Fallacies Review 2022

Red Herring

• "Environmentalists are continually harping about the dangers of nuclear power. Unfortunately, electricity is dangerous no matter where it comes from. Every year hundreds of people are electrocuted by accident. Since most of these accidents are caused by carelessness, they could be avoided if people would just exercise greater caution."

Definition: Red Herring fallacy

when an arguer diverts attention from the point at hand by introducing an irrelevant issue into the discussion, thus throwing the argument off track

Definition: Straw Man fallacy

this fallacy uses caricature, ridicule, and oversimplification by way of refutation.

Straw Man fallacy

"That Senator is against the military spending bill. He thinks it is too expensive. But he always wants to slash costs. He wants a super small military that could never defend us against terrorists let alone an entire nation in a time of war."Oiint

Definition: Pointing to Another Wrong Fallacy

This fallacy is also called "two wrongs make a right" - it distracts attention from a wrong-doing by claiming that similar actions went unnoticed or unpunished - it assumes that two wrongs cancel each other out

Pointing to Another Wrong Fallacy

"Officer, didn't you see the other person speeding ahead of me? It's not fair that I get a ticket and that person doesn't, so you shouldn't give me a ticket either."

Definition: Begging the Question

This fallacy is committed whenever the arguer creates the illusion that inadequate premises provide adequate support for the conclusion by leaving out a possibly false (shaky) key premise as the conclusion, by restating a possibly false premise as the conclusion, or by reasoning in a circle.

Begging the Question

"Murder is morally wrong. This being the case, it follows that abortion is morally wrong."

Definition: Ad Hominem

direct attacks on person not argument

Ad Hominem

"You shouldn't trust anything he says, he is just a tree-hugging liberal."

Definition: fallacy of accident

This is committed when a general rule is applied to a specific case it was not intended to cover.

Fallacy of Accident

"Freedom of speech is a constitutionally guaranteed right. Therefore, John Q. Radical should not be arrested for his speech that incited the riot last week."

Definition: Missing the Point

This fallacy occurs when the premises of an argument support one particular conclusion, but then a different conclusion, often vaguely related to the correct conclusion, is drawn.

Missing the Point

"Crimes of theft and robbery have been increasing at an alarming rate lately. The conclusion is obvious: we must reinstate the death penalty."

Definition: Appeal to Ignorance

When the premises of an argument state nothing has been proven one way or the other about something, and the conclusion then makes a definite assertion about that thing, the argument contains an appeal to ignorance.

Appeal to Ignorance

"People have been trying for centuries to disprove the claims of astrology, and no one has ever succeeded. Therefore, we must conclude that the claims of astrology are true."

Hasty Generalization Fallacy

"I had a terrible lunch one day in France where the waiter did not understand what I was saying. Therefore, the French never understand foreign accents, and they are so rude."

Word Ambiguity Fallacy

"Society is to blame for criminal behavior."

False Dilemma Fallacy / False Dichotomy / Either/Or Fallacy

"You either support Trump or you are a traitor to the Republican party. You don't support Trump so you are a traitor to the republican party."

Questionable statistic

"About 30% of cases of sexual harassment in the workplace are unreported."

Contradiction

"I love having a clean house but my car is a mess."

Loaded Question

"Did you enjoy ruining the surprise for the party?"

Weak Analogy Fallacy

"The United States never had a good enough rationale for fighting in the Vietnam War, and then they lost. Therefore, the next time the United States goes to war without a clear rationale, we will lose just the same."

Questionable Cause

"Poverty causes crime."

Slippery Slope Fallacy

"Handgun control leads to a police state. Therefore, handgun control should not be restricted."

Appeal to pity fallacy

"Your Honor: I did make incorrect declarations on my tax forms, such as more dependents than I actually have, but it was the only way I could survive. I can't risk losing my job as a result of a poor reputation, which would mean that my kids would starve. You must see I am not guilty." (adapted from Hurley & Watson)

Bandwagon fallacy

Everybody likes pizza, thus you should, too.

Ad Hominem

"There are billionaires like Warren Buffet that say higher economic classes should pay more money in taxes. Those people like Warren Buffet are certainly free to send a check any day." (adapted from Hurley & Watson)

Straw Man

"The workers argue that they need better ventilation on the work floor. But air-conditioning is simply too expensive. We would have to redesign the whole building to install an AC system, such as all the ducts and units that would need to be installed all over the building. AC would be especially expensive during the summer. Thus, clearly we need to reject this request of the workers." (adapted from Hurley & Watson)

Red Herring

That Governor is against the educational funding bill, because he thinks it is too costly. But this is the same Governor that cheated on his wife. This is the same Governor that cheated on his taxes. Clearly he cheats on everything.

Begging the question

"If you look around, you see such amazing complexity, organization, and order to everything. Therefore, this could only have been created by a superior, intelligent being, creator, and that was God."

Definition: Slippery Slope fallacy

- The fallacy of assuming that one event or action can set off an inevitable chain reaction of other events or actions, when this is not necessarily the case because there may be other factors at work that can influence this in either direction (meaning, to hinder, stop completely, or conversely facilitate the related causation) - an invalid argument for a domino effect

Definition: False/Questionable Cause Fallacy

- This is the fallacy of assuming and asserting a claim has a causal connection when there is not really enough evidence to support the connection - causality is, therefore, oversimplified, as two events do not necessarily lead directly from one to the other

Definition: Weak Analogy Fallacy

– When two things are compared because they have some similarities but while ignoring or just missing significant differences; therefore, the comparison/analogy, is a weak one

Definition: Loaded Question

- Biased questions are used to provoke wanted answers, as the questions are biased and contain hidden assumptions

Definition: Contradiction

- Illogical and incompatible claims and evidence are used in this fallacy

Definition: The Questionable Statistic

-Faulty, poor, misleading, or even unknowable statistics are used and promoted in this fallacy

Definition: False Dilemma Fallacy

-Either-or argument is proposed but there are more than just two alternatives

Definition: Hasty Generalization

- Premature conclusion