...Abstract 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. My paper will involve the fallacy of false cause, fallacy of accident, and fallacy of equivocation and amphiboly. It will gives examples on how there are many connections of the world and the fallacies. Fallacies Talking about fallacy in logic means an error in reasoning that seems to be correct but when you check closer, the fallacy is not correct. There are several different groups of fallacies which all have different definitions. There are fallacies of relevance, fallacy of defective induction, fallacies of presumption, and fallacies of ambiguity. These are called informal fallacies or material fallacies, something like a replica. There proves to be over a hundred different fallacies. I will only talk about a few, which are fallacy of false cause, fallacy of accident, fallacies of equivocation and fallacy of amphiboly. I will explain how the different fallacies connect with each other in an either similar way or a distinct way. You will see how fallacies have such similarity to meanings we have learned about since we were children. I will tell you how the different fallacies apply to the world and how they are all similar to our everyday thoughts. Fallacy of false cause and fallacy of accident...
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...Nicole Bratcher-Bouyer February 3, 2015 Fallacy Essay Don’t Be a Menace The hit 1996 movie Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood is a remake of multiple classic hood movies mixed into one, in which the writers utilized rhetorical fallacies to point out stereotypes of black youth growing up in the hood. There are a plethora of fallacies in the film, but two stood out to me the most. The first major fallacy of the film begins in the scene of the main character, Trey, being dropped off by his mother to his father’s house in South Central. In the car they have one last heart to heart about what he needs to do now in order to insure he has a great future ahead of him. This intimate moment begins with the following fallacy: “Trey, I don’t want you hanging out in these streets. I want you to finish school ‘cause without an education the only kind of work you’re going to get is selling drugs, pimping women, or working security for Eddie Murphy.” This statement is an example of a slippery slope fallacy, which is an argument that falsely assumes one thing will lead to another. In this case Trey’s mother is falsely assuming without an education Trey will only have three outcomes in life, in which all are negative, but she used this fallacy to stress the importance of an education to Trey. However, the writers used the fallacy to point out the stereotype that every black man who does not finish school will only end up living bad alternative lifestyles...
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...Click a fallacy on the left and drag it over to the correct example on the right. Repeat until all fallacies are correctly matched with their corresponding examples. Congratulations! You have completed this activity. Apple Polishing Of course, Cory, a generous, kind and giving brother, would let us play with his racetrack. Ad Hominem Todd agrees with the referee's call and says the referee made a good decision when he called the pass incomplete; however, this cannot be considered true because Todd is the head coach for the opposing team. Two Wrongs Make a Right On the way to his car, George noticed he was not charged for his second gallon of milk. He decides not to return to the store because if he had overpaid on the item, the store would not have returned his money. Slippery Slope If I do not pass Critical Thinking, I will not be able to move to the next course. If I do not move to the next course, I probably will not be able to continue in school, and if I do not continue in school, I will not earn my degree. Straw Man We might as well forget what Bishop Simon has to say about abortion and ethics. After all, he is a Catholic bishop so it is natural he would have those views. Begging the Question Critical Thinking must be a difficult class because Andrea said so. Red Herring I know you didn't get all your homework done because the Internet is out. But, if you had done the work days ago, you wouldn't be worried now. Appeal to Popularity I read the other day that...
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...Date: April 13, 2014 In an inductive argument statement, the speaker or the writer collects the nnumber of instances and forms the generalization of that statement that is meant to apply to all instances. Here are some examples of inductive argument: Argument by example: 1) Ram plays basketball and he looks really healthy. Mohan plays basketball and he looks really healthy. Rohan play basketball and he looks really healthy. So, all the basketball players look really healthy. 2) Argument by Analogy: In this, the statement goes like this way: If T1 have a property p1, p2…Pn in it and T2 have a property p1, p2, p3…Pn, Pn+1 then T1 is like T2 as they have P2, P3 …Pn in common. Therefore, T1 has property Tn+1 For example: Humans (T1) falls under the category mammels (P1) and they give birth to their babies (P2) Cows (T2) falls under the category mammels (P1), they give birth to their babies (P2) and also need oxygen to bredth (P3) for surviving. Humans are like Cows. Thus, humans also need oxygen to survive. 3) Argument from Authority: In this argument form, the statement goes such as: If X (an authority on Z) says Y Then Y is true. For example: Let X be the Teacher, Z be the exam hall and Y be the cheating in the examination hall is stictly prohibited and student will be punished for that. So, be the cheating in the examination hall is against the exam rule which is true. 4) Argument about causes: a) Correlation vs Causation: ...
