Logical Fallacies and Annotated Bibliography Guidelines

Administrative Updates and Semester Deadlines

• Final Grade Submission: All outstanding assignments, including those that are late or have not yet been evaluated, must be submitted by the deadline of $August\,3$. This ensures that final grades are processed on time and allows students to review their argumentative papers.
• Class Schedule Modification: There will be no formal classroom session next Wednesday. Instead, the instructor will be available in the physical classroom for optional one-on-one consultations regarding essay ideas and argumentative papers.
• Feedback Delivery: The instructor will record individual feedback videos for each student’s essay draft. These will be accessible via Canvas, specifically within the comments section of the relevant assignment.

The Annotated Bibliography Assignment

• Due Date: The annotated bibliography is due on Sunday, $July\,26$.
• Source Requirements: The assignment requires a selection of sources chosen for the upcoming argumentative paper.
  • Students should select between $3$ and $5$ sources for their paper.
  • The annotated bibliography itself must include at least $3$ of these sources. It is considered a separate assignment from the final Works Cited page.
• Organizational Strategy: One efficient method for completing the assignment is to first create a standard Works Cited page with all $5$ sources, then duplicate that document. On the copy, rename the title to "Annotated Bib," remove two citations if necessary, and add the required annotations.
• Formatting Guidelines:
  • The header must include the student’s last name and page number on the top right-hand side.
  • Personal identification information (name, instructor, etc.) should be placed on the left-hand side.
  • The document must be titled "Annotated Bib."
  • Each entry consists of the formal citation followed by the annotation (informative summary/evaluation) placed underneath.

Introduction to Logical Fallacies

• Definition: A logical fallacy is a flawed argument that may sound convincing or true but contains errors in reasoning that undermine its logic. They are often illegitimate arguments or irrelevant points that lack substantive support for their claims.
• Significance in Argumentation: Fallacies are common in modern online commentary and political debates. Because they hinge on unproven premises, they leave an argument vulnerable to counter-claims. Identifying fallacies allows writers to orchestrate stronger arguments and deconstruct the flawed logic of others.
• Prevalence: Philosophers have identified hundreds of specific fallacies. Some resources, such as a featured YouTube video, attempt to catalog them quickly (e.g., $31$ fallacies described in $8$ minutes).

Comprehensive List of Specific Fallacies and Examples

• Ad Hominem: Attacking the character, appearance, or personal traits of the opponent rather than addressing the substance of their argument.
  • Example 1 (Political): A candidate promises trash pickup, and the opponent responds by mocking their hearing aid or calling them an "old man."
  • Example 2 (Driving): Jim suggests fixing traffic lights, and Bob dismisses the idea because Jim failed his driving test twice.
  • Example 3 (Commercial): A Time Warner Cable ad suggests DIRECTV hates puppies as a way to attack the competitor's character.
• Slippery Slope: Proclaiming that one small incident will inevitably trigger a chain of events leading to a grave, often hyperbolic, consequence (an "A to Z" logic).
  • Example 1 (Direct): The argument that if you eat Taco Bell, you will contract Psychospora and "poop until you're dead."
  • Example 2 (DIRECTV Ad): A customer waits for a cable guy, gets bored, stares out a window, witnesses a crime, has to vanish, fakes their own death, and eventually attends their own funeral as a man named "Phil Shiffley."
• *False Dichotomy (False Dilemma): Presenting only two extreme options as the only possibilities when a spectrum of choices actually exists.
  • Example 1: The post-$September\,11$ slogan: "You're either with us or against us."
  • Example 2: A child tells their father, "Either you trust me to do the right thing, or you're a bad father."
• Straw Man: Distorting, exaggerating, or misrepresenting an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack.
  • Example 1 (Friends): When Ross presents scientific facts about fossils, Phoebe counters by characterizing his position as "arrogant" because "brightest minds" once thought the Earth was flat or the atom was the smallest unit.
  • Example 2 (General): Jim suggests eating healthier; Bob responds, "So you think we should never eat pizza again?"
• Red Herring: A deliberate diversion intended to abandon the original argument by introducing a separate, easier-to-handle topic.
  • Example 1 (Family Guy): Mayor West is asked about garbage pickup frequency and responds by discussing the philosophical beauty of questions and answers.
  • Example 2 (Clueless): During a debate on Haitian refugees, Cher redirects the conversation to a story about a garden party for her father's $50^{th}$ birthday and redistributing place settings.
• *Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (Faulty Causality): The assumption that because Event B occurred after Event A, Event A must have caused Event B.
  • Example 1 (Personal): An $8$-year-old eats pizza, gets a virus, and refuses to eat pizza for $5$ years, believing the pizza caused the illness.
  • Example 2 (Big Bang Theory): Sheldon's mother believes her church group's prayers ensured his safety in the Arctic; Sheldon argues the logic is fallacious.
  • Example 3 (Friends): Joey's roommate suggests that because the fridge broke shortly after Joey moved in, Joey must have broken it.
• Appeal to Authority: Insisting a claim is true simply because a person of status (celebrity, scientist, etc.) said it was, without providing other evidence.
  • Example: A $1940$s/$1950$s Camel cigarette ad claiming "more doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette" to imply they are safe or healthy.
• *Bandwagon (Ad Populum): Urging the audience to believe or do something because "everyone else" is doing it.
  • Example: Commercials for Old Navy or Levi's jeans suggesting everyone looks cool in them, or TikTok trends pressuring parents to buy new backpacks for the school year.
• *Circular Reasoning (Begging the Question): An argument where the conclusion is hidden in the premise; basically saying "I'm right because I'm right."
  • Example (Idiocracy): People water plants with an energy drink called "Brondo" because it has "electrolytes." When asked why plants need electrolytes, they respond "because Brondo's got electrolytes."
• Hasty Generalization: Drawing a conclusion based on insufficient or biased evidence, such as one or two non-representative examples.
  • Example: In a Batman clip, a character smells bacon and immediately concludes the "guy is here" based only on that scent.
• *Appeal to Pity (Pathos Fallacy): Supporting a position by provoking guilt or pity in the audience.
  • Example: Pedigree adoption commercials featuring Sarah McLaughlin's music and images of shelter dogs to encourage donations.

Questions & Discussion

• Student Observation on Political Fallacies: A student noted that people often attribute fluctuating gas prices to the current or former administration (e.g., Trump) without a direct proof of causality, which represents a Post Hoc or Faulty Causality fallacy.
• Clarification on Source Count: A student asked for clarification on the required number of sources for the annotated bibliography. The instructor confirmed a range of $3$ to $5$ sources is expected for the final paper, but only $3$ need to be annotated for the current assignment.
• Instructor Advice on Identifying Fallacies: The instructor encouraged students to search for logical fallacies in commercials or YouTube compilations, noting that modern advertising (like the "Mayhem" Allstate commercials or Old Navy back-to-school ads) is a rich source for these errors in reasoning.