Phil 25 Chapter 3

What is a Formal Fallacy? How many types are there? 

formal fallacies are ONLY invalid deductive arguments; there are 3 types: 

• Invalid Categorical Syllogism 

• Invalid Disjunctive Syllogism 

• Invalid Hypothetical Syllogism 

What are Informal Fallacies? What are the 3 subgroups?

Informal Fallacies are weak inductive arguments. The three subgroups are as follows:

• Fallacies of Relevance

• Fallacies of Weak Induction

• Fallacies of Presumption, Ambiguity, and Illicit Transference

When do Fallacies of Relevance occur? What are the types? 

Fallacies of Relevance are a subgroup of informal fallacies & are therefore weak inductive arguments. Specifically, these occur when the premises are logically irrelevant to the conclusion. There are 8 types: 

1. Appeal to Force

2. Appeal to Pity

3. *Appeal to the People (vanity, snobbery, tradition, fear, bandwagon)

4. Fallacy of Accident 

5. *Ad hominem (abusive, tu quoque, circumstantial)

6. Straw Man

7. Red Herring

8. Missing the Point

Acronym: Four Pitiful Pidgins* Accidentally Attacked* the Small Rubber Mouse

When do Fallacies of Weak Induction occur? What are the types? 

Fallacies of Weak Induction are a subgroup of Informal Fallacies. They occur when the connection between the premises and the conclusion is weak, even though the premises might be relevant. There are 6 types:

1. Appeal to Unqualified Authority 

2. Appeal to Ignorance 

3. Hasty Generalization

4. *False Cause (post hoc ego propter hoc, non causa pro causa, oversimplified cause, Gambler’s fallacy)

5. Slippery Slope

6. Weak Analogy 

When do Fallacies of Presumption occur? What are the types? 

Fallacies of Presumption are a subgroup of informal fallacies. They occur when they assume something that hasn’t been proven. There are 4 types:

1. Begging the Question (aka Petitio Principii): the argument assumes what it is trying to prove, leaves out a key premise, or uses circular reasoning

2. False Dichotomy: the argument presents only two options when more actually exist

3. Complex Question: “loaded question”; the question is phrased such that it presupposes something that is unproven or traps the respondent into admitting something

4. Suppressed Evidence (will not be tested, ignore)

When do Fallacies of Ambiguity occur? What are the types? 

Fallacies of Ambiguity are a subgroup of informal fallacies. They occur when an argument’s wording or grammar causes unclear or shifting meanings, leading to confusion or false reasoning. There are 2 types:

1. Equivocation: when a single word or phrase is used in two or more different senses within an argument

1. Amphiboly: when ambiguous grammar or sentence structure makes a statement open to multiple interpretations

When do Fallacies of Illicit Transference occur? What are the types?

Fallacies of Illicit Transference are a subgroup of informal fallacies. They occur when an attribute is wrongly transferred from the parts to the whole (or vice versa). There are 2 types:

1. Composition: attribute from parts is wrongly applied to the whole (parts —> whole)

2. Division: attribute from whole is wrongly applied to parts (whole —> parts)

What are the variations of Appeal to the People?

• Tradition

• Snobbery

• Vanity

• Fear

• Bandwagon

Acronym: Traditional Snobs Vote For Blue

What are the variations of Ad Hominem?

• Circumstantial: tries to discredit someone’s argument by pointing to their circumstances, bias, or motives

• Tu quoque: tries to undermine an argument by claiming the opponent is hypocritical; argue that they dont practice what they preach

• Abusive: directly attacks the opponent’s character or traits instead of their argument

What are the variations of False Cause? 

• Oversimplified cause: Claims a single cause for an event that actually has many contributing factors 

• Post hoc ego propter hoc: Assumes that because one event happened before another, it caused it

• Non causa pro causa: happens whenever someone mistakenly identifies a cause that really isn’t connected to the effect at all

• Gambler’s fallacy: a misunderstanding of probability and independence; assumes random independent events are causally related 

Acronym: Old People Never Gamble