t been proven true. Lack of evidence is not evidence itself.

Hasty Generalization

A fallacy in which the conclusion is not logically supported by sufficient evidence.

• e.g., “I met two rude people from that city, so everyone from that city must be rude.”

Equivocation Fallacy

An argument in an ambiguous way, with one meaning in the other side of the argument and another meaning in the other portion of the argument, making the argument misleading.

• Shifting the meaning of a word mid-argument.

• e.g., "The sign said ‘fine for parking here,’ so I thought it was fine to park."

Appeal to Pity

A fallacy in which someone tries to win support for an argument or idea by exploiting the opponent's feelings, pity or guilt.

• e.g., “You should give me a passing grade, because if I fail, my parents will be disappointed in me.”

Bandwagon

These occur when a proposition is claimed to be true or good solely because many people believe it to be so.

• e.g., “All my friends cheat on the test, so it’s okay if I do too.”

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

This fallacy occurs when it is assumed that, because one thing happened after another, it must have occurred as a result of it.

• e.g., Right when I sneezed, the power went off. I must've caused the outage.

Appeal to Force

When force, coercion, or even a threat of force is used in place of a reason in an attempt to justify a conclusion.

• e.g., “Agree that I’m right, or I’ll fail you in this class.”