rhetorical fallacies

ethos

• speaker’s credibility

• errors:

  • exaggerating expertise

  • using credibility as evidence

  • attacking opponents credibility/character

pathos

• audience’s emotions

• errors:

  • manipulation to inspire negative response

logos

• content: facts and logic

• errors info wise:

  • inaccurate

  • irrelevant

  • inconclusive

  • absent

connection

error may also occur in how the information is used/correlates to the argument

ad hominem

• error of ethos, pathos, logos

• attacks character of opponent instead of their argument (damning the source)

• guilt by association: (ex concessis) rejecting an argument b/c it comes from an unsavory source

• tu quoque: pointing out a speaker’s hypocrisy, makes claim “invalid”

• vested interest/circumstantial: conflict of interest, b/c there is a motive, it’s “invalid”

appeal to authority

• error of ethos, logos, sometimes pathos

• argumentum ad verecundiam

• accepting authority w/o fully understanding/considering the argument

appeal to ignorance

• error of logos

• argumentum ad ignorantiam

• claims something is true b/c it hasn’t been proven false or proven at all

begging the question

• error of logos

• petitio principii

• a kind of circular reasoning: argument that comes back without proving anything

• relies on assumptions/unproven statements

equivocation

• error of logos

• trying to make a point by pretending that b/c the same word is used, it means the same thing

false dichotomy

• error of pathos and logos

• the illusion that there is only one good option and the rest are terrible

• similar to everything is either/or fallacy

faulty analogy

• error of logos, no connection

• comparing things that are similar in some ways, but not where it matters most

faulty/false cause

• error of logos

• post hoc ergo propter hoc

• where someone assumes that b/c one event happened after another, the 1st event must have caused the 2nd, even w/o a connection

hasty generalization

• error of logos

• secundum quid

• a conclusion based on insufficient or biased evidence

mcnamara fallacy

• error of logos

• making a decision solely on measurable observations and ignoring all others

moving the goalpost

• error of ethos, pathos, logos

• no connection

• altering expectations to make it harder for your opponent to achieve a goal

• changes terms of the argument

nirvana fallacy

• error of pathos and logos

• known as the “perfect solution” fallacy

• comparing actual things w/ unrealistic/idealized alternatives

slippery slope

• error of pathos and logos, no connection

• assumes a chain reaction, which will ultimately lead to something unacceptable and disastrous

straw man

• error of ethos, pathos, logos

• when a person misrepresents another person’s argument, typically an exaggerated version of the opposing opinion

sweeping generalization

• error of logos

• dicto simpliciter

• applies a board rule to all cares, ignoring exceptions