logical fallacies 4th nine weeks

straw man argument

• fallacy consists of misrepresenting an opponents point of view or argument, usually fro the purpose of making it easier to attack. misrepresentation or deliberate distortion is a typical technique of politicians.

• opponent has drawn an inference from the proponent’s argument that is clearly unwarranted

red herring

fallacy consists of attempting to hide the weakness of a position by drawing attention away from the real issue to a side issue

resort to humor or ridicule

• fallacy consists of intruding humor in an effort to cover up an inability or unwillingness to respond appropriately to an opponent’s position or question

ambiguity

• presenting a claim or argument that uses a word,phrase or grammatical construction that can be interpreted in two or more distinctly different ways without making clear which meaning is intended.

equivocation

• directing an opponent toward unwarranted conclusion by making a work or phrase, employed in two different senses in an argument, appear to have same meaning throughout,

argument by innuendo

• fallacy consists of directing one’s listeners to a particular conclusion, by a skillful choice of words or he careful arrangement of sentences, which implicitly suggest but do not assert that conclusion.

distinction without a difference

• attempting to defend an action or point of view as different from some other one, with which it is allegedly confused, by means of a very careful distinction of language

technical jargon

• becomes a problem when the audience is overwhelmed with too many new terms or when jargon is used to impress the audience or replace sound reasoning

is-ought fallacy

• assuming that because something is now the practice, it ought to be the practice. conversely, it consists in assuming that because something is not the practice, it ought not to be the practice

faulty analogy

• assuming because two things are alike in one or more respects, they necessarily are alike in some other respects, they necessarily are alike in some other respect.

• appeals to similarities that are very superficial and thus fail to support the particular conclusion sought

apriorism

• refusing to look at any evidence that might count against one’s claim or assumption

• being unwilling or unstable to specify any conceivable evidence that might possibly count against one’s claim

domino fallacy

• also known as slippery slope fallacy

• consists of assuming, without appropriate evidence,that a particular action or event is just one, usually the first, in a series of steps that will inevitably lead to some specific consequences.