...Logical Fallacies Fallacies are all around us. We see fallacies on the television, newspapers, and radio. People around the world experience logical fallacies on almost a daily basis. A fallacy is defined as “errors or flaws in reasoning” (Axelrod and Cooper 620).Fallacies used in advertisements are; band wagon, begging the question, confusing chronology with casualty, either-or reasoning, equivocating, failing to accept the burden of proof, false analogy, hasty generalization, overreliance on authority, oversimplifying, personal attack, red herring, slanting, slippery slope, sob story, straw man. I have gathered four advertisements that have fallacies. The fallacies are slippery slope, overreliance on authority, and hasty generalization. My first finding is an advertisement with the fallacy slippery slope. The advertiser tells people “Use this 3D White collection together and get a noticeably whiter smile in just two days”. Slippery slope is defined as pretending that one thing inevitable leads to another (Axelrod and Cooper 621). The advertisement has the celebrity Shakira smiling with beautiful white teeth. It has three Crest 3D White products a toothbrush, mouthwash, and toothpaste. Advertiser say’s “Reveal your inner rock star with a 3D White smile”. Also, it claims that “life opens up with a whiter smile”. This advertisement is pretending that life will be better if people use its products. It will also supposedly make your teeth glamorous white. The toothbrush...
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...choice. My argument is full of logical fallacies therefore it is not a good argument. One logical fallacy I used in my paper was “He talks about reducing taxes but how can we listen when we know he cheated on his wife with three different women”. This is a logical fallacy because I am distracting the readers from the main point. This would be considered a red herring. Another example of red herring in my paper is “Yes Karen Xue is a divorced woman, but really...
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...Identify the Logical Fallacies 1. Mabel is not qualified to lead the school board because she used to drink liquor in her 20s. • This is anAd hominem fallacy: It attacks the character of the arguer rather than the argument. It is an error in reasoning because you should focus on the argument. 2. A child can be either an athlete or a good student. • This is an Either-or type fallacy: it presents someone with a limited choice when there are more choices. The error is that people will know they have more choices and discredit your argument. 3. Any change in health care will lead to socialism; we don’t want to live in a socialist country, so we can’t reform health care. • Begging the Question: Using circular reasoning to prove a conclusion. This is done in the news a lot and this type of fallacy goes unnoticed. The error is that the claim is false so the conclusion is false and people will notice this. 4. All teenagers text while they drive; therefore, we should raise the driving age to 21. • Hasty generalization: Using a part to make an inaccurate claim about a whole. This is wrong because if any part of the claim is wrong it will make the whole argument wrong. 5. If we don’t all drive hybrid cars, the world will end in the next decade because of environmental damage. • Slippery slope: Suggesting that one event will automatically lead to a chain of other events. This is wrong because the claim that the world will end isn’t supported be any evidence...
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...Ethos is used because of the emotional appeal of the commercial. Not simply because of the emotional I do not mean sad, we have many emotions, and one of those emotions is sex drive.This can be considered a motivator, and something that we all see in our daily life. The Mr. Clean commercial taps into that common emotion, and uses it to persuade people to purchase their product. In my opinion, a better persuasive appeal to use would have been logos, or a more logical appeal. That way, the Mr. Clean company would have been using the actual quality of the product to increase sales, rather than just focusing on human emotion. This Super Bowl commercial also uses Maslow's hierarchy of needs to try to sell it's product. It keys into the middle stage of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, belongingness and love needs. This is the need for intimate relationships and friends (McLeod). While this fits in with the actual theme of the commercial, I think that it could have been used in a different way. Because the whole point of a commercial is to sell your product, why didn't they use their product in the commercial and relying on its quality. Although cleaning supplies are not a need in this society, it could still have been used...
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...author writes in response to the “socioeconomic” (297) reasoning given for the current state of affairs. The author disagrees with Powell’s response calling it a way to silence feminist critiques of the culture. The author argues that hip hop owes its success to the ideology to women-hating and that poverty is argued to be an excuse of it. The author addresses a range of issues from contemporary artists being too inconsistent, to female artists not being as united when it comes to standing up for a change. For this reason “Hip hop’s betrayal of Black Women” should not be considered by PopMatters and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) for the top prize for persuasiveness due the author’s use of rhetorical analysis and logical fallacy in addressing opposing viewpoints In “Hip-Hop’s Betrayal of Black Women” the author uses three kinds of rhetorical techniques in the article logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos is used to show facts, reasons, and statistics in support of the author’s argument. Pathos is used to stir the emotions of the audience on the topic, however this can backfire a make the argument get off subject. Finally, ethos is used to appeal to the audience, show knowledge of the subject and good character. The dominant technique used is pathos, which appears five times, while logos is used four times and ethos once. The first...
