English Fallacys
General Terms
Claim: an assertion of the truth of something, typically one that is disputed or in doubt
Counterargument/Counterclaim: an argument or set of reasons put forward to oppose an idea or theory developed in another argument
Concession: the act of yielding to or accepting a point or a fact in an argument (usually your opponent’s argument)
Refutation/Rebuttal: the action of providing evidence to show a statement or theory to be inaccurate or false
Primary vs secondary sources:
Primary—provides a first-hand account of an event or time period and is considered authoritative.
Secondary—involves the analysis, synthesis, interpretation, or evaluation of primary sources
The rhetorical situation: speaker, occasion/context, audience, purpose, subject/message
The rhetorical appeals:
1. Logos—appeals to the audience’s sense of reasoning and logic by incorporating induction, deduction, facts, statistics, etc.
2. Ethos—appeals to the speaker’s credibility, trustworthiness, and ethics
Pathos—appeals to the audience’s emotions
Types of Reasoning or Evidence
Deduction—reasoning that applies a rule or law to a specific case
Syllogism = a three-part deductive argument that includes a MAJOR premise, minor premise, and conclusion
Categorical Syllogism
an argument consisting of exactly three categorical propositions (two premises and a conclusion)
establishes qualities of members of a category and then puts an individual within that category and concludes that the individual also has the qualities of the category
follow an "If A is part of C, then B is part of C" logic
Hypothetical Syllogism (if-then)
two-premise deductive arguments where at least one of the premises is a conditional (an “if” statement), and the antecedent or consequent (a “then” statement) also appears in the other premise
they follow an "If A is true, then B is true" pattern of logic
Disjunctive Syllogism (either-or)
if there are only two possibilities, and one of them is ruled out, then the other must take place
follow a "Since A is true, B must be false" premise
Induction—reasoning from specific cases or observations to a general conclusion
Argument by analogy—similarities are used as a basis to infer some further similarity that has yet to be observed
Causation—an act produces a specific effect
Correlation—two or more things or events tend to occur about the same time and might be associated with one another
Logical Fallacies
Confirmation Bias: the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or strengthens one’s prior personal beliefs or hypotheses
Cherry-picking: the act of pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a position while ignoring a significant portion of related cases or data that contradict that position
Post hoc fallacy: Assuming a cause-effect relationship between two events that occur one after the other
Hasty generalization: a mistaken use of induction that reaches a conclusion based on insufficient evidence; jumping to a conclusion without considering all the variables in play
False dichotomy/Either-or fallacy: an argument that presents only two choices when there are actually several options: the two choices tend to be extremes
Ad hominem: attacking or praising the person making the argument rather than addressing the argument itself
Straw man: Exaggerating or oversimplifying your opponent’s argument in order to make it easier to refute
Red herring: a deliberate attempt to change the subject or divert the argument from the real question at hand
Bandwagon: using the popularity of a belief or behavior to prove its validity
Equivocation: Using a key term or phrase in an argument in an ambiguous way, with one meaning in one portion of the argument and then another meaning in another portion of the argument.
Rhetorical Situation
Speaker
Occasion-context
Audience
Purpose
Subject
Argument & Reasoning
Argument
assertion of the truth typically one that is disputed or in doubt
counterargument
an argument or set of reasons put forward to oppose an idea or theory
concession
act of conceding or yielding to a point or a fact in an argument
refutation
action of suggesting that a statement or theory to be inaccurate or false
inductive logic
reasoning from specific cases or observations to a general conclusion
Case 1: Tamarie Tollison, a 28-year-old trainer, was hospitalized for a compound fracture of the forearm after an incident in Shamu Stadium.
Case 2: Kyuquot (nickname Ky) repeatedly jumped on top of his trainer, Steve Aibel, forcing him underwater and barring him from escaping the water.
Case 3: Kasatka grabbed her trainer, Ken Peters, by the foot and dragged him to the bottom of the tank several times during an evening show at Shamu Stadium.
Case 4: Tilikum attacks and kills Dawn Brancheau.
Conclusion: Orcas are dangerous in captivity.
deductive logic
reasoning applies a rule or law to a specific case
syllogisms
3 part deductive argument that includes a major premise minor premise and conclusion
categorical
argument consisting of 3 categorical propositions total 3 categorical terms used exactly twice
if A is part of C then B is part of C
Premise 1: Social media platforms are financially supported by advertisements.
Premise 2: Facebook is a social media platform
Conclusion: Facebook is financially supported by advertisements
hypothetical
2 premise deductive arguments where at least one of the premises is a conditional and the consequence appears in the other premise
if A is true then B is true
Premise 1: IF social media platforms are free to the user,
THEN the user is the product.
Premise 2: Facebook is free to users.
Conclusion: All users of Facebook are the product being sold to advertisers.
disjunctive
is there are only two possibilities and one of them is ruled out then the other must take place
since A is true B must be false
Premise 1: Social media platforms should be regulated by their CEOs or by the government.
Premise 2: Social media platforms are monetized and designed to make a profit. The algorithms favor popularity rather than truth and cannot determine the morality or a post
Conclusion:
The government should regulate social media platforms.
Logical Fallacy
cherry-picking
fallacy of incomplete evidence
pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a position while ignoring a significant portion of related cases that may contradict that position
I only follow people who agree with me online so I dont get mad at the news and hear the real information
this archeology essay says griffons could have been real due to the writings of ancient cultures despite other archeologist proving that its just a culture recording their perceived legends
confirmation bias
result of cherry picking
tendency to search/interpret/favor/recall information in a way that confirms or strengthens ones personal beliefs or hypotheses
i believe that unicorns are real, I saw a post that said rhinos were chubby unicorns, that means unicorns are real
strawman
oversimplifies exaggerates or misrepresents the perspectives of the opposition
they believe sex ed should be taught in schools, they want kids to know about sex so they’re pedophiles
hasty generalization
mistaken use of induction, reaches conclusion based on insufficient evidence
my girlfriends vegan and gay Im vegan and gay, all vegans are gay
false dichotomy
either or fallacy
argument that only two present chouse exist when there are actually several
either go to school or end up homeless
equivocation
use of ambiguous or deliberately evasive wording
using word in a different way then intended or changing the definitions
I have the right to property which means that the government should be giving me property to fulfill my rights
causation correlation fallacy
causation
an act causes a specific event
correlation
two or more things or events tend to occur around the same time and may be associated with one another
assuming a casual relationship between two events because one preceded the other
The news reported slipped and fell during a rainstorm on camera, then an earthquake happened and knocked down the other people and some buildings, she caused people to fall