Logical Fallacies

Aristotle’s Persuasive Appeals

Ethos: Ethical appeal on the author’s credibility, expertise, authority, character, judgment, and values.

Ex: A dentist promoting a toothpaste for an audience who has sensitive teeth in an ad.

Pathos: Appeal to the emotions, imagination, values, or desires from the audience. This appeal is the most direct and most dramatic. Emotional appeals are more immediate and sensory.

Ex: A high school student writing a speech for an anti-bullying assembly. The speaker will recall moments that they have been bullied, to persuade the audience to stop bullying.

Logos: Appeal to logic/reason by using objective evidence, facts, statistics, cogent examples, and credible testimony.

Ex: Climate activists are warning people that global warming has been increasing since the last 19 century. Data show that temperature has risen by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

Logical Fallacies

Kairos: Appeal to time. Persuading people by striking at the right moment. Taking advantage of an event’s context.

Ex: the dawn dish soap commercal

Ad Hominem/ Name Calling: This method attacks the person instead of the argument. The goal is to discredit the argument by discrediting the person advocating the argument by slandering them and calling them names.

Example:

Appeal to False Authority: when there is an assumption that the speaker should be trusted in one area because she/he is an expert in another.

Example: Oprah says that it is bad to eat after 6 pm.

Appeal to Ignorance/Argument from Ignorance: based on the assumption that a statement must be true if it is not proven to be false or vice-versa

Example: A -There is intelligent life in outer space, for no one has proven that there isn't.

B - There is no intelligent life in outer space because no one has proven that there is.

Begging the Question/ Circular Logic: where a claim is included in the conclusion but the claim is never to be proven. It’s simply restated without evidence.

Example: The belief in God is universal. After all, everyone believes in god.

Hasty Generalization: a person who draws a conclusion without sufficient evidence. People who make hasty generalizations jump into conclusions without having enough evidence for the conclusion.

Example: My father smoked four packed of cigarettes a day since he was fourteen and lived until the age of sixty-nine. Therefore, smoking really can’t be bad for you.

Non-Sequitur: an inference/conclusion that does not follow logically from the premises, or one statement that does not follow logically from another.

Example: My dog is named Max, and he likes to eat dog food. Therefore, everyone named Max likes to eat dog food.

False dichotomy/ False Dilemma/ False Choice: that involves a situation in which only two extreme alternatives are presented as choices when in fact there are additional options.

Example: If you don't support recycling, you support the destruction of the planet.

Slippery Slope/snowball effect: any action, big or small, can cause a chain reaction. This is because once you start sliding down a slope, it is basically impossible to stop yourself.

Example: if you fail tomorrow's math test, you won't get a master's degree!

Strawman: a fallacy which an opponent’s argument is deliberately misrepresented / distorted. The attacker then disputes that simplified misrepresentation. This can be done by quoting a person’s words out of context or oversimplifying an opponent’s argument, then attacking this simplified version.

Example: Pro- Choice Strawman: People who are in favor of abortion think it's okay to commit cold blooded murder.”

Pro-Life Strawman: People who think abortion should be banned have no respect for the rights of women. They treat them as nothing but baby-making machines.’

Red herring/ a form of deflection: Deflects the argument from the issue in question to another issue.

Example: In a debate, the facilitator asks the political candidate about her stance on immigration. Rather than touch this third rail topic, the candidate focuses on global warming.

Sentimental Appeals / Appeals to Emotion: replaces logic to emotion

Example: The thousands of baby seals killed in the Exxon-Valdez oil spill have shown us that oil is not a reliable source of energy. The facts in that statement don’t go together. The killing of baby seals in an oil spill don’t corroborate the argument that oil is not a reliable energy source.

Scare Tactics / Appeal to fear: use fear to persuade people to preform certain action or adopt a certain belief.

Example: smoking commercals that use real life people who have been smoking and have cancer

Dogmatism / false assertion: an arrogant assertion of opinion, without sufficient facts to support.

Example: “Women are bad drivers.” “Men never ask for directions.”

Equivocation / Fallacy of ambiguity: when someone equivocates, they may choose their words carefully to create uncertainty or to present a situation in a way that allows for multiple interpretations.

Example: Do not trust atoms, they makeup everything

Transfer: transfer a positive or negative feelings and associations of one symbol, idea, or a person to another. Closely associated with testimony.

Example: A car company creates an advertisement of its car driving through pristine country to accentuate its ecofriendliness

Testimonial: a fallacy that supports for a standpoint or product by a celebrity, who is not an expert and who is payed well for the endorsement.

Example: When Oprah Winfrey mentions a book, it becomes a best seller.

Plain Folks: the speaker tries to convince the audience that he/her is an average person who empathizes with their situation. They appealing to the common person’s values for example, family values, democracy, patriotism, Christianity.

Example: Ronald Reagan was often photographed chopping wood. Jimmy Carter was sworn into the office using the name “Jimmy”.

Card Stacking: presenting information that is an positive to an idea, product, or proposal and deliberating omitting information contrary to it.

Example: Movie ads that present quotations from movie reviews, television commercials that show interviews with ordinary citizens, and controlling the news

Bandwagon / Ad populum / popular appeal: appeal to common interest by persuading someone to do something or believe something because the mass of people does.

Example: Mcdonald’s over 99 billion served

Post Hoc/False Causality: The gullible person believes that since one event came before another, it caused the second to happen.

Example: I had been doing pretty poorly this season. Then my girlfriend gave me these neon laces for my spikes and I won my next three races. Those laces must be good luck...if I keep on wearing them I will win.

Tu Quoque / Appeal to Hypocrisy / you too / glass house fallacy: Dismissing someone’s argument because of their hypocrisy or inconsistency in the issue. Avoiding engagement with criticism by turning it back on the accuser. Answering criticism with criticism.

Example: Person 1: It should be illegal to make clothing out of animals because animals are hunted to extinction for their pelts.

Person 2: But, you are wearing a leather jacket.

Glittering Generalities: involves the use of words with a positive connotation that rely on pathos rather than logic, to make an idea sound appealing.

Examples: buzz words like “liberty”, “prosperity”, “equality”, “social justice”, “change” and “hope”

Willy / Weasel words: refer to any word that's used with the intention to mislead or misinform because they are ambiguous. word(s) that is used to mislead or misinform

Example: “Up to” “It is proven” “Experts Agree”

Faulty Analogy: Compares two things that are alike in one minor way to ascertain that they are similar in more important ways. False analogy is based on misleading, superficial, or implausible comparisons

Example: People who have to have a cup of coffee every morning before they can function have the same problem as alcoholics who have to have their alcohol each day to sustain them”.

Deduction vs Induction