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...Fallacy Summaries with Examples Name: Institution: Fallacy Summaries with Examples Appeal to Authority The fallacy of appeal to authority also referred to as the Fallacious Appeal to Authority, irrelevant Authority or Ad Vercundiam takes the following form, the first person is claimed to be an authority on subject S and hence makes a claim C about subject S hence making C true. The fallacy is mostly committed when the individual in question is not a lawful authority on the subject. This implies that if an individual A does not merit making reliable claims on a subject B, the argument becomes fallacious. The reasoning becomes fallacious when the individual under focus is not necessarily an expert hence the given cases makes the reasoning flawed since there is no justification for the claim since an unauthorized person made the claim. In the event that a person falls prey to the fallacy, then it implies that the individual is accepting a claim as being true in the absence of adequate evidence to do so. Additionally, the individual accepting the claim does so erroneously on belief that the individual making the claim is an expert which implies that the claim is reasonable to accept. Example 1 An argument about the morality of abortion Individual A: I strongly believe in abortion as being morally acceptable simply because a woman aught to have a right over her own body. Individual B: I strongly disagree. Findings from numerous medical researches say that abortion is morally...
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...provide evidence for its conclusion; whether or not you’ll be excommunicated for disbelieving the geocentric model has no bearing on whether the geocentric model is true. The argument therefore commits the appeal to force fallacy. Example: Ad Hominem (1) William Dembski argues that modern biology supports the idea that there is an intelligent designer who created life. (2) Dembski would say that because he’s religious. Therefore: (3) Modern biology doesn’t support intelligent design. This argument rejects the view that intelligent design is supported by modern science based on a remark about the person advancing the view, not by engaging with modern biology. It ignores the argument, focusing only on the arguer; it is therefore a fallacious argument ad hominem. Red Herring “You may think that he cheated on the test, but look at the poor little thing! How would he feel if you made him sit it again?” An appeal to pity, for example, can be used to distract from the issue at hand. Example: Bandwagon (1) Increasingly, people are coming to believe that Eastern religions help us to get in touch with our true inner being. Therefore: (2) Eastern religions help us to get in touch with our true inner being. This argument commits the bandwagon fallacy because it appeals to the mere fact that an idea is fashionable as evidence that the idea is true. Mere trends in thought are not reliable guides to truth, though; the fact that Eastern religions are becoming more fashionable...
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...Assumptions & Fallacies HUM/111 April 17, 2014 Pam Strunk Assumptions & Fallacies 1) What are assumptions? How do you think assumptions might interfere with critical thinking? Elder, L. & Paul, R. (2002) define assumptions as "is something we take for granted or presuppose" 25 (3), 34. It is imperative to identify what we believe on the basis of an argument, as opposed to what we know. Develop critical thinking made us able to abstract our prejudices and preconceptions acquired through our life experience. These assumptions incorporate our paradigms and stereotypes. What we get through the reasoning of the information and assumptions are the interpretations that draws conclusions and give meaning to the data. With inferences, we take only what is apparent from the evidence. Therefore, I have to check whether inferences are logical. Our conclusions are often distorted by our interests. We must ensure that our conclusions will be the focus of all relevant information and that we have not excluded the information that does not support our preconceived ideas. 2) What are fallacies? What might you do to avoid using this particular fallacy in your thinking? Fallacy is an argument that is not valid or wrong, but with the appearance of correct reasoning. It is a misleading or erroneous reasoning, but it aims to be convincing or persuasive. Fallacious reasoning does not necessarily have a false conclusion, and right or valid reasoning...
