Bell Ringer

• What is a fallacy?

• Describe something that is logical.

• What is a logical fallacy?

• Can you think of a logical fallacy?

Bell Ringer

• Explain what a straw man fallacy is?

• Generally what does the phrase “band wagon” mean?

• Why is it important to learn about logical fallicies?

Logical Fallacy

• A fallacy is an argument that uses poor reasoning. An argument can be fallacious whether or not its conclusion is true. A fallacy can be either formal or informal. An error that stems from a poor logical form is sometimes called a formal fallacy or simply an invalid argument.

Your logical fallacy is…

Example• Bill and Jill are arguing about cleaning out their

closets: Jill: "We should clean out the closets. They are

getting a bit messy." Bill: "Why, we just went through those closets

last year. Do we have to clean them out everyday?" Jill: "I never said anything about cleaning them

out every day. You just want too keep all your junk forever, which is just ridiculous."

Example

• Bread is Dangerous– More than 98 percent of convicted felons are

bread users– Fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-

consuming households score below average on standardized tests

– More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of eating bread

– Newborn babies can choke on bread

Example

• Power lines cause cancer. I met a little boy with cancer who lived just 20 miles from a power line who looked into my eyes and said, in his weak voice, “Please do whatever you can so that other kids won’t have to go through what I am going through.” I urge you to vote for this bill to tear down all power lines and replace them with monkeys on treadmills.

Example

• We cannot unlock our child from the closet because if we do, she will want to roam the house. If we let her roam the house, she will want to roam the neighborhood. If she roams the neighborhood, she will get picked up by a stranger in a van, who will kidnap her and take her to some other country. Therefore, we should keep her locked up in the closet.

Example

• Bill: "I believe that cloning is morally wrong." Dave: "Of course you would say that, you're a priest." Bill: "What about the arguments I gave to support my position?" Dave: "Those don't count. Like I said, you're a priest, so you have to say that cloning is wrong. Plus you never went to college so why should I listen to you?”

Example

• Parent “Why haven’t you cleaned your room yet?”

• You “ I haven’t gotten around to it. Have you signed my permission slip for my class trip yet?

• Parent “No I haven’t got to it yet.”

Personal Incredulity Example

• Ghosts can’t be real because their existence doesn’t make sense. So since I can’t understand it, it can’t be real.

Example

• Yes, I do think that all drunk drivers should go to prison, but your honor, he is my son! He is a good boy who just made a mistake!

Example

• Why is America the greatest country in the world?

Examples

• The greatest ice cream flavor of all time is Chocolate, and if you disagree you can prove otherwise

Example

• Your parents ask how you are doing in school.

• Your respond, “I’m doing fine in all my classes, so you don’t need to check my grades.”

Example

Example

• My 5th grade teacher once told me that girls will go crazy for boys if they learn how to dance. Therefore, if you want to make the ladies go crazy for you, learn to dance.

Example

• Each brick in that building weighs less than a pound. Therefore, the building weighs less than a pound.

• His house is about half the size of my house, so his house must cost about half as much as my house does.

Example

• Person A: No one born in the south likes Hockey

• Person B: I was born in the south and I like hockey

• Person A: No true person born in the south likes hockey

Example

• Bill is dead or he is alive.• Bill is not dead.

• Therefore Bill is alive.

• Why is America the greatest country in the world?

Example• The name of a popular

beverage, Coca-Cola, came from the fact that the drink originally had COCAINE in it! Coke was originally claimed to cure many diseases including: morphine addition, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, headache, impotence, and improve overall health. This was all considered fine as Cocaine is a “natural” substance

Example

• “Global warming? Yeah, right! It snowed in May in my home town today. That doesn’t sound like “warming” to me!

• “Smoking isn’t that bad for you. My grandfather smoked a pack a day and lived till 97. The government is just trying to scare you.”

Example

• The makers of Sugarette Candy Drinks point to research showing that of the five countries where Sugarette drinks sell the most units, three of them are in the top ten healthiest countries on Earth, therefore Sugarette drinks are healthy.

Example

• Congressman Jones has proposed cutting welfare payments by 50% while Congresswoman Shender has proposed increasing welfare payments by 10% to keep up with inflation and cost of living increases. I think that the best proposal is the one made by Congressman Trumple. He says that a 30% decrease in welfare payments is a good middle ground, so I think that is what we should support.

BONUS FALLACY!!!

Appeal to the Moon

• Reasoning that if we can put a man on the moon, we can do just about anything.