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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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...group of people based on fallacious arguments (Mosser, 2011, 4.1). As humans, we fall victim to being stereotyped without even knowing it. Sometimes it can be blatant, liken if you hear someone speaking derogatory about you, or you feel the unwanted stares from others. But what we don’t realize is that when we commit these fallacies, we run the risk of hurting the very people we are stereotyping. The stereotypes that we encounter in our everyday lives can have lasting effects on ourselves as well as those around us. As an African American woman in charge of a successful business operation, I am a walking stereotype. A typical stereotype that I face every day is that I am a woman, and as such, am incapable of running a business. Now, unlike the women in the article, “Stereotyping Has Lasting Negative Effect” by April Kemick (2010), I never let peoples’ stereotypical implications affect my success. The article goes on to show that women who are stereotyped are irrational, aggressive, and suffer an inability to focus (Kemick, 2010). The type of fallacious argument used here would be hasty generalization. As with most fallacious arguments, hasty generalizations occur “when the conclusion is based on insufficient information “(Mosser, 2011, 4.2). The problem with this argument is because I am nothing of the aforementioned. I tend to thrive under pressure, and because I am an African American, I work harder than the average manager in my district because I am success driven. I want...
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...Mishailla Ravet Web-quest Directions: Complete the template by using internet resources. Find the definition of each as well as three examples to support each definition. All answers must be typed – print out a final copy for teacher and self E.C. = +5pts on Quiz and notes if completed by the end of the hour today 1. |wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn | | | | |Definition |Example #1 | |Example: |Claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant |Why should your views on welfare reform matter when we all know | |Ad Hominem |fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or |that your parents make a lot of money. | | |argument | | |Tu Quoque | An attempt to discredit the opponent's position by exposing |Bill: “It is wrong to use animals as clothing. | | |his failure to act consistently in accordance with that |Ted: “But you are wearing a leather jacket.” ...
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...Illogical Reasoning in Greenberg’s Claim The article “Why colleges should ditch honor codes” on The Washington Post discusses how honor codes encourage rather than stifle cheating. The author, Susan Greenberg, argues that the honor code fails because it relies on students reporting their peers when witnessing a violation of the rules. Students are hesitant to report their peers because they gain nothing from it. Greenberg also states that the honor code is ineffective and have difficult guidelines to follow when today’s society should encourage collaboration, not inhibit it. Due to the punishments school give out for breaking the honor code, students are reluctant to collaborate with others and share problem-solving ideas. Using both personal anecdotes from students and surveys given at colleges as evidence, Greenberg makes her point that colleges should abandon honor codes because they are now obsolete. Throughout the article, Greenberg shows how important the issue of honor codes is to her. However, although she is very passionate...
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...example of a non sequitur fallacy because the information does not bare relationship to each other. Comparing the finite world oil resources to the amount of oil reserves gives an incomplete picture to how much of the oil resources (reserves and non reserves) that the United States currently has in stock. Obama, B. (2010, June). Remarks by the President on the BP oil spill. The White House: Office of the Press Secretary. Retrieved from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-nation-bp-oil-spill FAULT ANALOGY President Barack Obama: “That's why, under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance -- just as most states require you to carry auto insurance. Likewise, businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care, or chip in to help cover the cost of their workers." This is considered a faulty analogy because owning car insurance and health insurance cannot be compared. Millions of people can spend their whole lives without owning cars and using public transportation and will not have to pay for car insurance. Driving is a privilege and an option, and cannot be compared with living. Obama, B. (2009, September). Remarks by the President to the Joint Session of Congress on healthcare. The White House: Office of the Press Secretary. Retrieved from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-to-a-Joint-Session-of-Congress-on-Health-Care HASTY GENERALIZATION: President Barack Obama:...