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...identify Logical Fallacies? By: Tabitha Harris American InterContinental Online University July 16, 2013 Abstract This purpose of this paper is to identify and explain what literature experts call Logical Fallacies. This document will include reasonable vocabulary, logical definitions, and sound examples of how to and how not to include these fallacies into your writings. There will be some suggestions made to assist with recognizing and examining some of the logical fallacies located within the writings of others, as well as in your own. By the end of this paper, your thoughts will be enlightened, and your knowledge of logical fallacies stronger, whether you’re a reader, writer, or just someone looking to learn. How do we identify Logical Fallacies? Logical Fallacies are arguments or false statements that appear to be true, when in fact, they’re not. Logical fallacies can also be accurate and are used to pursue someone to accept a single thought or feeling. People use logical fallacies to prove a point and to support reasoning behind a thought. There are different types of fallacies that I will go over in this paper. Fallacies often dilute arguments and by learning to recognize them in your own writing helps boost your ability to identify them in others’ writings, as well. This document will point out and explain key fallacies to look for in your writings and literature in general. (Career Education Corporation [CEC], 2010) LOGICAL FALLACIES: * Mere Assertion:...
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...Logical Fallacies Nicole Smith American Intercontinental University Online Abstract Logical fallacies are mistakes in philosophical reasoning. One must be able to determine when a fallacy is being used as an argument so they are prepared to argument against such fallacy. Logical Fallacies There are several logical fallacies to watch for when making a philosophical argument. A mere assertion is someone asserting a lie to make it seem as a truth. It usually lacks any facts that would support it being true. This type of fallacy does not have any logic behind it. As an example, if I said that my boss is stupid. I have no facts that supports that she is stupid and in fact since she is in a management position at the company she is more than likely not stupid. Circular reasoning is an argument that starts with what the person making the argument is try to end up with. For example, my daughter is my child because I am her mother and therefore she is my child. This argument is stating the argument at the beginning and at the end, which makes it a circular reasoning and also a logical argument. Ad hominem is making an argument specifically against an opponent, which makes the argument personal and attacking the person’s character instead of their argument. Also referred to as, an appeal to motive (Bennett, 2012). An example of this would be if two presidential candidates were having a debate and one of the candidates brought up that the other candidate may have used drugs...
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...Love Is a Fallacy - Written by Max Shulman Cool was I and logical...My brain was as powerful as a dynamo, as precise as a chemist's scales, as penetrating as a scalpel. And-think of it!-I was only eighteen. It is not often that one young has such a giant intellect. Take, for example, Petey Burch, my roommate at the University of Minnesota. Same age, same background, but dump as an ox. A nice enough fellow, you understand, but nothing upstairs... One afternoon I found Peter lying on his bed with an expression of such distress on his face that I immediately diagnosed appendicitis. "Don't move," I said. "Don't take a laxative. I'll get a doctor." "Raccoon," he mumbled thickly. "Raccoon?" I said, pausing in my flight. "I want a raccoon coat," he wailed. I perceives that his trouble was not physical, but mental. "Why do you want a raccoon coat?"... "All the Big Men on Campus are wearing them. Where've you been?" "In the library," I said, naming a place not frequented by Big Men on Campus. He leaped from the bed and paced the room, "I've got to have a raccoon coat," he said passionately. "I've got to!" "Peter, why? Look at it rationally. Raccoon coats are unsanitary. They shed. They smell bad. They weigh too much. They're unsightly. They-" "You don't understand," he interrupted impatiently. "It's the thing to do... I'd give anything for a raccoon coat. Anything!" My brain, that precision instrument, slipped into high gear. "Anything?" I asked, looking...
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...Associate Level Material Assumptions and Fallacies Write a 150- to 200-word response to each of the following sets of questions: • What are assumptions? How do you think assumptions might interfere with critical thinking? What might you do to avoid making assumptions in your thinking? An assumption is something that is accepted as true or certain to happen, without proof. When you make an assumption you are, ultimately, throwing reasoning out the window because you have replaced critical thinking with, either, hearse or imagination. In order to not let assumptions take control of your critical thinking you, basically, need to only look at what is and speculate about potential scenarios as being true or believed to happen scenarios. This, with most things, is definitely an easier said than done scenario. For me, the best way I’ve learned to not let assumptions ruin my own critical thinking is to simply my thought process and not expect anything to happen until it actually does happen. This way I only deal with what is and not what I think. • What are fallacies? How are fallacies used in written, oral, and visual arguments? What might you do to avoid fallacies in your thinking? Fallacies are mistaken beliefs or unsound arguments that render an argument invalid. Fallacies can be used in all forms of arguments the person preparing the argument does not validate their statements by either checking the quality of their sources or not obtaining factual...
