Fallacies

Mistakes in reasoning or thinking

Begging The Question

•Taking a premise to be proven as true•Often related to circular logic•Ex: “Allah exists. I know this because the Quran says so. The Quran was written by Allah, so it must be true.”The person is assuming Allah exists and using his existence to defend his position. This is a good example of circular logic.•Ex: “All cats are murderous. Kittens are cats. I have a pet kitten. My pet is murderous.”The idea that all cats are murderous isn’t one that everyone can agree on; it isn’t a universal truth that everyone knows. The author can’t prove his kitten is murderous until he proves his initial assumption that all cats are murderous.

Occurs when a speaker makes a claim that presents a range of choices.

Writers that use either/or are trying to force their audience to accept a perspective by using two choices, one of which is less desirable than the other.

By the sound of your voice, you are either excited or angry.

You will either love us or hate us.

Ad HominemA claim or argument is rejected by pointing out a

negative characteristic or belief of the person supporting it.

--------------------------------------------------------

Examples:

-“You can't believe John when he says the proposed policy would help the economy. He doesn't even have a job.”

-Jimi Hendrix died of a drug overdose, so his music was worthless.

Straw Man Argument

Straw Man Argument: Exaggerated form of opponent’s argument is created. The new

argument is attacked instead of the old one.

Examples

“I think we should give more bailouts.”

“You want to make the government go broke!”

“I'm pro-choice.”

“No, you're pro-murder.”

Post Hoc

Fallacy “Post hoc, ergo propter hoc”

the mistaken notion that simply because one thing happens after another, the first event was a cause of the second event

Superstitions – “I wore this bracelet, and aced my test. Therefore, I will wear the bracelet for my next test and ace it too.”

“I had a headache, so I stood on my head, and six hours later my headache went away. Standing on your head will get rid of headaches.”

Post hoc

Overgeneralization -Overgeneralization: claims which use words like all and never; statements that are so general that they oversimplify reality; stereotyping

- Examples: All swimmers pee in pools.

In times of crisis, every American supports the president.

Christians never commit sins.

Ad Populum

• An argument is consider to be true only because most people believe it.

• In Latin it means “appeal to the people”, which is exactly what it does.

Examples

• More people prefer Ford trucks over Chevy trucks, therefore Ford trucks are the better pick for a truck.

• Although Obama is trying his best to figure out how to get people jobs, most people still do not think he is doing a good job.

H ast y Gener aliz at ion

is com m itted w hen a person draw s a conclusion about a population based on a sam ple that is not large enough.

U sually has the fo llow ing form :

# Sam ple S , w hich is too sm all, is taken from population P.

# C onclusion C is draw n about Population P based on S .

Person m isuses Inductive G enera lization:

# X% of a ll observed A 's are B ''s.

# Therefore X% of a ll A 's are Bs

N on S equ itu rs

N on sequitur is Latin . It litera lly translates to “does not fo llow ”

A non sequitur is an argum ent w here the conclusion doesn't fo llow any points m ade in the argum ent.

This can w ork in a num ber of w ays, such as:

Since snakes are reptiles and th is anim al is a reptile , it is a snake

S ince rice is delicious and th is food is not rice, it isn 't de licious.

N on S equ itu rs

N on sequitur is Latin . It litera lly translates to “does not fo llow ”

A non sequitur is an argum ent w here the conclusion doesn't fo llow any points m ade in the argum ent.

This can w ork in a num ber of w ays, such as:

Since snakes are reptiles and th is an im al is a reptile , it is a snake

S ince rice is de licious and th is food is not rice, it isn 't de licious.

Oversimplification A fallacy that occurs when it is assumed that there is

a single, simple cause of an outcome when in reality it may have been caused by several factors.

Examples: School violence has gone up and students’ grades have

gone down ever since prayer was banned at public schools. Prayer should be reintroduced, which would result in school improvement.

Either medicine can explain how Ms. Smith was cured, or it is a miracle. Medicine can't explain how she was cured. Therefore it is a miracle.

Oversimplification

Red HerringRed HerringRed Herring

Red Herring

- Definition: something that is or is intended to be misleading or distracting; something that draws attention from the central issue.

-Examples: 1. Politicians may avoid certain questions by addressing

or bringing up an easier topic. 2. A director of a horror movie may place a suspicious

character in the movie to divert attention away from the real serial killer.

3. A character in a book may mention a certain event, getting your mind off the event that truly has significance.

Red Herring

- Definition: something that is or is intended to be misleading or distracting; something that draws attention from the central issue.

-Examples: 1. Politicians may avoid certain questions by addressing

or bringing up an easier topic. 2. A director of a horror movie may place a suspicious

character in the movie to divert attention away from the real serial killer.

3. A character in a book may mention a certain event, getting your mind off the event that truly has significance.

This can work in a number of ways, such as:

Since snakes are reptiles and this animal is a reptile, it is a snake

Since rice is delicious and this food is not rice, it isn't delicious.

Non Sequiturs

Non sequitur is Latin. It literally translates to “does not follow”

A non sequitur is an argument where the conclusion doesn't follow any points made in the argument.

This can work in a number of ways, such as:

Since snakes are reptiles and this animal is a reptile, it is a snake

Since rice is delicious and this food is not rice, it isn't delicious.

Slippery Slope• Definition: Assuming that if one step or action

is taken it will invariably lead to similar steps or actions.

• Examples:– If we ban Hummers because they are bad for the

environment eventually the government will ban all cars, so we should not ban Hummers.

– If I make an exception for you then I’ll have to make an exception for everyone.

Hasty Generalization

is committed when a person draws a conclusion about a population based on a sample that is not large enough.

Usually has the following form: # Sample S, which is too small, is taken from population

P. # Conclusion C is drawn about Population P based on S.

Person misuses Inductive Generalization: # X% of all observed A's are B''s. # Therefore X% of all A's are Bs