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...After writing my module 2 assessment, I realized how much I had learned about Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. I now have a good understanding of what these Rhetorical appeals mean, and how they are used effectively when writing persuasive essays. Aside from rhetorical appeals, I also learned about the misuse of logos or in other words, Logical Fallacies. Logical fallacies are when a persuasive writer uses faulty or misleading reasoning when trying to convince an audience. There are many different logical fallacies, but some of the more common ones would be hasty generalization, begging the question, stacking the evidence, and the either-or argument. Throughout this module we talked a lot about logical fallacies and how often they are used,. Prior...
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...In 2007, the Urban Institute, a research organization based in Washington, released a report linking violent crime and iPods. The report stated that, “Nationally, violent crime fell every year from 1993 to 2004, before rising in 2005 and 2006, at the same time America’s streets filled with millions of people visibly using expensive electronic gear, especially iPods.” Assuming it is true, what can you conclude from the statement made by the Urban Institute? --Adapted from The New York Times, Sept. 27, 2007 The increased use of expensive electronic gear such as iPods resulted in a rise in violent crime The increased use of expensive electronic gear such as iPods was caused by a rise in violent crime None of the other options Not visibly using expensive electronic gear such as an iPod is a good way to protect yourself from violent crime In an experiment, the blood pressure of 1000 randomly selected women was measured. The 50 women with the highest blood pressure were given a medication, and their blood pressures were then measured again. The second measurement showed that their blood pressures, on average, had declined. What other information do you need to show that the decline was due to the medication? The given information already shows the decline was due to the medication Information showing that the blood pressures of the 50 women receiving the medication remained lower after the experiment Information about the general health of the 950 women...
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... 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? Assumptions are beliefs or ideas of something that have not been proven to be true, or have no proof of evidence. Assumptions can also be a part of our belief system that we do not question, or that we have previously learned due to our interpretation of the world around us. Assumptions can interfere with our critical thinking because we do not stop to think about them, so we are not utilizing our critical thinking skills to the best of our ability. This can hinder our ability to think critically because it is a perpetual block that prevents us from looking at every angle of the situation or searching for the truth in the matter. In order to avoid making assumptions in our thinking, it is important to examine all of the evidence surrounding the situation, and gain control of your thought processes. We must also remain open minded to various situations or solutions, ask the right questions, and recognize things that could interfere with critical thinking like our own bias, or opinions surrounding the situation. Assuming anything could not only be hazardous for the critical thinking process, but for everyone involved in the situation. • What are fallacies? How are fallacies used in written, oral...
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...actually be proven 100%. I do find this source to be credible based off of the information that is given. This article is broken up into sections that talk about the main effects of marijuana usage. It lists statistics throughout the article and studies that have been conducted. However, I do believe they are only taking one side where marijuana can be useful in a lot of cases not mentioned here. It isn’t all negatives when it comes to marijuana usage. I do not believe that any rhetorical devices were used by this author. The author stuck to simple details and studies, and did not go on exaggerating or relating marijuana use to anything other than the details. I think that the fallacy, hasty generalization was used throughout this article. Mainly because this fallacy makes the assumption that a whole group or idea is a certain way because of a small amount of sources. In this article they provide all negative effects of marijuana use, when we all know that there are medically proven studies that...
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...CRITICAL THINKING ON ADVERTISEMENTS Bari and Abbas (2011) asserts that companies seek to attract customers by using large sums of money for advertisements (p. 153). Capitalist try to make huge profits as possible and, therefore, some may use fallacious and misleading statements to attract customers. In the Huntington post, the IBM Company advert calls for one to “Get $500 in Servers, Storage, Networking, and More,” and requires one to “order now.” Although this advert is clear and precise, it quickly appeals to the authority that the company presumes to have in the technology market. The advert on the top corner in Capital letters identifies the company as the SOFTLAYER, an IBM company without any further information on the same. From this perspective, it tends to assume that clients would believe it just because it is from a reputable company. Additionally, it tends to make clients would get more that what they have stated. That raises the curiosity of the potential customers and hence click on the link. Nevertheless, the more might only be an insignificant service that makes the advert deceptive. The “Fastrack advert” claims that one can get Easy Pickups Flat at 20% off. The advertiser seeks to exploit the public from the common belief that anything with a discount is cheaper as opposed to those without. Typically, one expects discounted items to cost lesser than the original prices. However, in most cases, the firms might first hike the prices and then give the discount...
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