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...Associate Level Material Assumptions and Fallacies Write a 150- to 200-word response to each of the following sets of questions: 1. What are assumptions? 2. something taken for granted: something that is believed to true without proof 3. belief without proof: the belief that something is true without having any proof 4. act of undertaking something: the act of taking something upon yourself • • How do you think assumptions might interfere with critical thinking? Without seeinh the whole picture for what it worth a person assumption may cloud the critical thinking and make the person not see it at all • What might you do to avoid making assumptions in your thinking? I will make sure I have all supporting evidence before making any assumptions. I will consider other option before assuming anything and I will ask any necessary questions needed for me to see the whole picture. • What are fallacies? a deceptive, misleading, or false notion, belief, etc.: That the world is flat was at one time a popular fallacy. 2. a misleading or unsound argument. 3. deceptive, misleading, or false nature; erroneousness. 4. Logic. any of various types of erroneous reasoning that render arguments logically unsound. 5. Obsolete , deception. • • How are fallacies used in written, oral, and visual arguments? Either/or thinking is in the believing that there are only two choices, when there may be more. To correct this error you should...
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...Title: Unit 5 Fallacies Kaplan University February 11, 2014 Unit 5 Fallacies Part I: Mom, you know how much I love animals, right? Well, yesterday I just happened to be passing by an animal shelter, and wanted to stop in and take a look at all of those poor dogs that are going to be put to sleep. I know you told me that I couldn’t have any more pets, but there was this one dog; his name is “Butterscotch," and he was scheduled to be executed that same day, and well; I just couldn’t let them stick those huge needles in him, hurting him, and killing him for no reason. Anyway, I hope you don’t mind, but I brought him home with me. You know; I remember you telling me when you were a kid; you did the same thing, so I can’t see how this would be any different from what you used to do. Besides, I’ll take care of him, feed him, and you won’t have to do anything; I promise. If you let me keep him, I will promise to do all of my chores and never argue with you again, please! You know; I was talking to my friend the other day, and she told me that shelters actually like killing dogs, they sell the dog remains to a company that makes dog food out of them. I’m not sure where she heard this, but she loves dogs, so I know she’s right. My friend said they make more money that way, so they really don’t care about these dogs at all; it’s always about people's greed and how much money they can make. If I can save at least one dog from becoming dog food, I would be happy. ...
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...Logical Fallacies Fallacies are common errors in reasoning that will undermine the logic of your argument. Fallacies can be either illegitimate arguments or irrelevant points, and are often identified because they lack evidence that supports their claim. Avoid these common fallacies in your own arguments and watch for them in the arguments of others. • o Slippery Slope: This is a conclusion based on the premise that if A happens, then eventually through a series of small steps, through B, C,..., X, Y, Z will happen, too, basically equating A and Z. So, if we don't want Z to occur, A must not be allowed to occur either. Example:If we ban Hummers because they are bad for the environment eventually the government will ban all cars, so we should not ban Hummers. In this example, the author is equating banning Hummers with banning all cars, which is not the same thing. o Hasty Generalization: This is a conclusion based on insufficient or biased evidence. In other words, you are rushing to a conclusion before you have all the relevant facts. Example: Even though it's only the first day, I can tell this is going to be a boring course. In this example, the author is basing his evaluation of the entire course on only the first day, which is notoriously boring and full of housekeeping tasks for most courses. To make a fair and reasonable evaluation the author must attend not one but several classes, and possibly even examine the textbook, talk to the professor, or talk...
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...Begging the Question: This fallacy consists of assuming in a definition or in the premises of your argument the very point you are trying to prove. This is also called Circular Reasoning. Ex. I hate Mr. Scrooge’s class because I’m never happy in there. • “I hate Mr. Scrooge’s class because I’m never happy in there.” • It fits improper appeal to emotion because the student hates the class because the student is never happy in there. • I would revise this item so it would no longer be improper appeal to emotion by changing the example to I like Mr. Scrooge’s class because he makes me laugh. • Laughing would make someone happy and like the situation. Oversimplification: (Dicto Simplicter) This fallacy consists of trying to reduce a more...
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