Certain types of argument moves are so controversial they have been traditionally classified as fallacies... But you might find it more interesting to think of them as flashpoints or hotspots because they instantly raise questions about the ethics of argument—that is, whether a particular strategy of argument is fair, accurate, or principled.
Fallacies are arguments supposedly flawed by their very nature or structure; as such, you should avoid them in your own writing and challenge them in arguments you hear or read. That said, it’s important to appreciate that one person’s fallacy may well be another person’s stroke of genius.
Think of fallacies not in terms of errors you can detect and expose in someone else’s work, but as strategies that hurt everyone (including the person using them) because they make productive argument more difficult. Fallacies muck up the frank but civil conversations people should be able to have– regardless of their differences.
1. Ad Hominem Ad Hominem occurs when someone attacks another person’s point of view by criticizing that person, not the issue.Often called “mudslinging”, ad hominem arguments try to invalidate a person’s ideas by revealing unrelated, past or present, personal or ethical flaws. While this technique can appear obvious, be careful.The speaker can align the subject to a negative group or refer to a negative aspect of this person’s past.
2. Begging the Question (also called Circular Reasoning) when the writer assumes the truth of something that is yet to be proven. Hint: What is your support for that premise or what does that have to do with anything?
Screen shot 2013-09-08 at 3.14.52 PM.png
A)Chocolate is healthy because it grows on trees. (Conclusion made with lack of support) B)Mr. Jones is a good communicator because he speaks effectively. (Restates the conclusion)
3. Either /Or This fallacy occurs when the author tries to insist that the situation can only be resolved in one of two possible ways.Here, the writer tends to bully the audience into a corner when really, there are many other options available.
Screen shot 2013-09-08 at 2.12.11 PM.png
A recent ad running in Philadelphia.
Is this an example of either/or?
Does it remind you a bit of this one from the 1960's?
4. Hasty Generalization Unsound conclusions based on too few instances of behavior
Screen shot 2013-09-08 at 3.10.44 PM.png
or example. In order to create a true cause and effect reasoning statement, one would certainly need a much larger numberof examples and each example would need to be thoroughly tested.Look for keyword giveaways such as ‘all’, ‘none’, and ‘never.’ In general, no generalizations prove true.
Example: Deaths from overdoses in the city have doubled in the past three years. Therefore, more Americans than ever are dying from drug abuse.
Concluding that all fraternities are party houses because you have seen three parties at one fraternity is hasty generalization. The evidence is too limited to draw an adequate conclusion.
5. Non sequitur “It does not follow.” Non sequiturs are faulty conclusions about cause and effect that overlook the many variables that could be the true reason for the situation. Because our society has stereotypes and generalizations woven throughout the media, this logical fallacy is one of the easiest to slip by an unknowing audience.
Example A "police chief's reasoning was a non sequitur when he defended consulting a psychic "to help investigators crack the case" based on the premise that "we tried everything else and haven't solved the case." The fact that the case hadn't been solved using traditional police methods is irrelevant to whether consulting a psychic is a method that should be used. The error in reasoning should become obvious if we substitute "pick a name randomly out of the phone book to identify the main suspect " for "consult a psychic." The fact that you haven't solved the case using traditional methods provides no support for trying a non-traditional method. To justify trying a non-traditional method, one needs direct evidence that the non-traditional method has some merit." http://www.skepdic.com/nonsequitur.html
In a non sequitur argument, the statements may all be relevant, but the relationships posited are logically disconnected. Examples: "Trees are green; therefore human beings enjoy spinach." "If it takes a man twenty minutes to walk a mile, women should be able to live longer than men." http://davidjroof.com/images/Fallacies.pdf
6. Red Herring arguments are deliberate attempts
Screen shot 2013-09-08 at 4.05.17 PM.png
redirect the audience’s attention to something entirely unrelated to the core issue. Rather than examine the merits of the issue, the author tries to draw attention to a peripheral and often unrelated topic. You could call this fallacy the classic ‘change the topic’ technique. The interesting part of recognizing this logical fallacy is not whether the speaker has changed the topic, but rather, you should be asking why the speaker is avoiding the subject.
