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Logical Fallacies

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Page 1: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

Logical Fallacies

Page 2: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

Fallacy

Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or trueActually deceptive/dishonest

Can turn a sympathetic audience against your position

AKA AVOID THEM!!!

Page 3: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

1) Begging the Question

Assumes in the premise what the arguer should be trying to prove in the conclusionEx: Unfair and shortsighted legislation that limits free trade is a threat to the American economy.

Page 4: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

2) Argument from Analogy

A form of comparison that explains something unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiarAnalogies do not constitute proof

Page 5: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

2) Argument from Analogy – Ex:

The overcrowded conditions in some parts of our city have forced people together like rats in a cage. Like rats, they will eventually turn on one another, fighting and killing until a balance is restored. It is therefore necessary that we vote to appropriate funds to build low-cost housing.

Page 6: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

3) Personal Attack (Argument Ad Hominem)

Divert attention from the facts of an argument by attacking the motives or character of the person making the argument

Page 7: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

Personal Attack – Ex:

The public should not take seriously Dr. Mason’s plan for improving county health services. He is a former alcoholic whose wife recently divorced him.

Page 8: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

4) Hasty or Sweeping Generalization

Jumping to a conclusion, when a conclusion is reached on the basis of too little evidence.

Page 9: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

i.e. Hasty or Sweeping Generalization

Sam is riding her bike in her home town in Maine, minding her own business. A station wagon comes up behind her and the driver starts beeping his horn and then tries to force her off the road. As he goes by, the driver yells "get on the sidewalk where you belong!" Sam sees that the car has Ohio plates and concludes that all Ohio drivers are jerks.

Page 10: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

5) False Dilemma (Either/Or Fallacy)

This fallacy occurs when a writer suggests that only two alternatives exist even though there might be others.

Bush: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgLrMHm32j4

Page 11: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

7. Red Herring

A Red Herring is a fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the original issue. The basic idea is to "win" an argument by leading attention away from the argument and to another topic.

Page 12: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

Example: Red Herring

This sort of "reasoning" has the following form:

Topic A is under discussion.Topic B is introduced under the guise of being relevant to topic A (when topic B is actually not relevant to topic A).

Topic A is abandoned.

Page 13: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

8. Misleading Statistics

Although statistics are a powerful form of factual evidence, they can be misrepresented or distorted in an attempt to influence an audience.

Page 14: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

Example: Misleading Statistics

Women will never be competent firefighters; after all, 50 percent of the women in the city’s training program failed the exam

(Only 2 women were in the program)

Page 15: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

9. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (After This, Therefore Because of This)

A Post Hoc is a fallacy with the following form:

A occurs before B.Therefore A is the cause of B.

CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION!

Page 16: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

9. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (After This, Therefore Because of This)

Jane gets a rather large wart on her finger. Based on a story her father told her, she

cuts a potato in half, rubs it on the wart and then buries it under the light of a full moon.

Over the next month her wart shrinks and eventually vanishes.

Jane writes her father to tell him how right he was about the cure!

Page 17: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

10. Non Sequitor(It Does not follow)

This fallacy occurs when a statement does not logically follow from a previous statement.

Page 18: Logical Fallacies. Fallacy Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true  Actually deceptive/dishonest  Can turn a sympathetic audience against

10. Non Sequitor(It Does not follow)

Disarmament weakened the United States after World War I. Disarmament also weakened the United States after the Vietnam War. Therefore, the city’s efforts to limit gun sales will weaken the United States.