Example: If someone tells you that Burger King has failed a number of health codes, a red herring response from the manager would be, “This wouldn’t have happened if the state didn’t arrest all of our employees the day before.” The manager’s response tries to distract the audience from his responsibility in the situation by discussing the arrest of his employees which might have inconvenienced him, but is not the reason for the health code violation.
7. Post Hoc thinking results when it’s presumed that one event caused another just because it occurred first. This illogical reasoning uses what could be considered a coincidence to explain a cause an effect relationship resulting in false generalizations and superstitions. There are far too many variable to consider and just because the two events may have happened at similar times, doesn’t mean that they are consequential. Example: If your car broke down the day after you lent it to your brother, you would be committing post hoc fallacy if you blamed your brother. Unless you know he did something directly to cause the engine problem, the fact is that the two events are inconsequential. Otherwise, there are many other reasons why the car broke down when it did.
8. False Analogy fallacies will try to suggest that because two things are alike in some ways, they are alike in all ways. The author will hope that the very significant differences between the two will be overlooked. Example: The universe is like an intricate watch. A watch must have been designed by a watchmaker. Therefore, the universe must have been designed by some kind of creator. While the universe may be like a watch in that it is intricate, this does not in itself justify the assumption that watches and the universe have similar origins nor does it prove the existence of a creator.
Is there a false analogy here?
9. Questionable Authority fallacies are very popularly abused in advertising. These fallacies are revealed by such phrases as “studies show”, “experts claim”, and “surveys prove”. Readers have the right to be suspicious of the writer’s credibility when the authority behind the statements is never fully developed. Example: The students surveyed all agree that the school day should begin later in the morning. Critical readers should question which students were surveyed, what questions were involved in the survey, where and when the survey took place, and most importantly, whether students who may have bias towards the school starting time really are credible sources for this statement.
10. Slippery Slope fallacies are illogical jumps to conclusions based on one event. There may be many steps between one event to the next but the writer is leaping over the steps and hoping that the audience will join him. Slippery slope fallacies are largely based on fear or shock effect. Beneath the umbrella of slippery slope, you will often find appeals to fear. Example: If we don’t stop the tuition increase now, nobody will be able to afford college in the future. Assuming that ‘nobody’ will afford college is not logical and there are many stages before someone could draw such a drastic conclusion.
From Everything's an Argument:
Certain types of argument moves are so controversial they have been traditionally classified as fallacies... But you might find it more interesting to think of them as flashpoints or hotspots because they instantly raise questions about the ethics of argument—that is, whether a particular strategy of argument is fair, accurate, or principled.
Fallacies are arguments supposedly flawed by their very nature or structure; as such, you should avoid them in your own writing and challenge them in arguments you hear or read. That said, it’s important to appreciate that one person’s fallacy may well be another person’s stroke of genius.
Think of fallacies not in terms of errors you can detect and expose in someone else’s work, but as strategies that hurt everyone (including the person using them) because they make productive argument more difficult. Fallacies muck up the frank but civil conversations people should be able to have– regardless of their differences.
1. Ad Hominem
Ad Hominem occurs when someone attacks another person’s point of view by criticizing that person, not the issue.Often called “mudslinging”, ad hominem arguments try to invalidate a person’s ideas by revealing unrelated, past or present, personal or ethical flaws.
While this technique can appear obvious, be careful.The speaker can align the subject to a negative group or refer to a negative aspect of this person’s past.
The Daily Show
Daily Show Full Episodes, More Daily Show Videos, Comedy Central Full Episodes
2. Begging the Question (also called Circular Reasoning)
when the writer assumes the truth of something that is yet to be proven.
Hint: What is your support for that premise or what does that have to do with anything?
A)Chocolate is healthy because it grows on trees. (Conclusion made with lack of support)
B)Mr. Jones is a good communicator because he speaks effectively. (Restates the conclusion)
http://newscorpwatch.org/mmtv/200904150038
3. Either /Or
This fallacy occurs when the author tries to insist that the situation can only be resolved in one of two possible ways.Here, the writer tends to bully the audience into a corner when really, there are many other options available.
A recent ad running in Philadelphia.
Is this an example of either/or?
Does it remind you a bit of this one from the 1960's?
4. Hasty Generalization
Unsound conclusions based on too few instances of behavior
Example: Deaths from overdoses in the city have doubled in the past three years. Therefore, more Americans than ever are dying from drug abuse.
Concluding that all fraternities are party houses because you have seen three parties at one fraternity is hasty generalization. The evidence is too limited to draw an adequate conclusion.
5. Non sequitur
“It does not follow.” Non sequiturs are faulty conclusions about cause and effect that overlook the many variables that could be the true reason for the situation. Because our society has stereotypes and generalizations woven throughout the media, this logical fallacy is one of the easiest to slip by an unknowing audience.
Example
A "police chief's reasoning was a non sequitur when he defended consulting a psychic "to help investigators crack the case" based on the premise that "we tried everything else and haven't solved the case." The fact that the case hadn't been solved using traditional police methods is irrelevant to whether consulting a psychic is a method that should be used. The error in reasoning should become obvious if we substitute "pick a name randomly out of the phone book to identify the main suspect " for "consult a psychic." The fact that you haven't solved the case using traditional methods provides no support for trying a non-traditional method. To justify trying a non-traditional method, one needs direct evidence that the non-traditional method has some merit."
http://www.skepdic.com/nonsequitur.html
In a non sequitur argument, the statements may all be relevant, but the relationships posited are logically disconnected. Examples: "Trees are green; therefore human beings enjoy spinach." "If it takes a man twenty minutes to walk a mile, women should be able to live longer than men."
http://davidjroof.com/images/Fallacies.pdf
6. Red Herring arguments are deliberate attempts
Example: If someone tells you that Burger King has failed a number of health codes, a red herring response from the manager would be, “This wouldn’t have happened if the state didn’t arrest all of our employees the day before.”
The manager’s response tries to distract the audience from his responsibility in the situation by discussing the arrest of his employees which might have inconvenienced him, but is not the reason for the health code violation.
7. Post Hoc thinking results when it’s presumed that one event caused another just because it occurred first. This illogical reasoning uses what could be considered a coincidence to explain a cause an effect relationship resulting in false generalizations and superstitions. There are far too many variable to consider and just because the two events may have happened at similar times, doesn’t mean that they are consequential.
Example: If your car broke down the day after you lent it to your brother, you would be committing post hoc fallacy if you blamed your brother. Unless you know he did something directly to cause the engine problem, the fact is that the two events are inconsequential. Otherwise, there are many other reasons why the car broke down when it did.
8. False Analogy fallacies will try to suggest that because two things are alike in some ways, they are alike in all ways. The author will hope that the very significant differences between the two will be overlooked.
Example:
The universe is like an intricate watch.
A watch must have been designed by a watchmaker.
Therefore, the universe must have been designed by some kind of creator.
While the universe may be like a watch in that it is intricate, this does not in itself justify the assumption that watches and the universe have similar origins nor does it prove the existence of a creator.
Is there a false analogy here?
9. Questionable Authority fallacies are very popularly abused in advertising. These fallacies are revealed by such phrases as “studies show”, “experts claim”, and “surveys prove”. Readers have the right to be suspicious of the writer’s credibility when the authority behind the statements is never fully developed.
Example: The students surveyed all agree that the school day should begin later in the morning.
Critical readers should question which students were surveyed, what questions were involved in the survey, where and when the survey took place, and most importantly, whether students who may have bias towards the school starting time really are credible sources for this statement.
10. Slippery Slope fallacies are illogical jumps to conclusions based on one event. There may be many steps between one event to the next but the writer is leaping over the steps and hoping that the audience will join him. Slippery slope fallacies are largely based on fear or shock effect. Beneath the umbrella of slippery slope, you will often find appeals to fear.
Example: If we don’t stop the tuition increase now, nobody will be able to afford college in the future.
Assuming that ‘nobody’ will afford college is not logical and there are many stages before someone could draw such a drastic conclusion.